PINK
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryApparel
FoundedOctober 16, 2002 (2002-10-16)
Headquarters
Reynoldsburg, Ohio
,
United States
Number of locations
141 stores (2020)
Key people
Amy Hauk, CEO (2019)
ProductsApparel, lingerie
ParentVictoria's Secret
Websitevictoriassecret.com/pink

Pink (stylized PINK) is a lingerie and apparel line by Victoria's Secret, a former subsidiary of L Brands, targeting younger women than their main line. The target demographic skews younger from teenage girls (13-18) to young adult women through their mid-twenties (18-25).[1] PINK had a regular segment featuring their products in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, held through 2018. Sales at the company were initially swift, reaching $1 billion in 2010.[2] Reports of decline due to shifting consumer preferences appeared in 2018.[3] [4][5]

History

Pink in Vancouver, BC, Canada

On October 16, 2002, Victoria's Secret announced the launch of PINK, a new sub-brand and product line. While originally aimed at "tween" girls ages 10–12, the brand would eventually state its official target demographic is teen girls and college-age women.[1] The product first appeared in late 2003 in select stores, with a full chain-wide roll out in July 2004.[6][7] The company often placed its stores side-by-side with Victoria's Secret stores.[3]

The PINK brand sells underwear, swimsuits, sleepwear, loungewear, beauty products, and accessories.[8] The brand was launched strategically, to increase and preserve future Victoria's Secret customers (i.e, ages 21+) and market share by building an expanded pipeline of customers whose brand awareness and loyalty are established and cemented up to 10 years earlier, as tweens and teens.[9]

Pink's competition in the lingerie market for the youth demographic includes Abercrombie & Fitch[10] and Aerie by American Eagle.[1][11] The company's pajamas and sweat pants proved popular within the teenage and preteen set from 2006.[12]

The company grew rapidly in the 2000s, adding stores domestically, and by 2010, sales at PINK reached $1 billion.[2] On November 1, 2009, PINK established its first stand-alone store in Canada,[13] prior to the main Victoria's Secret brand opening its first Canadian store on August 12, 2010.[14]

After working as a leading executive at L Brands and Bath and Body Works, Richard Dent joined the management team at PINK in 2005.[15] He held several key leadership roles at PINK, including the jointly-held responsibilities of COO, SVP, and co-leader of the division.[15][16][17] Under Dent's leadership, the brand established a partnership with the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Collegiate Licensing Company for use of the names and logos of 60 universities in a line of PINK clothing.[15] The Pink "Collegiate Collection" was released in July 2008.[18] Dent expanded the company’s college line in 2009 to include historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), in response to a campaign by a student at Howard University.[15][17]

Denise Landman was appointed CEO at PINK in 2011 and served until she retired at the end of 2018.[19][2] Landman was succeeded by Amy Hauk as CEO in 2019.[19]

The PINK line has been promoted through college tours, and in 2011, the brand continued to work in partnership with NFL teams to market apparel containing team logos to teenage girls and college-aged women.[20]

In March 2013, Victoria's Secret PINK launched a marketing campaign for its "Bright Young Things" underwear line, directed at teen and pre-teen girls, that drew considerable negative attention. The underwear contained wording such as "call me", "feeling lucky", and "wild". A Change.org petition calling for the company to discontinue its product line amassed over 24,000 subscribers. After the criticism increased, Victoria's Secret removed the items from the company's website and said that the ad campaign was meant for college-age women.[21]

Reports of declining sales at PINK began to appear in 2018, following shifts in consumer preferences towards athleisure and a move towards more body-positive brands of underwear than parent brand Victoria's Secret.[22][3][23] Analysts have regarded PINK as more nimble, with a better track record of shifting their marketing towards inclusivity, than their parent brand,[3][24] which faced an onslaught of controversy in 2019 and 2020.[25][26][27] As of 2020, the company had 141 stores, all attached to Victoria's Secret stores.[3]

Marketing

Victoria's Secret Pink Store in New York City

PINK is a division of Victoria's Secret, and was owned by American retail company L Brands. Victoria's Secret was a subsidiary of L Brands, with financials for PINK reported jointly with those of Victoria's Secret.

In a 2009 letter to shareholders, the company's founder, Les Wexner, stated in that PINK had "brought vitality, youth, energy, and an all-new customer base to base Victoria's Secret."[28]

Models

The PINK brand has its own spokesmodels that serve as brand ambassadors. Zuri Tibby became the brand's first spokesmodel of color in 2016.[29]

Nationality Name Contract
Brazil Brazil Alessandra Ambrosio 2004–2006[30]
Canada Canada Jessica Stam 2006–2007
Australia Australia Miranda Kerr 2006–2009[31]
Namibia Namibia Behati Prinsloo 2008–2011[32][33]
Australia Australia Jessica Hart 2011–2013
Sweden Sweden Elsa Hosk 2011–2014[34]
United States United States Rachel Hilbert 2015–2017[35]
United States United States Grace Elizabeth 2016–2018
United States United States Zuri Tibby 2016–2018[36]
United States United States Maggie Laine 2018

PINK has a college line that focuses brand recognition through public university athletics, started in 2008 under the leadership of Richard Dent.[15]

Singer Fergie wearing PINK shirt in July 2007.

The company has partnered with both MLB and the NFL[15] for lines launched by Prinsloo as well as then Angels Chanel Iman, Erin Heatherton, and Candice Swanepoel.[37][38][39] Since then, spokesmodels, including Hosk and Jessica Hart, have attended sporting events to promote joint ventures with MLB and the NFL.[40][41][42]

Starting in 2010,[43] the brand marketed their product line at spring break parties,[44][45] often hosted by a pair of female models (including Behati Prinsloo, Chanel Iman, Elsa Hosk, Rachel Hilbert, Sara Sampaio, and Devon Windsor) and a male guest such as Alexander Ludwig,[46] Nick Jonas,[47] Cody Simpson,[48] or Diego Boneta[49]

The brand, via a "PINK Nation" campaign, has also promoted their products with campus bashes featuring popular performers, as in 2014 with Iggy Azalea at University of Nevada Las Vegas.[50]

Additional models appeared at events for the brand, including Taylor Marie Hill,[51] Emily Didonato,[52] and Jessica Strother[49] as well as the celebrity Ashlee Simpson.[53]

Kylie Bisutti, a former Victoria's Secret model, headlined several Pink to Purpose events from 2013 to 2015, and since 2018. These events, unrelated to the retailer, are described as an encouragement for women "to leave the PINK lifestyle to find PURPOSE!" Bisutti perceives her past as "being at the pinnacle of the PINK lifestyle of fake, broken relationships".[54][55]

PINK was central to the controversy around longtime L Brands Chief Marketing Officer Ed Razek's 2018 interview with Vogue, in which he spoke out against the inclusion of plus-size and trans models in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show specifically, and the Victoria's Secret business model, generally. In August 2019, the first openly transgender model, Valentina Sampaio, was hired to work for PINK;[56] Razek's resignation was announced just days later.[56]

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

The bicycle corset, VS Fashion Show 2012 "Pink Ball" segment[57]

There has been segment for PINK in the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show from 2006 to 2018, the final year the show was held.

In 2007, the brand held an event featuring spokesmodel Miranda Kerr, alongside Jessica Stam and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. The company ran a contest called "Pink Road Trip to the Runway", awarding a spot in the 2007 fashion show to winner, Katie Wile.[58]

The Fashion Show runway segment for PINK was initially accompanied by recorded music from popular artists. From 2010 through 2018, the PINK runway segment featured live performances by widely recognized music acts. Katy Perry was the first live performer for the PINK runway at Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2010, performing a medley from her recently released Teenage Dream album, in addition to performing "Firework" in a segment for the main Victoria's Secret brand.

In 2012, Justin Bieber performed during the Pink segment of the fashion show, while the notorious bicycle corset, featuring only handlebars with streamers, was modeled by Jessica Hart.[59][60][61]

PINK has also marketed their brand by sponsoring fashion show viewing parties during air time, such as in 2013 at West Virginia University.[62]

Pink runway history

Year Segment name Opener Closer Performer Song Type
2006 PINK Jessica Stam Doutzen Kroes Kelis "Bossy" and "Entrance of the Gladiators" Recording (mashup)
2007 PINK Miranda Kerr Flavia De Oliveira The Vines "Get Free" Recording
2008 PINK Planet Behati Prinsloo Flavia De Oliveira The Ting Tings and Montefiori Cocktail "That's Not My Name" and "Hu Ha" Recording
2009 PINK Planet Behati Prinsloo Shannan Click Kings of Leon and The Four Tops "Use Somebody" and "It's the Same Old Song" Recording
2010 PINK Behati Prinsloo Chanel Iman Katy Perry "Teenage Dream" / "Hot n Cold" / "California Gurls" Live performance (medley)
2011 Club PINK Erin Heatherton Karlie Kloss Nicki Minaj "Super Bass" Live performance
2012 PINK Ball Jessica Hart Jourdan Dunn Justin Bieber "Beauty and a Beat" Live performance [note 1]
2013 PINK Network Ieva Lagūna Monika Jagaciak Neon Jungle "Trouble" Live performance
2014 University of PINK Elsa Hosk Monika Jagaciak Ariana Grande "Love Me Harder" / "Bang Bang" / "Break Free" / "Problem" Live performance (medley) [note 1]
2015 PINK USA Taylor Hill Taylor Hill & Megan Puleri Selena Gomez "Hands to Myself" / "Me & My Girls" Live performance (medley)
2016 PINK Nation Grace Elizabeth Dilone Bruno Mars "Chunky" Live performance
2017 PINK Millennial Nation Grace Elizabeth Zuri Tibby Jane Zhang "Work For It" / "808" / "Dust My Shoulders Off" Live performance
2018 PINK Grace Elizabeth Maggie Laine Bebe Rexha "I'm a Mess" Live performance

Notes

  1. 1 2 Nicki Minaj did not return to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show since her 2011 performance. As such, her vocals are played as a recording in the 2012 and 2014 performances. Jessie J and Iggy Azalea have never performed at Victoria's Secret; only their recordings of "Bang Bang" and "Problem", respectively, are played in 2014.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rozhon, Tracie (October 25, 2002). "A Lingerie Maker Returns To Its Racier Past". The New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 "Victoria's Secret names CEO for Pink division". Columbus Business First. March 29, 2011. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Hensel, Anna (2020-01-30). "'It was only a matter of time': Why Victoria Secret's Pink business has struggled". Modern Retail. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  4. ↑ "L Brands to spin off Victoria's Secret by August, hoping to nab higher valuation". CNBC. May 11, 2021. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Bath & Body Works Stock Looks Attractive At $64". NASDAQ. October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  6. ↑ Bhatnagar, Parija (July 30, 2004). "Victoria's Secret launches Pink collection for college kids". CNN Money. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  7. ↑ Harris, Ainsley (August 1, 2014). "Victoria's Secret Loses Trademark Battle Over "Pink" Brand". Fast Company. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Limited Brands 2009 Annual Report". Materials.proxyvote.com. p. 56. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  9. ↑ Merrick, Amy (February 29, 2008). "Apparently, You Can Be Too Sexy". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  10. ↑ Trefis (7 July 2010). "Impact on Lingerie Brand on A&F Stock". TheStreet.com. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  11. ↑ Barbaro, Michael (July 15, 2006). "What Women Want; Underwear That Fits So Well It Can Be Outerwear". The New York Times. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  12. ↑ Kuczynski, Alex (March 16, 2006). "Leaving Las Vegas With a Little Secret". The New York Times. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Heritage". L Brands. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Victoria's Secret opens 1st Canadian store". CBC News. 12 August 2010. Archived from the original on 16 August 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hutson, Brittany (April 5, 2011). "Meet The Man Behind The Rise of Victoria’s Secret PINK" MadameNoire. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Richard A. Dent III". The Network Journal. 2011-06-22. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  17. 1 2 Wade Talbert, Marcia (2008-12-16). "Pink Rolls Out HBCU Apparel". Black Enterprise. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  18. ↑ "Victoria's Secret Pink Expands Collegiate Collection". Chief Marketer. January 22, 2009. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  19. 1 2 Rupp, Lindsey (August 22, 2018). "Victoria's Secret Owner Drops After Pink Chain's CEO Steps Down". Bloomberg. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Victoria's Secret rolls out NFL-branded Pink line". Columbus Business Journal. August 9, 2011. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  21. ↑ Fox, Emily Jane (March 27, 2013). "Racy Victoria's Secret spring break campaign angers parents". CNN Money. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  22. ↑ Hirsch, Lauren (2018-08-23). "Victoria's Secret's Pink lingerie 'is not wanted any longer' as investors shun L Brand shares". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  23. ↑ Jiang, Ethel (September 6, 2018). "Victoria's Secret is broken and its Pink franchise is in the 'early innings' of a long decline (LB)". Business Insider. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  24. ↑ Schlossberg, Mallory. "Victoria's Secret is ignoring a massive shift in the lingerie industry, and it could be costing it tons of money". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  25. ↑ Silver-Greenberg, Jessica; Rosman, Katherine; Maheshwari, Sapna; Stewart, James B. (2020-02-01). "'Angels' in Hell: The Culture of Misogyny Inside Victoria's Secret". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  26. ↑ Goldberg, Carey (January 3, 2020). "Victoria's Secret Models Got Thinner Over 23 Years Of Fashion Show, Study Finds". WBUR. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  27. ↑ Hanbury, Mary. "The rise and fall of Victoria's Secret, America's biggest lingerie retailer". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  28. ↑ "L Brands". Fortune. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  29. ↑ "Victoria's Secret's Newest Model, Zuri Tibby, Was Discovered at a Mall". Yahoo Lifestyle. August 24, 2016.
  30. ↑ "Victoria's Secret Targets College Women". NBC News. July 29, 2004. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  31. ↑ "Miranda Kerr Launches Victoria's Secret New Pink Bdy Organic and Natural Body Care Collection". Zimbio.com. March 10, 2009. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012.
  32. ↑ Barnett, Leisa (May 27, 2008). "Victoria's Pick". Vogue. UK. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
  33. ↑ Kaunitz, Kate (March 15, 2010). "Behati Prinsloo Opens PINK". Fashionista. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
  34. ↑ Lewis, Casey (November 3, 2012). "Supermodel Elsa Hosk on Her Favorite Sports, Style Essentials, and Advice For Breaking Into The Business". teenvogue.com.
  35. ↑ "Rachel Hilbert Is the New Face of Victoria's Secret Pink—See the Pics!". E! Online. June 10, 2015.
  36. ↑ "Victoria's Secret's Newest Model, Zuri Tibby, Was Discovered at a Mall".
  37. ↑ "Strange Bedfellows: Victoria's Secret Pink Makes Football Jerseys". Racked.com. April 23, 2010.
  38. ↑ "Candice Swanpoel & Behati Prinsloo attend the Victoria's Secret Pink MLB collection launch in Chicago". EyePrime. June 14, 2010. Archived from the original on December 3, 2012. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  39. ↑ Taylor Hill/FilmMagic. "Mark Sanchez and Erin Heatherton - Did You See That? - Photos - SI.com". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  40. ↑ "Victoria's Secret PINK Model Jessica Hart Attends The Jets Game To Celebrate The NFL Victoria's Secret PINK Collection - City Sports Report". City Sports Report.
  41. ↑ jaredhatch1719748 (18 November 2011). "Elsa Hosk and Matt Forté Showing off Pink NFL". Racked Chicago.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  42. ↑ "Photos - Victoria's Secret PINK Nation Launches MLB - entertainment.ie". entertainment.ie.
  43. ↑ Heather Muir (5 March 2010). "Victoria's Secret PINK Takes Over Spring Break in Key West!". Seventeen.
  44. ↑ "Behati Prinsloo and Chanel Iman Celebrate Spring Break with Victoria's Secret PINK". teenvogue.com. 22 March 2011.
  45. ↑ "Victoria's Secret PINK Model Sara Sampaio & DJ Irie Host A Spring Break Beach Party In Destin Florida". Guest of a Guest.
  46. ↑ SFL (14 March 2013). "Victoria's Secret Pink Spring Break Dance Party - southflorida.com". southflorida.com.
  47. ↑ "Photos - Joe Jonas attends Victorias Secret Spring Break - entertainment.ie". entertainment.ie.
  48. ↑ "Gigi Hadid At Pink Spring Break". Refinery29.
  49. 1 2 http://www.fashionnstyle.com/articles/75288/20151030/models-rachel-hilbert-jessica-strother-celebrate-the-victorias-secret-pink-nation-game-on-bash-at-utsa.htm
  50. ↑ "Iggy Azalea to Perform at 2014 Victoria's Secret PINK Nation - Us Weekly". usmagazine.com. 23 October 2014.
  51. ↑ Maura Brannigan. "Taylor Hill Interview: The Rising Supermodel On Life After The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show". LuckyShops.
  52. ↑ "Emily Didonato at Victoria's Secret PINK Limited Release Varsity Crew Launch, Buffalo". SAWFIRST - Hot Celebrity Pictures. 15 March 2015.
  53. ↑ POPSUGAR Celebrity (3 July 2006). "Ashlee Simpson Gets Pink for Victoria's Secret". Popsugar.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  54. ↑ Dominy, Troy (28 August 2013). "Fashion Event Design". www.behance.net. Behance. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  55. ↑ Hope Church (21 October 2014). "Hope Church on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  56. 1 2 Hauser, Christine (2019-08-05). "Victoria's Secret Casts First Openly Transgender Woman as a Model". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  57. ↑ "Too Sexy Too Soon?". Yahoo! News. ABC News. 20 March 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  58. ↑ "Model Katie Wile". filmmagic.com. FilmMagic. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  59. ↑ "Victoria's Secret: And the first model is dressed as a bicycle". Mamamia. 2012-11-08. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  60. ↑ Krause, Amanda (May 10, 2019). "34 wild looks models have worn at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which may be ending as we know it". Insider. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  61. ↑ McLean, Sarah (2015-11-09). "9 Memorable Aussie Model Moments on the Victoria's Secret Runway". The Fashion Spot. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  62. ↑ "PINK @ WVU to host Victoria's Secret Fashion Show viewing party". The Daily Athenaeum.
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