World's biggest seller of lingerie, founded around 1975 as a place for men to buy underwear for their wives and girlfriends. Sales peaked at $7.8bn in 2016 and had fallen to $6.2bn by 2024. It was spun off from L Brands in 2021; its market value has since fallen by more than half, to $1.5bn.
In the 2010s the brand became emblematic of criticism of the fashion industry. Its annual fashion show featured pale, stick-thin, feather-clad models known as "angels". Emboldened by the #MeToo movement, former angels recounted tales of starvation and abuse. In 2018 the show's organiser told reporters he would never have a transgender model, or a fat one; the event was cancelled the following year. Since returning in 2024, the show also features models who are not so skinny, pale or female.
Hillary Super became chief executive in August 2024, the third CEO in four years. Competitors including Skims, co-founded by Kim Kardashian, have pinched market share.
Life is divided into the horrible and the miserable.