Rise and fall of Victoria's Secret laid bare in new book

Fashion journalists Lauren Sherman and Chantal Fernandez dive into a lingerie retail giant's history in their new book "Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon."

Founded in California in 1977, the company grew from a tiny chain of boutiques to a retail phenomenon with more than $8 billion in annual sales at its peak. Its supermodel spokeswomen, known as the Angels, personified a new beauty standard.

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show returned on Oct. 15, after a multiyear hiatus.

ABC News' Linsey Davis sat down with Sherman and Fernandez to talk about why they decided to write this book, how the company's fortunes changed and the possibility of the brand being reinvented.

ABC NEWS: Women in lace, leather and feathers. It's the iconic image of one of the most innovative brands in retail history, a chain of tiny boutiques that grew into a lingerie empire to become one of the best known secrets in America.

Puck correspondent Lauren Sherman and The Cut's Chantal Fernandez interviewed dozens of former and present executives to bring us the story of the rise and fall of Victoria's Secret in their book, "Selling Sexy: Victoria's Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon."

Lauren and Chantal, kind enough to join us in studio, thank you both so much for being in here. Lauren, let's start with you. Why did you decide that you wanted to take a look at this really, icon when it comes to the brand of, of fashion and sexy clothing?

SHERMAN: We've been covering the fashion business for, combined, I don't know, like 40 years or something, a long time, and thinking about what deserves a book and not an article.

And this is an epic story. It's a story of American entrepreneurship. It's a story of American culture because consumer culture is American culture. There was nothing that kind of paid close attention to Victoria's Secret and the impact it had on our society, and we wanted to unpack that.

ABC NEWS: And how would you say, because by the 1970s, it feels like Victoria's Secret was already a household name, a fixture really in most malls. Would you say that they really were able to shape America's ideals of the standards of beauty and what is sexy?

FERNANDEZ: Yes, particularly as they expanded throughout American malls and began to market using the Angels and supermodels, especially in the '90s and the early 2000s. They were so effective at using mass media to promote their brand and to promote this idea of American beauty, American femininity, American women success. This, it was all wrapped up in a very powerful image, and it was so successful that it came to define an American beauty standard.

ABC NEWS: And you all write the beauty standards eventually became unattainable. How do you think that the, the company's focus on really selling a specific kind of sexy led to that?

SHERMAN: Well, the question is whether or not Victoria's Secret was reflecting the culture or making the culture. And sometimes they were shaping the culture. They were saying, they were putting the most famous models in the world on the cover of their catalogs and on their catwalk and saying, this is what beauty is. I think it was deeply influential.

FERNANDEZ: They didn't create this beauty standard, but they sort of perfected it and commercialized it and shared it with America on a mass scale that, you know, high fashion luxury advertising didn't have the same kind of reach by virtue of the product and the price.

ABC NEWS: By 1982, Les Wexner, a fast fashion pioneer, was able to save Victoria's Secret from bankruptcy. Do you think that this really marks the moment that Victoria's Secret started selling sexy?

FERNANDEZ: Absolutely. By the time he acquired Victoria's Secret, he already had a huge network of stores. He had capital. He was the reason why Victoria's Secret was able to expand so quickly across the nation and had the executives and the wherewithal to really reach people, because originally the boutiques were much more upscale and he brought it into a more accessible price point.

ABC NEWS: Now, Wexner also, there's kind of a wrinkle that's further complicated because of his, what, two-decade relationship that he had with [late financier] Jeffrey Epstein. We know that the current leadership of Victoria's Secret chose to not participate with the writing of your book. But how did you all write around, kind of, some of the sensitivities related to that?

SHERMAN: Well, we did, we addressed it head on, but we didn't want to make the book about the relationship between Les Wexner and Jeffrey Epstein, because the story of Victoria's Secret is not about that. It's, that's part of it, but it's not the whole story. The whole story is there are a million amazing, interesting executives who did pioneering things, who worked there, and we wanted to highlight them as well.

FERNANDEZ: Its greatest impact was a reputational hit when the company was already at a really weak moment and that was a lot of what we zeroed in on, what did the association with this really disturbing figure mean for the brand when it was already embroiled in some media criticism around being out of touch?

ABC NEWS: And it seems like to me that the, the, the fashion shows really became iconic, part of the brand really. And why did those go away?

SHERMAN: They went away because they sort of fell out of fashion and there wasn't enough demand for them at that point. And the company was going through so much upheaval when they stopped doing them five years ago.

They’re bringing it back because they need to reconnect with the customer. There's a sense of nostalgia for the times when people celebrated those fashion shows and they think that they've grown and are going to be able to nail it. Whether they are and whether the customer cares is, is still debatable.

ABC NEWS: It feels like over time, the fashion industry has moved more toward inclusivity and diversity. And that Victoria's Secret may have been a little slower to adapt to or adopt these ideals of, of beauty as, as bringing more people into the tent. Why do you think that is?

FERNANDEZ: Their strategy had worked for them for so long and they were such a large company. Obviously, there should have been more debate within the company at the highest levels of leadership to say culture is really changing and we have to respond to this.

But their, their strategy had worked for them and they thought they could continue to control that relationship with the consumer by sticking with what had worked and were blind to some of those changes that were, a lot of other fashion brands had already been working on.

ABC NEWS: Do you think that the company can reinvent itself at this point, or is the damage too deep?

SHERMAN: It's a giant company. There are a lot of people who still, who still buy bras from Victoria's Secret. And so, yeah, of course they have a chance. They still have a customer base. But connecting with the customer is harder today than ever. We live in a really fragmented culture and, and customers aren't as loyal as they used to be. And so winning them back or winning them over in the first place, if they're really young, is going to be extremely challenging and require a very, very sharp strategy.

ABC NEWS: Lauren and Chantal, we thank you both so much for this work. I want to let our viewers know that you can find "Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon" anywhere books are sold.

And we should note that in 2019, Wexner accused Epstein of misappropriating “vast sums” of his personal fortune more than a decade earlier. Epstein was also accused of trying to involve himself in the recruitment of lingerie models for the Victoria’s Secret catalog.

When ABC News reached out to [former Victoria’s Secret parent company] L Brands, asking whether Epstein ever served as talent scout for Victoria’s Secret, the company did not respond to a request for comment.

We reached out for comment from Victoria's Secret -- they sent us a statement that reads:

"While we appreciate the interest in the history of our company, we remain focused on our present and future. Today we are guided by our vision to celebrate and support women in all we do. We are proud of the progress we’ve made -- and continue to make -- driven by an unwavering leadership team with shared values and relentless vision to provide the best products and experiences to help women express their confidence, sexiness and power."