40 Fun Facts About Victoria's Secret

Victoria's Secret was founded in 1977 as a lingerie store designed to make which shoppers feel comfortable?

Men were the target: the founder had felt like an unwelcome intruder when buying lingerie for his wife at a department store.

Which model became a Victoria's Secret Angel in 1997 and left runway retirement to close the brand's 2024 show?

Tyra Banks had last walked that runway in 2005, and in 1997 she was the first African American model chosen for the cover of the brand's catalog.

The 2004 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was cancelled amid a decency backlash that began at which televised event?

The Super Bowl halftime show's wardrobe malfunction made broadcasters nervous, so the brand sent five Angels on a four-city Angels Across America tour instead.

Which folk-rock legend surprised viewers by starring in a 2004 Victoria's Secret commercial filmed in Venice?

Bob Dylan was cast on the idea of the company's own chief executive, and the ad is remembered mostly for unsettling and baffling viewers who knew his music.

Which pop star was accidentally struck by a model's wings while performing at the 2014 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show?

Ariana Grande was clipped mid-song by the wings of model Elsa Hosk during the show at London's Earls Court.

In 2007 the Victoria's Secret Angels became the first trademark ever to receive which honor on Hollywood Boulevard?

A Walk of Fame star went to the Angels outside the Kodak Theatre, where that year's fashion show was staged later the same week.

Which supermodel wore the $15 million Red Hot Fantasy Bra in 2000, a Guinness record for the costliest lingerie?

Gisele Bündchen modeled it for the catalog rather than the runway, then wore the $12.5 million Sexy Splendor version at the 2005 fashion show.

Which reunited British girl group made its American television comeback at the 2007 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show?

Spice Girls shared the Los Angeles bill with Seal and will.i.am, who stepped in after Kanye West cancelled his appearance.

Which product line did Victoria's Secret drop in 2016 in favor of activewear, only to bring it back within three years?

Swimwear had been on sale since 2002, and the retreat came in the same year the brand also scrapped its famous print catalog.

Which Brazilian model was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 2000 to 2018, the longest run of any Angel?

Adriana Lima has said she had wanted to become a nun before she became an Angel, and her 2018 farewell show included a personal tribute segment.

The first Victoria's Secret store opened in 1977 at a shopping center in which San Francisco Bay Area city?

Palo Alto's Stanford Shopping Center housed the first shop, opened with $80,000 borrowed half from a bank and half from the founder's family.

Which Stanford business graduate founded Victoria's Secret in 1977 with his wife Gaye and sold it five years later?

Roy Raymond got about $1 million for the five-store chain, roughly a decade before its annual sales passed $1 billion.

Which Ohio retail billionaire, founder of The Limited, bought Victoria's Secret in 1982 when it had just five stores?

Les Wexner redesigned the stores to evoke Victorian England and grew the chain into America's largest lingerie retailer by the early 1990s.

Victoria's Secret catalogs long listed a fake London address while the real headquarters sat in which Ohio city?

Columbus was hardly the image the brand wanted: the British air, down to English floral wallpaper in the stores, was meant to lend European snob appeal.

Until a 2021 spin-off, Victoria's Secret belonged to which parent company alongside Bath & Body Works?

L Brands had been called Limited Brands until 2013, and after the split what remained of it took the Bath & Body Works name.

What did Victoria's Secret name the bra it launched in 1993, which sold two million within its first year?

Miracle was the name, and when Sara Lee's Wonderbra arrived as a rival a year later the brand answered with a television campaign.

Victoria's Secret chose a mall in which Alberta city for its first Canadian store, opened in 2010?

Edmonton got there first when the store opened at West Edmonton Mall in August 2010, nine months after the Pink line's own Canadian debut.

Which US soccer star joined the VS Collective when Victoria's Secret replaced its Angels with new spokeswomen in 2021?

Megan Rapinoe joined a lineup that also featured actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas, tennis champion Naomi Osaka and model Paloma Elsesser.

Which marketing chief who ran the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show resigned in 2019 after a Vogue interview backlash?

Ed Razek had said the show would not cast transgender or plus-size models because it was a fantasy, and the show itself was cancelled three months after he left.

Which New York City hotel hosted the first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 1995 and the next three after it?

The Plaza staged a modest debut: the first show's budget was $120,000, against $12 million by 2011.

On which network did the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show make its television debut in 2001 before a long run on CBS?

ABC drew about 12 million viewers, the show's biggest audience, and blurred the sheerest outfits to satisfy its own standards department.

The 2000 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show moved to which French Riviera resort, raising millions for an AIDS charity?

Cannes hosted the show in May to coincide with its film festival, and the night raised $3.5 million for Cinema Against AIDS.

In 2017 the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was staged in Asia for the first time, in which Chinese city?

Shanghai's Mercedes-Benz Arena hosted the show, where Harry Styles performed and Gigi Hadid pulled out days before filming.

Which singer performed at both the 2013 and 2014 Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows, the first time alongside Fall Out Boy?

Taylor Swift sang in New York in 2013 and in London a year later, where the bill also included Ed Sheeran and Hozier.

Which Olympic gymnastics champion was among the first athletes to walk the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, in 2025?

Sunisa Lee, the 2020 Olympic all-around gold medalist, walked in the same New York show as basketball star Angel Reese.

With no network TV deal yet, how did Victoria's Secret present its 1999 fashion show to over a million viewers?

As a live webcast it overwhelmed Broadcast.com, whose servers could handle only a fraction of the crowd that tried to watch.

Which supermodel introduced the first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 1995 and rang the stock exchange closing bell?

Stephanie Seymour rang the bell as publicity for a share sale by the brand's parent company two months after the show.

Which German Angel hosted several Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows and lent her nickname to its lingerie line The Body?

Heidi Klum, the first German model to become an Angel, hosted five of the shows and later designed a makeup collection for the brand.

Which model became the first Australian Victoria's Secret Angel in 2007 after serving as a face of the Pink line?

Miranda Kerr later presented the $2.5 million Fantasy Treasure Bra at the 2011 show, ten months after giving birth to her son.

Which Angel, the first spokesmodel for Victoria's Secret's Pink line, once walked the runway in lingerie made of candy?

Alessandra Ambrosio wore the candy outfit in 2005, a year after becoming an Angel, and stayed with the brand until 2017.

Which model wore the $10 million Royal Fantasy Bra at the 2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show?

Candice Swanepoel's bra and matching belt carried more than 4,200 gems set in gold, with a 52-carat ruby at the center.

Which Angel left Victoria's Secret in 2015, the year she enrolled at New York University, later citing feminist beliefs?

Karlie Kloss had also been at the center of a 2012 controversy, when her Native American-style headdress was cut from the broadcast after complaints.

Which Canadian pop star performed during the Pink segment of the 2012 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show?

Justin Bieber shared the 2012 bill with Rihanna and Bruno Mars, and the Pink segment also featured a corset built around bicycle handlebars.

Which model became Victoria's Secret's first openly transgender model when the Pink line hired her in 2019?

Valentina Sampaio was hired days before the executive who had dismissed the idea stepped down, and in 2024 she walked in the brand's fashion show.

In the 1997 commercial that launched the Victoria's Secret Angels, which veteran singer played God among the clouds?

Tom Jones was a knowing choice: the Welsh singer was famous for fans throwing their underwear at him on stage.

Which singer's 2022 song titled Victoria's Secret criticized the brand's effect on body image and reached the US top 40?

Jax wrote it for a child she was babysitting who had been upset while bikini shopping, and the brand's chief executive replied that it resonated with her.

A student at which historically Black university campaigned for Victoria's Secret Pink to add HBCUs to its college line?

Howard joined the Collegiate Collection with four other HBCUs within months of its 2008 launch, and a share of the sales went to each school.

Several Victoria's Secret Angels played themselves in The Yips, a 2007 episode of which CBS sitcom?

How I Met Your Mother cast six Angels as themselves in the episode, which aired eight days before that year's fashion show reached television.

Which K-pop girl group performed during the Pink segment of the 2025 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show?

Twice shared the 2025 bill with Missy Elliott, Karol G and Madison Beer at a show livestreamed from New York.

Which model, once a Pink contract model, opened the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in both 2014 and 2015?

Behati Prinsloo became a full Angel in 2009, a year after signing with Pink, and returned to the runway in 2018 after a two-year break.