Roy Raymond

Summary

Roy Raymond was a businessman and founder of Victoria’s Secret. Every November in New York, fantasy becomes reality when the world’s most beautiful models sashay down the catwalk in stunning lingerie for reported £8  Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. But while the brand reported £8 success is legendary, few know the man behind its creation. Victoria’s Secret was the brainchild of Californian business graduate Roy Raymond, who was inspired when shopping for lingerie for his wife.

Early Years

Roy Raymond, the founder of Victoria’s Secret, was born in 1947 in Connecticut. He attended Tufts University and later earned an MBA from Stanford University. His early career began in marketing, and he worked for a few companies where he honed his business acumen. It was during this time that Raymond identified a gap in the lingerie market, feeling that shopping for intimate apparel was uncomfortable and unwelcoming, especially for men. This would later become the driving force behind his iconic business idea.

In the late 1970s, while shopping for lingerie for his wife, Raymond was struck by how intimidating and awkward the experience was in department stores, which typically displayed undergarments in bland settings. He believed there was a need for a store where men could feel comfortable shopping for their partners, and women could browse lingerie in a more sophisticated and intimate environment. This realisation pushed him to develop a brand that would cater to these needs, leading to the birth of Victoria’s Secret.

Victoria’s Secret

On June 12, 1977, Raymond opened the first Victoria’s Secret retail store at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California after feeling humiliated when purchasing lingerie for his wife in a department store, where derisive stares made him feel like a deviant. As per Newsweek, he said: “When I tried to buy lingerie for my wife, 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.”

This incident was the motivation for a man- friendly lingerie store where purchasing sexy lingerie for a lady was met with approval, not gossip. He reportedly spent the next few years studying the lingerie market and invested $80,000 to establish Victoria’s Secret in Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, California on June 12, 1977 — a specialty store where men were comfortable buying lingerie. Named after the Victorian era, it was evocative with the elegance and respectability of the period. Victoria’s Secret grossed $500,000 in its first year of business, enough to finance its growth to four stores and mail-order catalogue.

In 1982, Raymond charged customers $3 for the catalog and catalog sales accounted for 55 per cent of the company’s sales that year. In 1982, Victoria’s Secret had evolved to five stores, forty-page catalog and was grossing reportedly $6 million each year. Raymond then sold the company to Les Wexner, creator of Limited Stores Inc of Columbus, Ohio, for reportedly $1 million.

Wexner found that women were still a sizeable portion of Victoria’s Secret consumers; 70 per cent of in-store shoppers and 50 per cent of purchases in 1981, per WWD. He revamped the brand image to appeal to women and fulfilled a reachable fantasy of allure and luxury. The New York Times reported that Victoria’s Secret swiftly expanded to a hundred stores by 1986 and described it as a “highly visible leader” that used “unabashedly sexy high-fashion photography for affordable underwear.” In 1995, Wexner launched Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show—what began as a lingerie show grew into an annual lingerie gala where supermodels dressed as “angels” and wore wings and diamond-studded bras for the fashion show!

By 1998, Victoria’s Secret’s entered the cosmetic market and also added Body By Victoria. However it struggled to adapt to changing consumer preferences, clinging on to its hyper sexualised image. In 2016, Victoria’s Secret was split into three divisions: Victoria’s Secret Lingerie, Victoria’s Secret Beauty and Pink — each with its CEO. In 2018, CMO Ed Razek made a controversial comment that the company doesn’t cast transgender or plus-size models in its annual fashion show because “the show is a fantasy.”

After 40 per cent stock plunge in a single year, Victoria’s Secret announced the closure of fifty-three stores in the U.S. in 2019 and Ed Razek resigned. It was also announced that Victoria’s Secret would no longer hold their annual show. In January 2020, L Brands chairman and CEO Lex Wexner, mired in recent months by investigation into a culture of misogyny at the company and declining sales at Victoria’s Secret, decided to step down. The company announced a sale in February 2020 to private equity firm Sycamore Partners in a deal that values the company at about $955 million.

Today there is hype about Victoria’s Secret once again as the show returns from its sabbatical – with a teaser released on the lingerie brand’s official Instagram page. The trailer shows Gigi Hadid wearing a sheer, shimmering slip dress, and walking through a hotel lobby. As she rings the bell for service, Tyra Banks turns around, serving her with a gold envelope that reads: “Your attendance is requested: Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2024.” The date underneath reads: “October 15, 2024: New York City.” The show’s return was also confirmed by Victoria’s Secret CFO Timothy Johnson, who said in a statement: “We’re going to continue to lean into the marketing spend to invest in the business and also to support the new version of our fashion show, which is to come later this year.”

Roy Raymond’s Death

Roy Raymond, the founder of Victoria’s Secret, tragically took his own life in 1993. After selling the company to Leslie Wexner in 1982 for $1 million, Raymond faced a series of personal and financial struggles. His next business venture, a children’s retail store called “My Child’s Destiny,” failed, leaving him in significant debt. Struggling to replicate the success of Victoria’s Secret, Raymond became increasingly despondent as his financial situation worsened.

On August 26, 1993, Raymond jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. His death was ruled a suicide. It marked a tragic end to the life of an entrepreneur who revolutionized the lingerie industry but was ultimately unable to overcome the personal and financial challenges that followed his initial success. His passing is often remembered as a cautionary tale about the pressures of entrepreneurship and the toll it can take on mental health.

Frequently Asked Questions about Roy Raymond

1. Who was Roy Raymond? Roy Raymond was an American entrepreneur best known for founding Victoria’s Secret in 1977. He envisioned a lingerie brand that offered a comfortable shopping experience for both men and women.
2. What inspired Roy Raymond to start Victoria’s Secret? Raymond was inspired to create Victoria’s Secret after an uncomfortable experience shopping for lingerie for his wife in a department store, where he found the environment uninviting and awkward.
3. When and where was Victoria’s Secret founded? Victoria’s Secret was founded in 1977 in Palo Alto, California.
4. What was unique about the first Victoria’s Secret store? The original Victoria’s Secret store was designed like a Victorian-style boudoir, aiming to provide a more luxurious and private shopping experience compared to the stark department store environment.
5. What happened to Roy Raymond after he sold Victoria’s Secret? In 1982, Roy Raymond sold Victoria’s Secret to businessman Leslie Wexner for $1 million. After that, he attempted other ventures, including a children’s retail business called My Child’s Destiny, but they were unsuccessful.
6. Why did Roy Raymond sell Victoria’s Secret? Despite the brand’s early success, Raymond sold Victoria’s Secret because he reportedly faced financial struggles and couldn’t scale the business to his vision. He sold it just before the company achieved massive growth under Wexner.
7. How much did Roy Raymond sell Victoria’s Secret for? Roy Raymond sold Victoria’s Secret to Leslie Wexner, the founder of L Brands, for $1 million in 1982.
8. What were Roy Raymond’s later years like? After selling Victoria’s Secret, Raymond faced personal and financial difficulties, including a failed business venture. He struggled to regain the same success he had with Victoria’s Secret.
9. How did Roy Raymond die? Tragically, Roy Raymond died by suicide in 1993, jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge. His death followed years of personal and financial hardship.
10. What is Roy Raymond’s legacy today? Roy Raymond’s legacy lives on through Victoria’s Secret, which became a global brand and transformed the lingerie industry. Although his personal story had a tragic ending, his business innovation had a lasting impact on fashion retail.

References

• Fashion Magazine – Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2024
• W Magazine – Victoria’s Secret’s New Era
• L’Officiel USA – The Rise and Fall of Victoria’s Secret
• V Magazine – The Icon Collection Launch
• Grazia USA – Victoria’s Secret’s Return to the Runway
• Vogue France – Victoria’s Secret World Tour 2023
• The Telegraph – Marchioness of Bath Named New Face of Victoria’s Secret
• Vanity Fair France – Adriana Lima Responds to Critics
• Harper’s Bazaar – Victoria’s Secret’s World Tour
• 34th Street Magazine – Victoria’s Secret Rebranding