Sofia Malamute for Victoria’s Secret
If you’ve ever asked the question “who is Victoria” or “what is Victoria’s secret”, you’re not alone. Ever since Roy Raymond founded the lingerie brand in 1977, people have asked variations of this question.
But the answer isn’t exactly obvious. In fact, even the models who have helped make Victoria’s Secret an iconic brand have different ideas about the origins of its name.
For example, an old Instagram post by Cindy Crawford shows some Victoria’s Secret models being asked the age-old question, “Who is Victoria?” While most of the answers were jokes, it does go to show how intriguing the name is (and maybe that’s the point).
Who Exactly Was the Victoria in the Name and What Was Her Secret?
Ready for it? The brand was named after Queen Victoria, and referenced the taboo/hidden nature of lingerie and underwear at the time.
The company was started by American business man Roy Raymond and his wife, Gaye, in California in 1977. According to news reports at the time, Raymond wanted to buy his wife some nice underwear, but couldn’t find any that weren’t dowdy. He also allegedly felt ‘unwelcome’ in the stores.
“When I tried to buy lingerie for my wife,” he told Newsweek at the time, “I was faced with racks of terry-cloth robes and ugly floral-print nylon nightgowns, and I always had the feeling the department store saleswomen thought I was an unwelcome intruder.”
So, he established Victoria’s Secret, borrowing money from his in-laws and a bank to start the company. He named it after the 19th century Queen because he imagined the stores looking like Victorian-era boudoirs and wanted to create a sense of Victorian sophistication, while alluding to the ‘secret’ underneath the clothes.
After opening up his first store in Palo Alto, California, Raymond went onto open five more, and to launch a 42-page catalogue for the underwear. He then sold the business for $1 million to The Limited’s Leslie Wexner. Less than a decade later, the company was worth almost $1 billion.
Raymond tragically died by suicide after jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
Now, however, the brand is known as a lingerie giant, that has also branched into beauty, swimwear, womenswear and skincare.
4 Similarities Between Victoria’s Secret and Queen Victoria
Whether by design or coincidence, Roy Raymond’s choice of name for Victoria’s Secret has led to these other similarities from the 19th century.
- Underwear was an important part of 19th century fashion. Although rarely spoken about at the time, underwear and undergarments gave structure to women’s fashion during Queen Victoria’s reign. According to the Victoria and Albert Museum, this included petticoats, drawers, corsets and stays, and you can find modern takes on some of these items in Victoria’s Secret today.
- Queen Victoria valued underwear. Like everything the Queen wore, her undergarments were custom-made and tailored to the highest standards. The Historic Royal Palaces website states that this created “striking differences” with undergarments worn by ordinary 19th century people. It’s also safe to say Victoria’s Secret, and the people that shop there, share this value for underwear.
- Queen Victoria and Victoria’s Secret underwear both consider the quality of fabrics. For the late Queen, this included the finest cotton and silk, hand-stitching and embroidered details, as well as some lace. For the lingerie brand, cotton and lace are also staples, although Victoria’s Secret uses many other fabrics and fibres. It also considers sustainability and environmental impact, with goals to improve quality in these areas.
- Both can command high values today. Queen Victoria’s underwear has a high value at auction, with a set of her undergarments selling for £16,570 in 2020 (around $30,452 in Australian dollars). But that’s nothing compared to a Victoria’s Secret Fantasy Bra, which have values in the millions of dollars. Fortunately for us, there are also more affordable items from the lingerie brand too.
