Victoria's Secret

Mr. Wexner authorized him to borrow money on his behalf, to sign his tax returns, to hire people and to make acquisitions. Over the years, Mr. Epstein obtained a New York mansion, a private plane and a luxury estate in Ohio — today valued at roughly $100 million all together — previously owned by Mr. Wexner or his companies. At the same time, he drove a wedge between Mr. Wexner and longtime associates and friends.

Wexner’s attorney issued the following statement, which is cited in the series: “The issue of Epstein claiming an association with Victoria’s Secret was raised on one occasion with Mr. Wexner. He confronted Epstein and was clear that it was a violation of Company policy for him to suggest that he was associated in any way with Victoria’s Secret and that Epstein was forbidden from ever doing so again. Epstein denied having done so.” However, sources in the series expressed their skepticism that Wexner actually took action to stop Epstein’s behavior.

Jeffrey Epstein, the notorious sex offender, was drafting a letter to Leslie Wexner, the billionaire retail tycoon who had once been his main financial benefactor. Years after their acrimonious split in 2007, Mr. Epstein was contemplating the rekindling of that relationship, and he apparently wanted to remind Mr. Wexner of what he said was their shared history.

In a 2019 New York Times exposé titled “How Jeffrey Epstein Used the Billionaire Behind Victoria’s Secret for Wealth and Women,” a team of journalists found that in the 1990s Epstein served as an adviser to Les Wexner, Victoria’s Secret chief executive. (Wexner stepped down from the company in 2020.) During that time, Epstein tried to pose as a recruiter for the brand in order to have access to young models.

L Brands executives were reportedly made aware, in the mid-1990s, that Epstein was posing as a modeling recruiter for the company. Although they alerted Wexner, he seems to have taken no action. His relationship with Epstein endured, and in 1998 Wexner let Epstein take possession of his palatial mansion on East 71st Street in Manhattan where much of Epstein’s abuse is said to have taken place. Even after Wexner severed ties with Epstein, Victoria’s Secret continued to work with MC2 Model Management, an agency whose owner, Jean-Luc Brunel, has been accused of operating a sex-trafficking operation for wealthy men, Epstein among them. Models from MC2 walked in the brand’s televised fashion show as recently as 2015.

NEW ALBANY, Ohio — Around the time he began taking financial advice from Jeffrey Epstein, Ohio’s richest man made a fateful investment. It was 1990, and Leslie Wexner, whose retail clothing empire included brands like Abercrombie & Fitch and Victoria’s Secret, put $100,000 behind Republican George Voinovich’s successful campaign for governor. The contributions opened doors that Wexner had sometimes struggled to walk through while attempting to translate his philanthropy and success in business into civic and political power in his home state. Aided by his new friends in the Voinovich administration, Wexner developed this once-small town into an exurban enclave around his mansion. Helped along by a state-funded highway interchange, he built an upscale Columbus shopping mall anchored by his stores. “George used to say, ‘We need to do more with less,’” said a longtime Republican operative and Voinovich ally, recalling the late governor’s reputation for frugality. “We used to say that was a double entendre: ‘Do more for Les.’” Wexner’s relationship with Voinovich also planted the seeds for a coalition of CEOs that is credited with shedding Columbus’ image as a Midwestern backwater. Meanwhile, Wexner continued his charitable giving toward pro-Jewish causes, education and other public policy areas — adding to a legacy that put his name on a hospital, art gallery and football training complex at his alma mater, Ohio State University. But that legacy is now in jeopardy, given Wexner’s association with Epstein, the late sex offender who in 2019 was found dead in his prison cell while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. The specter of Epstein hovers over Columbus and especially nearby New Albany, where, records show, Epstein owned property and had a senior role in Wexner’s development firm in the 1990s. Epstein, in the words of his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell during a Justice Department interview last year, “ran New Albany.” “I really believe

As long as Husted has been in office, he has accepted money from Les Wexner, the former CEO of Victoria’s Secret whose name was inexplicably redacted out of the Epstein files until earlier this week. The Ohio Republican has raked in more than $116,000 from Wexner since 2001, when he first entered public office as a member of Ohio’s state House of Representatives.

Jeffrey Epstein reportedly told women and young girls that he was a modeling scout for Victoria’s Secret. The financier never worked for the lingerie retailer, or even, technically, for its parent company, L Brands. But he had a close relationship with the head of L Brands, Leslie Wexner, assuming an unusual degree of control over Wexner’s assets and personal life, according to reporting by The New York Times. Epstein seems to have exploited his proximity to Victoria’s Secret to facilitate his alleged crimes. According to Alicia Arden, a model and actress, this was Epstein’s ruse when he lured her to a Santa Monica hotel room and assaulted her in 1997. When Maria Farmer, who worked the door at Epstein’s New York mansion, asked why so many young girls were going in and out of his home, she says she was told that they were auditioning to be models for the lingerie brand. Some of them, she told The New Yorker, were wearing school uniforms.

As Epstein’s wealth grew, his predatory behavior became more brazen. He sometimes used his connections to Victoria’s Secret in his schemes, a pattern at least some executives at the company were aware of. One afternoon in the spring of 1993, an executive rushed into the office of Victoria’s Secret catalog president Cynthia Fedus-Fields with disturbing news: A model told a hairdresser at a photo shoot that a man named Jeffrey Epstein was running around New York presenting himself as a Victoria’s Secret scout. Fields knew Epstein was problematic. Fields, then in her 40s, had met him the previous year and rejected several inappropriate propositions from him to go out, one of which included a weekend date to Wexner’s house in Aspen. (Fields declined Epstein’s advances.)

The rampant misogyny and harassment from company higher-ups was the final straw for the brand. In 2021, the New York Times published an extensive investigation entitled “‘Angels’ in Hell: The Culture of Misogyny Inside Victoria’s Secret,” in which more than 30 executives, employees, contractors and models denounced the company’s practices.

In June 2026, it was reported that Victoria’s Secret allegedly declined a meeting with a union representing women workers at one of its suppliers in Brandix. This followed the sudden death of a garment worker at a Brandix factory in Victoria Secret’s supply chain, who was allegedly denied permission to leave early and forced to finish her shift, despite complaining of chest pain and dizziness. A woman union organiser sharing leaflets with information regarding her death near the factory was reportedly threatened with rape and murder by men wearing clothing branding Brandix’s logo, and the union president was allegedly threatened with defamation for ‘misrepresenting facts without evidence’. A Brandix machine operator who reported that a welfare officer had told her the worker had told her supervisor wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t allowed to leave alleged that she was warned by HR not to speak about her.

Law360 (April 17, 2020, 6:00 PM EDT) -- Current and former hourly employees at Victoria's Secret say the lingerie store failed to pay them for overtime and state-mandated meal breaks by forcing them to undergo off-the-clock bag checks, in a proposed class action removed to California federal court Thursday.

Then, in 2019 and 2020, Victoria’s Secret became the focus of two scandals involving its male leadership. First, Wexner’s close relationship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein became a PR liability, along with reporting that Epstein posed as a scout for Victoria’s Secret to lure and abuse aspiring models. (Wexner has previously said that he is embarrassed by his ties to Epstein, whom he called “depraved.”) Then, in 2020, the New York Times published a bombshell investigative piece outlining allegations of sexual harassment at the company, specifically involving Razek.

The lingerie company said it does not use prison labor for any aspect of its operation, or use or sell any products or services that come from companies that use prison labor.

A stitch in time: California inmates sew their own garb. In the 1990s, subcontractor Third Generation hired 35 female South Carolina inmates to sew lingerie and leisure wear for Victoria’s Secret and JCPenney. In 1997, a California prison put two men in solitary for telling journalists they were ordered to replace “Made in Honduras” labels on garments with “Made in the usa.”

(Bloomberg) -- Victoria's Secret & Co. halted its promotion goal for Black workers and altered its language on diversity, equity and inclusion, joining a stampede of companies in shifting policy as the US government and conservative activists attack corporate representation goals.

Nordstrom Inc., Victoria’s Secret & Co. and Macy’s Inc. all removed some references to diversity, equity and inclusion from their 10-K annual reports on Friday. Their actions reflect a cross-industry move rejecting diversity language—including the acronym DEI—amid President Donald Trump’s directive in January to clamp down on certain corporate diversity efforts.

The film promises to uncover the lingerie empire’s links with sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. A 2019 New York Times investigation revealed that in the 1990s, a financial adviser close to Leslie H. Wexner, executive director of the company L Brands—Victoria’s Secret parent company—worked as a model recruiter for the brand in exchange for sexual favors. This adviser would later be found to be Epstein, a millionaire accused of sex trafficking who later commited suicide in jail while awaiting trial. Subsequently, Wexner has repeatedly claimed to feel “ashamed” by his friendly relationship with the pedophile.

Unfortunately, as the new documentary series Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons explores, Razek’s comments—and the accusations of misconduct and harassment made against him—weren’t the only checkered part of the brand’s past: Financier and sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein also played a role. Find out why below.

The momentum traces back to a pivotal moment last October, when Super unveiled her vision at the brand’s 2025 fashion show. The show opened with model Jasmine Tookes, ethereal in gold wings, cradling her nine-months-pregnant belly, among longtime Angels like Adriana Lima and even WNBA star Angel Reese. The message was unmistakable: same wings, different world.

Once known for turbocharging the careers of models like Karlie Kloss and Heidi Klum, Victoria’s Secret went about trying to transform its reputation after Wexner’s exit. Under Martin Waters, who was named CEO of the spun-off company, the over-the-top fashion shows featuring diamond-studded fantasy bras were out, and the Victoria’s Secret Angels, a rotating group of It-girl models who had become synonymous with the label, were disbanded. Instead, the VS Collective, a group of brand ambassadors of various ethnicities and sizes, known for their careers in sports or technology, would become the face of the brand.

But with Victoria’s Secret, Super inherited a beleaguered brand stained by upheaval and scandal. In its mid-aughts heyday, the company reached a market share of over 30%, and raked in around $8 billion in revenue in 2016 under CEO Sharen Turney. But Turney was dismissed in 2017 and replaced by L Brands owner Les Wexner. Under his leadership, and that of his chief lieutenant, longtime senior leader Ed Razek, the company missed important retail trends like athleisure wear. Its marketing also fell out of step with major cultural shifts, and remained overtly sexual, even at the height of the #MeToo movement.

Seeking to adapt to changing social norms, in 2021, the company announced partnerships with influential figures in culture and sports: American soccer player Megan Rapinoe, Indian actress Priyanka Chopra, Chinese skier Eileen Gu and plus-size model Paloma Elsesser. It also announced that it would no longer refer to its models as “angels.” With that once-unthinkable gesture, Victoria’s Secret finally returned to earth.

“I’m an independent,” Wexner said at an event for Ohio business leaders Thursday night, noting that he had been a Republican since his college days. “I won’t support this nonsense in the Republican Party.”

More offensive than the main brand is the one for teenagers, Pink. Introduced in 2002 for girls ages 15 to 22, Pink features bright colors, like candy, and includes pajamas, swimwear, skin care, and accessories, as well as underwear. In 2013, Pink launched a marketing campaign called “Bright Young Things,” which drew attention to lacy underwear emblazoned with I DARE YOU across the rear, beach towels and tote bags that read KISS ME, and a T-shirt with a low neckline that read ENJOY THE VIEW. Most disturbing: a pink-and-orange thong with CALL ME printed on the crotch.

That year, the company’s marketing director, Ed Razek, made clear his opposition to gender diversity in an interview with Vogue. “Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No, I don’t think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy. It’s a 42-minute entertainment special. That’s what it is. It is the only one of its kind in the world,” said the 71-year-old manager, who resigned from his position in 2019.

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But, meanwhile, Super is facing a heightened battle with the activist investor BBRC. Founder Brett Blundy has bought 13% of the company and wants a seat on the board. Victoria’s Secret has blocked that—and recently offered an explanation as to why. The company objected to Blundy’s “decisions to hire executives with a history of serious allegations of sexual harassment or other misconduct, and the reported and alleged instances of harassment and highly inappropriate employee policies.” It also noted that it must be especially vigilant about harassment, given its history.

Victoria’s Secret former owner Leslie Wexner, who stepped down as chair and CEO from parent company L Brands two years ago after his close ties to Jeffrey Epstein came under scrutiny, gave $250,000 last month to the Republican Governors Association, according to three sources with knowledge of the donation.

When Roper’s agency demanded an extra $3,000, including a $500 agency fee, for using more of her face in the ad, Victoria’s Secret “did not respond, removed the linked advertisement, and offered no apology,” the lawsuit read.

By Gina Kim ( September 30, 2026, 10:52 PM EDT) -- Victoria's Secret unlawfully used a professional model's entire face in a recent Instagram perfume advertisement, despite explicit restrictions in the parties' contract to use less than 30%, and refused to pay additional compensation for doing so, according to a right-of-publicity lawsuit filed in California federal court. . . .

The Adore Me owner has inked a multiyear strategic partnership with Google Cloud to use AI for personalization and product recommendations.

By Dorothy Atkins ( January 6, 2025, 8:53 PM EST) -- A nonbinary Victoria's Secret customer hit the clothing company and a store manager with a $5 million civil rights lawsuit in New York state court Monday, alleging the manager discriminated against them by refusing to let them use a fitting room and telling them they were "in fact, male. ". . .

Victoria’s Secret, with its catalogs and billboards depicting concave bellies, bony hips, and ballooning breasts restrained by bows and lace of cheap, scratchy polyester, depicts sexiness as a trait of underfed teenagers. Its ads are often black-and-white affairs, with women writhing slowly to fast music on TV or twisting into unnatural poses in print. Though they often feature close-ups of women’s open mouths, many of the ads do not show them speaking. Why bother? In the fantasy that Victoria’s Secret is peddling, the only thing a woman ever has to say is yes.

Rigid beauty standards defined Victoria’s Secret in the peak of its mid-aughts glory, with girls watching rows of extra-small, tanned models at the annual fashion show. But as millennials came of age and embraced a new era of body positivity, Victoria’s Secret struggled to rebrand. Their attempts—including a splashy rollout of accomplished celebrity women advisors meant to promote female empowerment—were too on-the-nose, widely dismissed as “woke-washing.” They failed to win back the shoppers who had left, and didn’t attract younger ones either, as Fortune‘s Emma Hinchliffe explored in a feature earlier this year.

Super also likes to remind critics of the many women who have never had a problem with Victoria's Secret and its particular brand of sexy. Under her guidance Victoria's Secret has embraced this heritage—the glamour and spectacle of it all, without the body-shaming. There is still a focus on diversity, but "without being performative, [where] we have to check every box and make sure every single thing someone could think of is covered," Super says, "because to me that lacks authenticity."

In her tenure so far, the CEO has fostered a self-assurance absent from the brand in recent years. Her eye as a merchant has clearly been helpful, following a stretch of leadership that was more focused on business operations. Perhaps even more crucially, she can talk authentically about and to women. While Victoria's Secret has had female leaders before, they were largely overshadowed by powerful male execs—and Super is the first female CEO of the new parent company Victoria's Secret & Co. after a 2021 spinoff from L Brands. "It's hard to have an intuition about a category that you cannot put on your body," Super remarks.

On Victoria’s Secret’s latest earnings call earlier this month, CEO Hillary Super explained that the brand’s So Obsessed underwire-free push-up bra was a fast-growing hit, calling it “a standout,” with 30% year-over-year growth and a “deep resonance with the millennial customer.”