Whereas it used to feel like you couldn’t turn around at Victoria’s Secret without facing a wall of pushup bras, the company is now focused on a different kind of pushup — the sort you do while exercising and wearing a sports bra.
Victoria’s Secret is facing stiff competition from a slew of rivals offering trendy athleisure wear — clothing that is designed to be worn either while exercising or while looking like you might possibly be about to exercise — prompting the retailer to turn from pushup bras to sports bras and other non-padded fare like bralettes in order to compete in the face of slowing sales, Bloomberg reports.
The company has alerted customers to the new sporty landscape in emails assuring shoppers that “no padding is sexy,” and with promotional videos showing models hitting punching bags, jumping rope, and of course, stretching next to each other in slow motion.
No matter what kind of undergarments or clothing Victoria’s Secret sells, it’s going to have to be marketed as “sexy,” however, experts say.
“That sexy image, that is who they are,” Bridget Weishaar, an analyst at Morningstar told Bloomberg. “But it’s a lifestyle brand. It’s not tied to a specific product line.”
The company says it’s committed to its sports business, and executives say they’re getting “good sales growth” out of the category.
“We’re in a business that has different fashion trends from time to time,” Stuart Burgdoerfer, L Brands chief financial officer, said on a call with analysts in June. “Hopefully, in most cases, we’re leading those trends, or certainly taking good advantage of those trends, in things like sports bras or bralettes. We think we’re participating well.”
Can Sexy Sports Bras Help Victoria’s Secret Fend Off New Rivals? [Bloomberg]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
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