Passage 1:
Margaret, Countess of Brienne
Marguerite d'Enghien (born 1365 - d. after 1394), was the ruling suo jure Countess of Brienne and of Conversano, suo jure Lady of Enghien, and Lady of Beauvois from 1394 until an unknown date.

Life
Marguerite was born in 1365, the eldest daughter of Louis of Enghien, Count of Brienne and Conversano, Lord of Enghien, Titular Duke of Athens, and Giovanna of Sanseverino. Marguerite had a brother, Antoine who died at the age of sixteen, leaving her, the eldest daughter, heir to her father's estates and titles.
She inherited the counties of Brienne and of Conversano, and the Lordship of Enghien from her father Louis of Enghien on 17 March 1394. She was the wife of John of Luxembourg, Sire of Beauvois and the mother of Peter of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, Count of Brienne and of Conversano who inherited her fiefs, and John II of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny.

Reign
Marguerite became the suo jure Countess of Brienne and Conversano, and Dame of Enghien upon her father's death on 17 March 1394. Her husband John also became Count of Brienne and of Conversano by right of his wife.She died on an unknown date sometime after 1394. Her will was dated 19 September 1393. Her eldest son, Peter received her titles of Brienne and of Conversano.

Marriages and issue
On an unknown date, Marguerite married  her first husband, Pierre de Baux, and following his death, she married as her second husband, a relative of her mother, Giacopo of Sanseverino. Both of these early marriages were childless.
In 1380, after Giacopo's death, Marguerite married her third husband, John of Luxembourg, Sire of Beauvois (1370–1397).  He was the son of Guy of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol and Mahaut of Châtillon, Countess of Saint-Pol. By her third husband, Marguerite had five children:
Peter of Luxembourg (1390–31 August 1433), Count of Saint-Pol (1430), which he inherited from his aunt Jeanne of Luxembourg, Countess of Saint-Pol and Ligny; he also inherited, on an unknown date, Marguerite's fiefs of Brienne and of Conversano, thus becoming Count of Brienne and of Conversano. He married on 8 May 1405, Margaret de Baux, by whom he had nine children, including Jacquetta of Luxembourg, mother of Elizabeth Woodville Queen-Consort of Edward IV of England.
John II of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny (1392–5 January 1441), inherited the title of Beauvois from his father, and the title of Ligny from his aunt, Jeanne of Luxembourg. On 23 November 1418, married Jeanne de Béthune, widow of Robert of Bar, Count of Marle and Soissons who had been killed at the Battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415. John, who was an ally of the English during the Hundred Years War, received Joan of Arc as his prisoner, and subsequently sold her to the English for 10,000 livres.
Louis of Luxembourg (died 18 September 1443). He was a statesman and a high-ranking churchman. His posts and clerical titles included Cardinal (1439), Archbishop of Rouen (1437), Chancellor of France (1425), Governor of Paris (1436), Bishop of Thérouanne, Administrator of Ely (1437), Bishop of Frascati (1442). He was buried in Ely Cathedral.
Catherine of Luxembourg (born c. 1393)
Jeanne of Luxembourg (died 1420), married firstly, on 8 September 1415, Louis, Seigneur de Ghistelles (killed at the Battle of Agincourt); she married secondly on 28 October 1419, Jean IV, Viscount of Melun, Constable of Flanders.
Passage 2:
Nocher II, Count of Soissons
Nocher II (died 1019), Count of Bar-sur-Aube, Count of Soissons. He was the son of Nocher I, Count of Bar-sur-Aube. Nocher's brother Beraud (d. 1052) was Bishop of Soissons.Nocher became Count of Soissons, jure uxoris, upon his marriage to Adelise, Countess of Soissons.  Nocher and Adelisa had three children:

Nocher III (d. 1040), Count of Bar-sur-Aube, had at least two daughters by unknown wife:
Adèle (d. 1053), Countess of Bar-sur-Aube
Isabeau
Guy, archbishop of Reims
Renaud I, Count of SoissonsNocher's son and namesake became Count of Bar-sur-Aube upon his death, and the countship of Soissons reverted to his wife.  His son Renaud would eventually become the Count of Soissons.
Passage 3:
Adelaide, Countess of Soissons
Adelaide (died 1105), was sovereign Countess of Soissons from 1057 until 1105.
She was the daughter of Renaud I, Count of Soissons, and his wife, whose name is unknown, widow of Hilduin III, Count of Montdidier. .
Adelaide became ruler of the County of Soissons upon the death of her father and brother, Guy II, Count of Soissons, in 1057.
Adelaide married William Busac, Count of Eu, grandson of Richard I, Duke of Normandy.  Adelaide and William had five children:

Renaud II, Count of Soissons
John I, Count of Soissons, married to Aveline de Pierrefonds
Manasses of Soissons, Bishop of Cambrai, Bishop of Soissons
Lithuise de Blois, married to Milo I of Montlhéry
Unnamed daughter, married to Yves le Vieux.William Busac became Count of Soissons, de jure uxoris, upon their marriage.

Notes
Sources
Dormay, C., Histoire de la ville de Soissons et de ses rois, ducs, comtes et gouverneurs, Soissons, 1664 (available on Google Books)
Passage 4:
Margaret, Countess of Soissons
Margaret (or Margaretha) of Soissons (died ca. 1350) was ruling Countess of Soissons in 1305-1344. She was the only daughter of Hugh, Count of Soissons, and Johanna of Argies. In 1306 she succeeded her father as Countess of Soissons.
Margaret was married to John of Beaumont, son of John II, Count of Holland. Margaret and John had five children:

Johanna of Hainault (1323–1350), married first to Louis II, Count of Blois, (three sons), and second to William I, Marquis of Namur, no issue.
John, Canon of Cambrai.
William, Canon of Cambrai, Beauvais and Le Mans.
Amalrik, Canon of Cambrai, Dole and Tours.
Reinout, Canon of Cambrai.Upon their marriage, John became Count of Soissons, jure uxoris.

Sources
Dormay, C., Histoire de la ville de Soissons et de ses rois, ducs, comtes et gouverneurs, Soissons, 1664 (available on Google Books)
Passage 5:
Jeanne of Bar, Countess of Marle and Soissons
Jeanne de Bar, suo jure Countess of Marle and Soissons, Dame d'Oisy, Viscountess of Meaux, and Countess of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, de Ligny, and Conversano (1415 – 14 May 1462)  was a noble French heiress and Sovereign Countess. She was the only child of Robert of Bar, Count of Marle and Soissons, Sire d'Oisy, who was killed at the Battle of Agincourt when she was a baby, leaving her the sole heiress to his titles and estates. In 1430, at the age of fifteen, Jeanne was one of the three women placed in charge of Joan of Arc when the latter was a prisoner in the castle of John II of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny, Jeanne's stepfather.
She was the first wife of Louis of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, de Ligny, and Conversano, Constable of France.

Family
Jeanne was born in 1415, the only child of Robert of Bar, Count of Marle and Soissons, Sire d'Oisy (1390- 25 October 1415), whose own mother was Marie de Coucy, Countess of Soissons, granddaughter of English King Edward III of England. Her mother was Jeanne de Béthune, Viscountess of Meaux (c.1397- late 1450).On 25 October 1415, her father was killed in the Battle of Agincourt, leaving Jeanne, who was a baby, as sole heiress to her father's titles and estates. In 1418, her mother married secondly John II of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny and de Guise (1392 – 5 January 1441), son of John of Luxembourg, Sire de Beauvois and Marguerite of Enghien, Countess of Brienne and of Conversano. The marriage was childless.
It was Jeanne's stepfather John who received Joan of Arc as his prisoner, and kept her at his castle of Beaurevoir. Joan, who was three years Jeanne's senior, was placed in the care of Jeanne, her mother and Jeanne of Luxembourg, John's elderly aunt. The three ladies did all they could to comfort Joan in her captivity, and unsuccessfully tried to persuade her to abandon her masculine clothing for feminine attire. They earned Joan's gratitude for their kind and compassionate treatment of her. Despite the pleas of Jeanne and the other two women, John sold Joan of Arc to the English, who were his allies, for 10,000 livres.

Marriage and issue
On 16 July 1435, at the age of twenty, Jeanne married Louis of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, Brienne, de Ligny, and Conversano, Constable of France (1418 – 19 December 1475). The marriage took place at the Chateau de Bohain. She was Louis' first wife. Louis was the eldest son of Peter of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, Brienne, and Conversano, by his wife Margaret de Baux. Louis had been brought up by his paternal uncle, who was Jeanne's stepfather, John II of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny and Guise; therefore the young couple were well-acquainted with one another. John designated Louis as his heir to the counties of Ligny and Guise, but upon John's death in 1441, King Charles VII of France sequestered the estates and titles. The title of Ligny was eventually restored to Louis. The title and estates of Guise were given to Louis' youngest sister, Isabelle as her dowry, which passed to her husband, Charles, Count of Maine, upon their marriage in 1443.
Jeanne succeeded as Viscountess of Meaux suo jure upon the death of her mother in late 1450.
Jeanne and Louis had seven children:

John of Luxembourg, Count of Marle and Soissons, Governor of Burgundy (killed at the Battle of Morat on 22 June 1476)
Jacqueline of Luxembourg (died 1511), married Philippe de Croy, 2nd Count of Porcien, by whom she had issue.
Pierre II de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, de Ligny, Marle and Soissons (1448 – 25 October 1482), on 12 July 1466, married Marguerite of Savoy (1439 Turin – 9 March 1483 Bruges), the daughter of Louis, Duke of Savoy and Anne de Lusignan of Cyprus, and widow of Giovanni IV Paleologo, Margrave of Montferrat, by whom he had issue, including Marie de Luxembourg (c. April 1467 – 1 April 1547), wife of François de Bourbon, Count of Vendôme, and from whom Mary, Queen of Scots, King Henry IV of France, the subsequent Bourbon kings of France, and the Lorraine Dukes of Guise were directly descended.
Helene of Luxembourg (died 23 August 1488), married Janus of Savoy, Count of Faucigny, Governor of Nice (1440–1491), the brother of her sister-in-law, Marguerite of Savoy, by whom she had a daughter, Louise of Savoy (1467 – 1 May 1530).
Charles of Luxembourg, Bishop of Laon (1447 – 24 November 1509), had several illegitimate children by an unknown mistress.
Anthony I, Count of Ligny, Brienne, and Roussy (died 1519), married firstly Antoinette de Bauffrémont, Countess de Charny, by whom he had issue; he married secondly, Françoise de Croÿ-Chimay, by whom he had issue; he married thirdly Gillette de Coélivy. His last marriage was childless. By his mistress, Peronne de Machefert, he had an illegitimate son, Antoine of Luxembourg, Bastard of Brienne, who married and left descendants.
Philippe of Luxembourg (died 1521), Abbesse at Moncel

Death
Jeanne died on 14 May 1462 aged about forty-seven years. Her husband married secondly Marie of Savoy (20 March 1448 – 1475), daughter of Louis, Duke of Savoy and Anne of Cyprus, by whom he had three more children. Marie was a younger sister of his daughter-in-law Marguerite of Savoy. Louis of Luxembourg was imprisoned in the Bastille and afterward beheaded in Paris on 19 December 1475 for treason against King Louis XI of France.

Ancestry
Passage 6:
John of Luxembourg, Count of Soissons
John of Luxembourg (died 22 June 1476) was Count of Marle and Count of Soissons between 1462 and 1476, Lord of Dunkirk, Gravelines and Bourbourg.
John was the eldest son of Louis de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol and Jeanne de Bar, Countess of Marle and Soissons. He became Count of Marle and Soissons, following the death of his mother in 1462. In 1473, John became a member in the Order of the Golden Fleece. He was unable to inherit his father's lands, since his father was beheaded for treason in 1475 and his lands confiscated.
John was killed at the Battle of Morat, 22 June 1476. He never married and his lands went to his younger brother Peter.
Passage 7:
William Busac
William Busac (1020–1076), son of William I, Count of Eu, and his wife Lesceline, was Count of Eu and Count of Soissons, de jure uxoris.  William was given the nickname Busac by the medieval chronicler Robert of Torigni.
William appealed to King Henry I of France, who gave him in marriage Adelaide, the heiress of the county of Soissons. Adelaide was daughter of Renaud I, Count of Soissons and Grand Master of the Hotel de France. William then became Count of Soissons in right of his wife. William and Adelaide had four children:

Renaud II, Count of Soissons (died 1099)
John I, Count of Soissons (died after 1115), married to Aveline de Pierrefonds
Manasses of Soissons, Bishop of Cambrai, Bishop of Soissons (died 1 Mar 1108)
Lithuise de Blois, married to Milo I of Montlhéry
Raintrude, married to Raoul I of Nesle, a member of the House of Nesle.His son Renaud became Count of Soissons upon William's death, and he was succeeded by his brother John.
Passage 8:
John V, Count of Soissons
John V (21 March 1281 – 1304), son of John IV, Count of Soissons, and his wife Marguerite of Rumigny. Count of Soissons.
John inherited the countship of Soissons from his father in 1302.  Nothing is known about his brief rule of the county. He never married and died with no heirs.  Upon his death, his brother Hugh became Count of Soissons.

Sources
Dormay, C., Histoire de la ville de Soissons et de ses rois, ducs, comtes et gouverneurs, Soissons, 1664 (available on Google Books)
Passage 9:
John III, Count of Soissons
John III (died before 8 October 1286), son of John II, Count of Soissons, and Marie de Chimay.  Count of Soissons and Seigneur of Chimay.  John inherited the countship of Soissons upon his father’s death in 1272.
John married Marguerite de Montfort, daughter of Amaury, Count of Montfort, and his wife Beatrix de Viennois.  John and Marguerite had:

Marie de Nesle (d. after 1272), married to Guy de Saint-Rémy
John IV, Count of Soissons
Unnamed daughter, married Eustache IV de Conflans, Seigneur de Mareuil, son of Eustache III de Conflans
Raoul de Nesle (killed in the battle of Courtrai, 11 July 1302)
Auchier de Nesle.
Hugh de Nesle, d.1306
Passage 10:
Guy II, Count of Soissons
Guy II (d. 1057), son of Renaud I, Count of Soissons, and his wife (name unknown), widow of Hilduin III, Count of Montdidier. Guy was identified as Count of Soissons in 1042 in a charter in which Gaunilo of Marmoutiers, the treasurer of St. Martin, denoted property. Guy died with his father in 1057 at the siege of Soissons.
It is not known whether or not Guy was married and no children are recorded. Upon his death, his sister Adelaide assumed the countship of Soissons.

Sources
Dormay, C., Histoire de la ville de Soissons et de ses rois, ducs, comtes et gouverneurs, Soissons, 1664 (available on Google Books)


Passage 1:
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2003
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is an annual fashion show sponsored by Victoria's Secret, a brand of lingerie and sleepwear. Victoria's Secret uses the show to promote and market its goods in high-profile settings. The show features some of the world's leading fashion models, such as current Victoria's Secret Angels Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Gisele Bündchen, and Adriana Lima.
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2003 was recorded in New York City, United States at the 69th Regiment Armory. The show featured musical performances by Sting, Mary J. Blige, and Eve. Angel Heidi Klum was wearing the Victoria's Secret Fantasy Bra : Very Sexy Fantasy Bra worth $11,000,000.

Fashion show segments
Segment 1: Sexy Super Heroines
Segment 2: Razor Sharp Latex Ladies
Special Performance
Segment 3 : Rock Chicks Rockin' Out
Special Performance
Segment 4 : Sexy Kittens
Special Performance
Segment 5 : Glaaaaamaaazons
Index
Finale
Angels: Adriana Lima, Gisele Bündchen, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum.
Returning Models: Michelle Alves, Alessandra Ambrosio, Carmen Kass, Dewi Driegen, Naomi Campbell, Ana Beatriz Barros, Angela Lindvall, Frankie Rayder, Mini Andén, Eugenia Volodina, Oluchi Onweagba, Liya Kebede, Lindsay Frimodt, Fernanda Tavares, Letícia Birkheuer, Ujjwala Raut, Karolina Kurkova.
Newcomers: Isabeli Fontana, Marcelle Bittar, Jacquetta Wheeler, Margarita Svegzdaite, Deanna Miller.

External links
VSFS 2003 Gallery
Passage 2:
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2001
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is an annual fashion show sponsored by Victoria's Secret, a brand of lingerie and sleepwear. Victoria's Secret uses the show to promote and market its goods in high-profile settings. The show features some of the world's leading fashion models, such as current Victoria's Secret Angels Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Daniela Peštová, Gisele Bündchen, and Adriana Lima.
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2001 was recorded in New York, United States at the Bryant Park. The show featured musical performances by Andrea Bocelli and Mary J. Blige. Angel Heidi Klum was wearing the Victoria's Secret Fantasy Bra: The Heavenly Star Bra worth $12,500,000.

Fashion show segments
Special Performance
Segment 1
Special Performance
Segment 2
Index
Finale
Angels: Gisele Bündchen, Heidi Klum, Adriana Lima, Tyra Banks, Daniela Peštová.
Returning models: Karolína Kurková, Caroline Ribeiro, Eva Herzigová, Mini Andén, Fernanda Tavares, Trish Goff, Bridget Hall, Aurélie Claudel, Rhea Durham, Alessandra Ambrosio, Inés Rivero.
Newcomers: Rie Rasmussen, Maggie Rizer, Alek Wek, Omahyra Mota, Karen Elson, Molly Sims, Audrey Marnay, Diána Mészáros, Anouck Lepere, Emma Heming.

External links
VSFS 2001 Gallery
Passage 3:
List of Victoria's Secret models
This is a list of current and former Victoria's Secret Angels and fashion models who have walked in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show since its inception in 1995.

Victoria's Secret Angels
Models who were chosen as Victoria's Secret Angels are listed in the table below. In June 2021, Victoria's Secret announced that it was ending its Angels brand.

PINK spokesmodels
The following is the list of models who have been contracted as spokesmodels for Victoria's Secret's PINK brand.

Notes
Passage 4:
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2002
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is an annual fashion show sponsored by Victoria's Secret, a brand of lingerie and sleepwear. Victoria's Secret uses the show to promote and market its goods in high-profile settings. The show features some of the world's leading fashion models, such as current Victoria's Secret Angels Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Gisele Bündchen, and Adriana Lima.
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2002 was recorded in New York, United States at the 69th Regiment Armory. The show featured musical performances by Destiny's Child, Marc Anthony, and Phil Collins. Karolína Kurková was wearing the Victoria's Secret Fantasy Bra : Star of Victoria Fantasy Bra worth $10,000,000.

Fashion show segments
Special Performance
Segment 1: Religious Holiday
Special Performance
Segment 2: Jungle Animals
Special Performance
Segment 3: Flamenco Frills
Segment 4: Neon Angels
Finale
Angels: Gisele Bündchen, Heidi Klum, Adriana Lima, Tyra Banks, Karolína Kurková.
Returning models: Carmen Kass, Bridget Hall, Naomi Campbell, Fernanda Tavares, Alessandra Ambrosio, Frankie Rayder, Caroline Ribeiro, Oluchi Onweagba.
Newcomers: Yfke Sturm, Eugenia Volodina, Lindsay Frimodt, Michelle Alves, Nadine Strittmatter, Raquel Zimmermann, Liya Kebede, Dewi Driegen, Ana Beatriz Barros, Caitriona Balfe, Inga Savits, Ujjwala Raut, Ana Hickmann, Reka Ebergenyi, Letícia Birkheuer.

Index
External links
VSFS 2002 Gallery
Passage 5:
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2005
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is an annual fashion show sponsored by Victoria's Secret, a brand of lingerie and sleepwear. Victoria's Secret uses the show to promote and market its goods in high-profile settings. The show features some of the world's leading fashion models, such as current Victoria's Secret Angels Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Gisele Bündchen, Adriana Lima, Karolína Kurková, Alessandra Ambrosio, Selita Ebanks, and Izabel Goulart.
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2005 was recorded in New York City, United States at the 69th Regiment Armory. The show featured musical performances by Chris Botti, Seal, and Ricky Martin. Gisele Bündchen was wearing the Victoria's Secret Fantasy Bra : Sexy Splendor Fantasy Bra worth $12,500,000.

Fashion Show segments
Segment 1: Sexy Santa Helpers
Segment 2: Sexy Shadow Dreams
Segment 3: Sexy Crystal Princesses
Segment 4: Sexy Delicious
This segment was swapped in order of appearance with the fifth segment, Sexy Russian Babes, in the edited TV version.

Segment 5: Sexy Russian Babes
This segment was swapped in order of appearance with the fourth segment, Sexy Delicious, in the edited TV version.

Special Performance
Segment 6: Sexy Toys
Finale
Tyra Banks led the finale.

== Index ==
Passage 6:
The Gravity Group
The Gravity Group is a wooden roller coaster design firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The firm was founded in July 2002 out of the engineering team of the famed but now defunct Custom Coasters International. The core group of designers and engineers at The Gravity Group have backgrounds in civil, structural and mechanical engineering.  Their experience comes from work on over 40 different wooden roller coasters around the world.  The first coaster designed under the Gravity Group opened as Hades at Mount Olympus Theme Park in 2005. The Gravity Group also designed The Voyage at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana, which opened in May 2006 and is the second-longest wooden roller coaster in the world.  These first two accomplishments of the team have been received with great success by both the industry and coaster enthusiasts alike.
In 2007, The Gravity Group opened Boardwalk Bullet, an intense wooden roller coaster that was built at Kemah Boardwalk and opened as the only wooden coaster in the Greater Houston area. The Gravity Group designed Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer in Erie, Pennsylvania, which was opened at the start of the 2008 season. In 2009, Wooden Coaster - Fireball was opened at Happy Valley in China, becoming China's first wooden roller coaster. In 2011 Quassy Amusement Park opened Wooden Warrior, the company's sixth wooden roller coaster. The Gravity Group was also involved in the rebuilding of Libertyland's Zippin Pippin at Bay Beach Amusement Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
In 2008, members of The Gravity Group announced the development of their own wooden coaster trains called Timberliners.  They are being produced by Gravitykraft Corporation, a sister company to The Gravity Group.  The Gravity Group promotes their trains as the only wooden coaster trains capable of steering through curves, resulting in a more comfortable and maintenance-friendly ride.  Timberliners were planned to debut on The Voyage at Holiday World for the 2010 season, but after four years of delays, Holiday World officially cancelled the project on August 16, 2013.  However, in 2011, the Timberliners appeared on Wooden Warrior at Quassy Amusement Park in Connecticut and on Twister at Gröna Lund in Sweden, and in 2013 were added to Hades as part of its transformation to Hades 360.

List of roller coasters
As of 2019, The Gravity Group has built 28 roller coasters around the world.
Passage 7:
The Cú Chulainn Coaster
The Cú Chulainn Coaster is a wooden roller coaster located at Emerald Park in Ashbourne, County Meath, Ireland. Manufactured by The Gravity Group, the wooden coaster features an overbanked turn and opened on 6 June 2015.

History
The Cú Chulainn Coaster was officially announced by Tayto Park in a press release on 19 February 2015, although construction started earlier in August 2014. Ohio-based company The Gravity Group was selected to build the roller coaster, marking their second installation in Europe following Twister at Gröna Lund in Sweden. Construction was completed in May 2015, and the roller coaster opened on 6 June 2015. It was part of a €26 million investment at Tayto Park, which also included 7 other new attractions for the 2015 season. Its theme is based on the mythological lore surrounding Irish hero Cú Chulainn, whom the ride is named after.

Reception
Passage 8:
Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest retailer of lingerie in the United States, the brand has struggled since 2016 due to shifting consumer preferences and controversy surrounding corporate leadership's business practices.
Founded in 1977 by Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Leslie Wexner in 1982. Wexner rapidly expanded into American shopping malls, growing the company into 350 stores nationally with sales of $1 billion by the early 1990s when Victoria's Secret became the largest lingerie retailer in the United States.From 1995 through 2018, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was an essential part of the brand's image featuring an annual runway spectacle of models promoted by the company as fantasy Angels. The 1990s saw the company's further expansion throughout shopping malls along with the introduction of the 'miracle bra', the new brand Body by Victoria, and the development of a line of fragrances and cosmetics. In 2002 Victoria's Secret announced the launch of PINK, a brand that was aimed to appeal to teenagers. Starting in 2008, Victoria's Secret expanded internationally, with retail outlets within international airports, franchises in major cities overseas, and in company-owned stores throughout Canada and the UK.By 2016, Victoria's Secret's market share began to decline due to competition from other brands that embraced a wider range of sizes and a growing consumer preference for athleisure. The company canceled the circulation of their famous catalog in 2016. The brand struggled to maintain its market position following criticism and controversy over the unsavory behavior and business practices of corporate leadership under Wexner and Ed Razek. As of May 2020, with over 1,070 stores, Victoria's Secret remained the largest lingerie retailer in the United States.

History
1977–1981
Victoria's Secret was founded by Roy Raymond, and his wife, Gaye Raymond, on June 12, 1977. The first store was opened in the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California. Years earlier, Raymond was embarrassed when purchasing lingerie for his wife at a department store. Newsweek reported Roy Raymond stating: "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." Raymond reportedly spent the next eight years studying the lingerie market.At the time when the Raymonds founded Victoria's Secret, the undergarments market in the U.S. was dominated by pragmatic items from Fruit of the Loom, Hanes, and Jockey, often sold in packs of three at department stores, while lingerie was reserved for special occasions such as one's honeymoon. Considered niche products, lingerie items (such as lacy thongs and padded push-up bras) were only found in specialty shops like Frederick's of Hollywood, located "alongside feathered boas and provocative pirate costumes". In 1977, Raymond borrowed $40,000 from family and $40,000 from a bank to establish Victoria's Secret: a store in which men could feel comfortable buying lingerie. The store was named in reference to Queen Victoria and the associated refinement of the Victorian era, while the "secret" was hidden underneath the clothes.Victoria's Secret grossed $500,000 in its first year of business, enough to finance the expansion from a headquarters and warehouse to four new store locations and a mail-order operation. The fourth store, added in 1982 at 395 Sutter Street in San Francisco, operated at that location until 1990, when it was moved to the larger Powell Street frontage of the Westin St. Francis.In April 1982, Raymond sent out his 12th catalog at a cost to customers of $3 (equivalent to $9.1 in 2022); catalog sales accounted for 55% of the company's $7 million annual sales that year. Victoria's Secret was a minor player in the underwear market at this time, with the business described as "more burlesque than Main Street."

1982–1990
In 1982, Victoria's Secret had grown to five stores, a 40-page catalog, and was grossing $6 million annually. Raymond sold the company to Les Wexner, creator of Limited Stores Inc of Columbus, Ohio, for $1 million. In 1983, Wexner revamped Victoria's Secret's sales model towards a greater focus on female customers. Victoria's Secret transformed into a mainstay that sold broadly accepted underwear with "new colors, patterns and styles that promised sexiness packaged in a tasteful, glamorous way and with the snob appeal of European luxury" meant to appeal to female buyers.
To further this image, the Victoria's Secret catalog continued the practice that Raymond began: listing the company's headquarters on catalogs at a fake London address, with the real headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. The stores were redesigned to evoke 19th century England.
The New York Times reported in 1982 that the financial success of the Victoria's Secret catalog influenced other catalogs by presenting lingerie as "romantic and sensual but tasteful", "in which models are photographed in ladylike poses against elegant backgrounds." Howard Gross became president in 1985. In October of that year, the Los Angeles Times reported that Victoria's Secret was stealing market share from department stores; in 1986, Victoria's Secret was the only national chain devoted to lingerie.The New York Times reported that Victoria's Secret swiftly expanded to 100 stores by 1986. and described it in 1987 as a "highly visible leader" that used "unabashedly sexy high-fashion photography to sell middle-priced underwear." In 1990, analysts estimated that sales had quadrupled in four years, making it one of the fastest growing mail-order businesses. Sales and profits from the catalog continued to expand due to the addition of clothing, swimwear and shoes and wider circulation.Cynthia Fedus-Fields oversaw the company's direct business, including its catalog, from the mid-1980s until 2000.  During her tenure, total revenues increased to nearly $1 billion. In 1987, Victoria's Secret was reported to be among the bestselling catalogs.

1991–2005
Victoria's Secret experienced quality problems with their product in the early 1990s and was working to resolve the issues. In 1991, Howard Gross was assigned to fix the L Brands subsidiary Limited Stores. In 1993, Business Week reported that both divisions suffered. Gross was succeeded by Grace Nichols, who worked to improve the product quality. The company's margins tightened, resulting in a slower growth of profits.Victoria's Secret expanded beyond apparel in the 1990s with the launch of their own line of fragrances in 1991, followed by their entrance into the billion dollar cosmetics market in 1998.Victoria's Secret introduced the 'Miracle Bra' in 1993, selling two million within the first year. When faced with competition from Sara Lee's WonderBra a year later in 1994, the company responded with a TV campaign. At the same time, in 1994, Wexner discussed the creation of a company fashion event with Ed Razek. The first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, held in 1995 in New York, became a mainstay for the company's image for the next 23 years.
By 1998, Victoria's Secret's market share of the intimate apparel market was 14 percent and the company also entered the $3.5 billion cosmetic market. The following year, in 1999, the company added the Body by Victoria line. The catalog had achieved "an almost cult-like following". In May 2000, Cynthia Fedus-Fields stepped down as CEO after delivering record profits in 1999 and early 2000. Fedus-Fields later stated that, up until the point of her departure, the company was guided by sensibilities of what a European woman would choose to wear. After her departure in 2000, the brand pursued an image that was "much more blatantly sexy."In May 2000, Wexner installed Sharen Jester Turney, previously of Neiman Marcus Direct, as the new chief executive of Victoria's Secret Direct to turn around catalog sales that were lagging behind other divisions. Forbes reported Turney stating, "We need to quit focusing on all that cleavage." In 2000, Turney began to redefine Victoria's Secret catalog from "breasts—spilling over the tops of black, purple and reptile-print underthings" to one that would appeal to an "upscale customer who now feels more comfortable buying La Perla or Wolford lingerie."; "dimming the hooker looks" such as "tight jeans and stilettos"; and moving from "a substitute for Playboy in some dorm rooms," to something closer to a Vogue lifestyle layout, where lingerie, sleepwear, clothes and cosmetics appear throughout the catalog. Beginning in 2000, Grace Nichols, CEO of Victoria's Secret Direct, led a similar change at Victoria's Secret's stores—moving away from an evocation of 1800s England (or a Victorian bordello).

2006–2020
By 2006, Victoria's Secret's 1,000 stores across the United States accounted for one third of all purchases in the intimate apparel industry.
 In May 2006, Wexner promoted Turney from the Victoria's Secret catalog and online units to lead the whole company. In 2008, she acknowledged "product quality that doesn't equal the brand's hype." In September 2006, Victoria's Secret reportedly tried to make their catalog feel more like magazines by head-hunting writers from Women's Wear Daily.The company had about a third of the market share in its category in 2013.In February 2016, Turney stepped down as CEO of Victoria's Secret after being in the business
for a decade. Victoria's Secret was split into three divisions: Victoria's Secret Lingerie, Victoria's Secret Beauty, and Pink, each with a separate CEO. In 2016, direct sales only grew 1.6% and fell by 7.4% in the last quarter of the year, typically a high revenue period due to the holidays. The company discontinued its use of a print catalog and dropped certain categories of clothing such as swimwear. Sales revenue continued to stagnate and drop in early 2017.In late 2018, CEO Jan Singer resigned amid declining sales. The Wall Street Journal reported that only one quarter showed an increase in same-store sales between 2016 and 2018. Singer's announcement came one week after CMO Ed Razek made a controversial comment that the company does not cast transgender or plus-size models in its annual fashion show "because the show is a fantasy." After a 40% stock plunge in a single year, Victoria's Secret announced the closure of 53 stores in the U.S. in 2019, as well as the relaunch of its swimwear line. L Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret, came under public pressure in 2019 from an activist shareholder of Barrington Capital Group who took issue with the performance of Razek and urged the company to update its brand image and switch up its predominantly male board of directors.In August 2019, chief marketing officer, Ed Razek, resigned following a disastrous Vogue interview in which he made inflammatory statements about transgender models. Also in 2019, executive vice president April Holy stepped down after 16 years. In November 2019, Victoria's Secret announced it would no longer hold the annual fashion show featuring its angels, indicating a major change in marketing strategy.
In January 2020, L Brands chairman and CEO Lex Wexner was in talks to step down. Reports of widespread bullying and harassment at Victoria's Secret surfaced in February 2020. On February 1, 2020, The New York Times published an exposé on "the culture of misogyny" at Victoria's Secret, which painted a picture of long-time influential executive Ed Razek's rampant sexual misconduct.The company announced a sale in February 2020 to private equity firm Sycamore Partners for $525 million, with L Brands retaining a 45% minority stake. On April 22, 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that Sycamore Partners wanted out of the deal which included exceptions for a pandemic. The deal ultimately fell through. Wexner stepped down but maintains a role as chairman emeritus.
In June 2020, a shareholder filed a lawsuit against the company for inaction following reports of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation at Victoria's Secret.Shareholders of parent company L Brands filed a complaint in the Court of Chancery of Delaware on January 14, 2021, stating that former chair Wexner, among others, created an "entrenched culture of misogyny, bullying and harassment" and was aware of abuses being committed by accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, which breached his fiduciary duty to the company, causing devaluation of the brand. The complaint also names Wexner's wife, Abigail, current chair, Sarah E. Nash, and former marketing officer, Ed Razek, whose "widely known misconduct" was long allowed at the company.

2021–present
In 2021, after the resignation of Razek as well as the sale of the company by Wexner, Victoria's Secret's new ownership and management implemented policy changes and new partnerships with a number of new spokeswomen including Megan Rapinoe, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Naomi Osaka. Wexner's parent company L Brands spun Victoria's Secret off to become an independent business (trading on the NYSE as VSCO) on August 3, 2021. Following this brand positioning, Victoria's Secret reported sales increase in all three completed quarters of 2021.Martin Waters was named CEO in 2021, replacing Stuart Burgdorfer who had served as interim CEO. In July 2022, Victoria's Secret named Amy Hauk chief executive of both the Victoria's Secret and Pink brands.In November 2022, it was announced Victoria's Secret has acquired the New York-headquartered lingerie brand, Adore Me for $400 million USD.

Products
In addition to the primary brand of lingerie for Victoria's Secret, the company has secondary product lines: namely, activewear known as Victoria sports, swimwear, and a beauty division with fragrances, make-up, accessories, and other bath and body products.
The swimwear, introduced in 2002, was made available until April 2016, when the company announced that the line would end and be replaced by a new line of activewear. The swim line was relaunched in November 2018. In March 2019, the swim line was made available in shops.In 2010, Victoria's Secret launched the 'Incredible' bra. The company released the Victoria's Secret Designer Collection in 2012, described by Vogue as the company's "first high end lingerie line." In 2016, Victoria's Secret confined the elimination of swimwear, apparel, shoes, and accessories. In 2017, the company began to put more emphasis on bralettes (bras without underwire, often intended to be worn visibly) and sports bras (under the Victoria Sport label) to appeal to a younger customer base.In 2019, Victoria's Secret relaunched its product line of eyewear and footwear, in hopes of boosting struggling sales for the brand.In October 2021, Pink launched a line of reusable period panties.In 2022, Victoria's Secret & Co. announced they would no longer use cashmere in their product lines.

Operating divisions
The Victoria's Secret brand is organized into three divisions: 'Victoria's Secret Stores' (physical locations), 'Victoria's Secret Direct' (online and catalog operations), and 'Victoria's Secret Beauty' (bath and cosmetics). The change was made in 2016 by Wexner to "refocus on core business" and it required each division to have its own CEO.

Physical locations
The physical store locations were an important part of establishing the brand and remained concentrated in the United States from 1977 until the early 2000s.

Victoria's Secret stores took over the lingerie market during the 1980s by using a fabricated sense of Britain, featuring this romantic styling and soft classical music. In the early years, Wexner himself was involved in carefully orchestrating store interior design through the use of English floral wallpaper circa 1890, gilded fixtures, classical music, soft lighting, the scent of old-fashioned sachet, and elegant perfume bottles that "look like your grandmother's crystal". During the 1990s, in-store sales at Victoria's Secret increased by 30% after the company tracked and applied data analysis of where specific styles, sizes, and colors were selling. The decade also brought an expansion of store size to triple from 1,400 square feet (130 m2) to an average 4,500 square feet (420 m2). The trend continued into 2002 when the average Victoria's Secret store was 6,000 square feet (560 m2).In 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that the company continued the practice of putting on "a British air—or what the Ohio-based chain thinks Americans believe is British. Boudoirish. Tony. Upscale."By 2010, there were 1,000 Victoria's Secret lingerie stores and 100 independent Victoria's Secret Beauty Stores in the United States, mostly in shopping centers, then offering bras, panties, hosiery, cosmetics, and sleepwear.

International stores
The international expansion of Victoria's Secret stores began in 2008. As of 2016, L Brands maintained control of operations at company-owned stores in Canada, the UK, and China but relied on franchises elsewhere in the world for its Victoria's Secret Beauty & Accessory (VSBA) locations.

Canada
The drive for growth coupled with a maturing American retail market led to a shift towards expansion, first into Canada. In 2010, the first Canadian store opened in Edmonton, Alberta. In 2012 Victoria's Secret opened stores in Nova Scotia and Quebec. Several of the company's stores in Canada are considered large by retail standards and span more than 10,000 square feet (930 m2) each. As of 2020, the company's Canadian locations included cities in all ten provinces, from British Columbia all the way to the Maritimes. However, the company announced, in May 2020, plans to permanently shutter 13 of its 38 Canadian stores, representing a loss of one third of the Canadian fleet.

United Kingdom
Victoria's Secret opened a store at the Westfield Shopping Centre, Stratford, London in July 2012. Their flagship 40,386-square-foot- (3,752.0 m2) store on New Bond Street, London followed in August 2012. Locations in the United Kingdom include the cities of Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol, Westfield London, Bluewater, Brent Cross and Glasgow. As of June 2020, there were 25 stores in the United Kingdom. That same month, Retail Dive reported that as the brand's UK arm filed the "equivalent of Chapter 11" bankruptcy, as it struggled with falling sales, profits, and market share.

China
In 2016, it was reported that L Brands fully purchased 26 stores back from its franchise partners in China. The company announced plans to expand on the existing 26 Victoria's Secret Beauty & Accessory (VSBA) stores (boutiques which sold beauty products in airports or malls), through the addition of flagship stores in Shanghai and Beijing.Reuters reported that, as of June 2020, Victoria's Secret had two dozen stores in Greater China. That same month, the company permanently closed its 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) flagship store in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong after only two years of operation.On January 25, 2022, Victoria's Secret announced a Joint venture partnership agreement with Regina Miracle International (Holdings) Limited. Under the terms of the agreement, Victoria's Secret will own 51% of the joint venture and Regina Miracle will own 49%. CEO Martin Waters commented, "I am delighted to announce this partnership with Regina Miracle, who has been a valued merchandise supplier partner for more than twenty years. Together with Regina Miracle, we aim to grow the China business through joint investment in product development, distribution, and marketing. We expect the partnership will positively impact the speed and agility of the business to benefit consumers and provide us with a platform for a strong future in this important market."

Victoria's Secret Direct
Catalog (1977 - 2016)
Prior to the emergence of e-commerce, the company's catalogs were a key aspect of successfully marketing a product considered risqué to consumers in the privacy of their own homes. According to Joseph Sugarman, the 1979 catalog was "a lot more sensuous" and took the form of "an upmarket version of a Frederick's of Hollywood lingerie catalog."The New York Times reported that the success of Victoria's Secret catalogs influenced others to present lingerie as "romantic and sensual but tasteful" with models photographed in elegant settings. The company was known for accepting phone orders at any hour which helped it establish dominance of the lingerie market. The Los Angeles Times described the catalog in 2000 as having achieved "an almost cult-like following." The company was mailing more than 400 million catalogs annually in 2010.In May 2016, the brand decided to discontinue the catalog which had run at a cost of $125 million to $150 million annually due to concern that catalogs had grown stale as a marketing device and confidence that sales would not be affected.

E-commerce
Victoria's Secret spent three years building an e-commerce website that was officially launched on December 4, 1998. Following heavy promotion of the 1999 fashion show, the website experienced high traffic volumes, with visitors enduring "slowdowns and bottlenecks" while viewing the first online fashion show on February 3, 1999, the largest online streaming event to date, reaching an estimated 1.5 million viewers. Ad placement in the Wall Street Journal and a 30-minute TV spot during the Super Bowl contributed to drive record numbers of visitors to the website.

Victoria's Secret Beauty
In 1998, Intimate Brands Inc., the parent company of Victoria's Secret, created a new entity: Intimate Beauty Corporation. The goal for Intimate Beauty Corporation was to manage and develop the bath, fragrance and cosmetic products for Victoria's Secret. By 2006 the Victoria's Secret Beauty division had reported sales of nearly US$1 billion. The company sought to expand its beauty and accessories stores at airports around the world in the early 2010s.

Franchise locations worldwide (VSBA)
Victoria's Secret Beauty opened a provisional UK boutique at Heathrow Airport in 2005 through partnership with World Duty Free.In 2010, Victoria's Secret expanded with Victoria's Secret Beauty & Accessory (VSBA) franchises internationally. That year M.H. Alshaya Co. opened the first Victoria's Secret store in the Marina Mall in Kuwait, selling cosmetics and accessories but not the company's lingerie line. Two VSBA stores were opened in the early 2010s at Schiphol International Airport, Netherlands. That same year the first Latin American franchise store opened in Isla Margarita, Venezuela, followed by a store in Bogota, Colombia, in July 2012. An additional store opened in the Multiplaza Mall in San Salvador, El Salvador in 2012.A Caribbean location opened in November 2011 at Plaza Las Americas in San Juan, Puerto Rico followed by a store in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic at the Agora, and Sambil Santo Domingo malls in 2012. In July 2012 the first Polish store opened at the Złote Tarasy shopping mall in Warsaw, also operated by M.H. Alshaya Co.A Serbian store opened in January 2014 at the Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade.As of 2016, L Brands had more than 370 VSBA franchise shops worldwide, with the company's largest international market reportedly in Turkey and the Middle East.

Corporate affairs
Ownership and name
The company's business name changed from Victoria's Secret, Inc. to Victoria's Secret Stores, Inc., after the 1982 sale to Wexner. In 2005, the name was revised to Victoria's Secret Stores, LLC.Victoria's Secret was originally owned by The Limited. Victoria's Secret's parent company was Intimate Brands, a separately traded entity with Ed Razek as president. In 2002, Intimate Brands was combined with the Limited, then renamed Limited Brands.By 2006, the majority of the revenue for Limited Brands came from Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works.In July 2007, Limited Brands sold a 75% interest in Limited Stores and Express to Sun Capital Partners, in order to focus on expanding their Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works units. The sale resulted in Limited Brands taking a $42 million after-tax loss.In 2013, parent company Limited Brands officially changed its name to L Brands.Victoria's Secret recorded peak worldwide net sales in 2016 of $7.78 billion. In 2019, worldwide net sales had receded to $6.81 billion.

Management structure
At 'Victoria's Secret Stores', Howard Gross was promoted to president of the division in 1985. Grace Nichols succeeded Gross and led the division from 1991 through 2007. Victoria's Secret Stores was helmed by Lori Greely from 2007 until 2013.Cynthia Fedus-Fields served as president and CEO and oversaw the Victoria's Secret Direct business, including its catalog, from the mid-1980s until 2000. She was succeeded in May 2000 by Sharen Jester Turney as chief executive of the division. Turney stepped down in 2016 and was succeeded by Jan Singer as CEO of Victoria's Secret Direct from 2016 to 2018. John Mehas was appointed CEO starting in 2019. He was replaced by Martin Waters in November 2020.Hired by L Brands in 1998, Robin Burns was CEO of Victoria's Secret Beauty until 2004. Burns was succeeded in August 2004 by duo Jill Granoff, COO, and Sherry Baker, president. In May 2006, Christine Beauchamp was named president and CEO of Victoria's Secret Beauty. Shashi Batra was appointed president of the division in 2009. In November 2012 Susie Coulter became president of Victoria's Secret Beauty. Greg Unis was hired to serve as CEO of the beauty division in 2016.

Manufacturing and environmental record
In 2006, the Financial Times reported that Victoria's Secret paid factory workers $7 per day to make bras in Thailand. The Huffington Post stated in 2011 that working conditions in factories producing Victoria's Secret items in Jordan were comparable to slave labor as a result of the Jordan–United States Free Trade Agreement, which retreated from standards established in the 1990s. In 2012, Victoria's Secret was manufacturing bras in the South Indian city of Guduvanchery.In 2021, Victoria's Secret fronted the money to more than 1,250 Thai garment workers who were owed $8.3 million when their factory, Brilliant Alliance, closed after declaring bankruptcy.After years of pressure from environmentalists, Victoria's Secret and a conservation group reached an agreement to make the catalog more environmentally friendly in 2006. Catalog wood pulp was required to contain 10 percent recycled paper and avoid source forests with woodland caribou habitats in Canada, unless certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. The company bought organic and fair trade-grown cotton to make some of its panties in 2012.

Marketing
The mail order catalog was the primary form of marketing used by the company in the 1970s. Early catalogs featured lingerie-clad models holding violins and glasses of sherry. Catalog marketing shifted towards female models accompanied by men for several years in the 1980s, a practice that was eventually abandoned by 1991.In the early 1980s, Victoria's Secret used FCB/Leber Katz Partners for the development of their brand, marketing, and advertising. In 1989, FCB/Leber Katz Partners and Victoria's Secret executed a national advertising campaign with a ten-page glossy insert in the November issue of Elle, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Victoria, House Beautiful, Bon Appétit, New Woman, and People magazines. Victoria's Secret used the insert to announce their expansion into the toiletries and fragrance business. Prior to the insert, the company's growth had been driven by their catalog, sporadic ads in fashion publications, and word of mouth.Ed Razek joined in-house branding operations at the Limited in the 1980s and increasingly began to shape the marketing and branding at Victoria's Secret. However, Razek credited Wexner as the creative force behind much of the marketing. The company gained notoriety in the early 1990s after it began to hire supermodels for its advertising and fashion shows. Well-known models hired in the early 1990s included Stephanie Seymour, Karen Mulder, Yasmeen Ghauri, and Jill Goodacre. The models helped the brand gain an audience and were soon featured in televised commercials.
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was a major marketing tool used by L Brands from 1995 to 2018. The show was a mix of "beautiful models scantily clad in lingerie" and A-list entertainers that over time became "less about fashion and more about show". The 2000 fashion show in France was produced with the help of Harvey Weinstein.In 1999, a 30-second Super Bowl advertisement resulted in one million visits to the company's website within an hour of airing.Victoria's Secret sued a strip-mall store in Elizabethtown, Kentucky called Victor's Little Secret over the issue of trademark dilution. On March 4, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Victoria's Secret in Moseley v. V Secret Catalogue, Inc. on the grounds that there was insufficient proof of actual harm to the trademark.In 2004, following the Super Bowl halftime show controversy over indecent exposure on broadcast television, Victoria's Secret sent their models out on an Angels Across America Tour. Victoria's Secret also presented an uncharacteristic advertisement with Bob Dylan as an alternative means of promoting the brand. Razek, then chief creative officer, credited Wexner himself with the idea to cast Dylan in a commercial. The ad proved to be memorable, but more out of a tendency to unsettle and baffle viewers familiar with Dylan.Victoria's Secret TV commercials, directed by Michael Bay, were released in 2010 and 2012 with mixed results, regarded by critics as macho and misguided.In 2014, the company created a campaign to market its Body bra line called The Perfect Body that elicited substantial controversy for supporting only a limited and unhealthy body type.Victoria's Secret announced the appointment of Raul Martinez as head creative director in December 2020. Martinez, formerly of Condé Nast, took on the role following the departure of chief executive John Mehas who stepped down in November 2020.

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show
The first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was held in 1995 and was broadcast on primetime American television. The fashion show, overseen by Ed Razek, was described by Newsweek as "a combination of self-assured strutting for women and voyeuristic pleasures for men" that made lingerie mainstream entertainment.Ken Weil, vice president at Victoria's Secret, and Tim Plzak, responsible for IT at Victoria's Secret's parent company Intimate Brands, led Victoria's Secret's first-ever online streaming of their fashion show in 1999. The 18 minutes webcast streamed February 2, 1999, was at the time the Internet's "biggest event" since inception. The 1999 webcast was reported as a failure by a number of newspapers on account of some user's inability to watch the show featuring Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, and Stephanie Seymour as a result of Victoria's Secret's technology falling short being able to meet the online user demand resulting in network congestion and users who could see the webcast receiving jerky frames. In all, the company's website saw over 1.5 million visits, a number significantly higher than the 250,000 and 500,000 simultaneous viewers that Broadcast.com, the website hosting the show, was able to handle. In total, 1.5 million viewers either attempted or viewed the webcast.The 1999 webcast served to create a database for Victoria's Secret of over 500,000 current and potential customers by requiring users to submit their contact details to view the webcast. The next spring Victoria's Secret avoided technical issues by partnering with Broadcast.com, America Online, and Microsoft. The 2000 webcast attracted more than two million viewers.By 2011, the budget for the fashion show was $12 million up from the first show's budget of $120,000. In November 2019, Victoria's Secret canceled its runway show. In July 2021, the company said there are plans to relaunch the show, but without the Victoria's Secret Angels.

Victoria's Secret Angels
The company's Angels underwear collection was marketed in 1997 by a TV commercial that included supermodels Helena Christensen, Karen Mulder, Daniela Peštová, Stephanie Seymour, and Tyra Banks. In the commercial, the Angels appear in a white cloudscape in dialog with "God", played by Welsh singer Tom Jones, widely known for his fans' tradition of tossing their panties at him during shows. The spoof proved popular and the Angels, as characters, became a regular feature of the advertising as brand ambassadors. The term "Angel" soon became synonymous with the brand.
Official Angels have greater responsibilities than other runway models for the brand, as the Angels are obliged to appear in marketing campaigns, talk shows, major runway shows, and the annual fashion show. The Angels are contracted spokesmodels for the brand, but the company is not transparent about the terms of these contracts. In 1998, the Angels made their runway debut at Victoria's Secret's 4th annual fashion show, (Chandra North filled in for Christensen). The brand's Fashion Show and the Angels were closely connected through 2018, the final year that event was held. Some of the early Victoria's Secret Angels included Inés Rivero and Laetitia Casta.In 2004, the company did not hold a fashion show due fallout from the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy, and instead alternately marketed the brand via a tour called Angels Across America. Victoria's Secret sent its five contract models (Banks, Klum, Bündchen, Lima, and Ambrosio) out for the event.
Victoria's Secret's Angels continued to be featured in popular culture, and were chosen to be part of People magazine's annual "100 Most Beautiful People in the World" in 2007. The Angels became the first trademark awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 13, 2007, with Klum, Lima, Ambrosio, Kurkova, Goulart, Ebanks, Marisa Miller, and Miranda Kerr at hand. Alongside new Angel Doutzen Kroes, they also took part in the grand reopening of the Fontainebleau in Miami in 2008.In 2009, the brand held a nationwide competition for a new Runway Angel. Thousands of contestants applied; Kylie Bisutti prevailed as the winner but soon grew disillusioned and parted ways with the brand. Ellingson, Kroes, and Kloss departed after the 2014 fashion show.Several promotional tours featuring the Angels have been organized by the brand. These included the 2010 Bombshell tour, the 2012 VSX tour, and the 2013 Swim tour. In 2015, Angels featured on the brand's first Swim Special were Elsa Hosk, Martha Hunt, Jac Jagaciak, Stella Maxwell, Lais Ribeiro, and Jasmine Tookes, along with model Joan Smalls.In 2019, new Angels Leomie Anderson, Grace Elizabeth, Alexina Graham, and Barbara Palvin, were added to the roster. Palvin made her fashion show debut with Victoria's Secret in 2012, not appearing again until 2018, while Graham, (the first redheaded Angel) walked in both 2017 and 2018. Anderson began walking in 2015, while Elizabeth (a PINK spokesmodel, 2016 - 2019) walked her first Victoria's Secret show in 2016.The Victoria's Secret brand has had at least 3 dozen official Angels (as of 2020)  Other notable spokesmodels for the brand have included Claudia Schiffer, Eva Herzigová, Oluchi Onweagba, Jessica Stam, Ana Beatriz Barros, and Bregje Heinen, as well as celebrities such as Taylor Momsen.In 2021, the brand confirmed it was moving away from the Angel concept, with only Taylor Hill, Elizabeth, and Christensen (who had recently started working for the brand again in 2020 after a more-than-20-year hiatus) still working with them.

Pink spokesmodels
Criticisms and controversies
Harassment and abuse
In 2019, nonprofit advocacy group Model Alliance and several other publications reported on initiatives underway in California, New York and the United States aiming to protect models from harassment and sexual abuse.

Silencing of harassment complaints
After Razek left Victoria's Secret in 2019, Monica Mitro, a high-ranking executive at the company reported she had been repeatedly verbally abused by Razek during his time there. Mitro was executive vice president of public relations for the brand and was heavily involved in the production of its annual fashion show, having been one of the public faces of the brand. The day after Mitro made her allegations, she showed up to work to find she had been locked out of the building and placed on administrative leave. Though the brand claimed this decision was made prior to Mitro lodging her complaint, many believed this was a retaliatory action by the company and in late 2019 Mitro indicated she was pursuing legal action against her dismissal. It was reported in 2020 that she had settled with the brand for an undisclosed sum.

Connections with Jeffrey Epstein
Les Wexner, who founded the Victoria's Secret along with Bath & Body Works, Inc. was reportedly having direct ties with Jeffrey Epstein, an American sex offender and a pedophile, which he met sometime around 1986. Wexner was also reported giving Epstein attorney powers, and have been reportedly shacked up in his "Wexner Xanadu", which is a property of Les Wexner located in Ohio. Wexner also reportedly given Epstein his money, an Upper East Side townhouse (which later sold for $51 million), and a Boeing 727 owned by L Brands.

Racism and corporate apologies
The company has faced a number of major complaints of racism, profiling, and discrimination by both managers and employees, with several recurring issues being raised by former employees, the federal government, state governments, and customers in the United States. Each time, Victoria's Secret management or a corporate spokesperson has issued an apology and disavowed the discriminatory actions of any individual employee. Victoria's Secret has changed some employment practices, and settled some of the cases, including a $12 million settlement in California and New York reached in 2017, and a $179,300 settlement with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Influence on socio-cultural body image norms
In the 2008 academic research article "Victoria's Dirty Secret: How Sociocultural Norms Influence Adolescent Girls and Women", authors from Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo stated: "Women's body dissatisfaction is influenced by socio-cultural norms for ideal appearance that are pervasive in society and particularly directed at women", cautioning that the marketing practices of Victoria's Secret, delivered through TV commercials, ads, and magazines send a message to girls and women that their models are a realistic standard of beauty, concluding that "Exposure to societal messages that reflect the socio-cultural norm for ideal appearance has a negative effect on women."On June 30, 2022 the singer Jax released the song Victoria's Secret, which criticizes the store for exploiting unrealistic body shape expectations, saying that Victoria's secret is that "she's an old man who lives in Ohio / making money off of girls like me".

Perfect Body campaign
In 2014, a petition against the company's newly released lingerie collection Body by Victoria was created when the poster ads displayed the words 'The Perfect Body' over well-known Victoria's Secret Angels. Organizers called for the company to take responsibility for advertising unrealistic standards and perpetuating negative body images. The petition also demanded changes to the wording of Perfect Body advertisements to "something that does not promote unhealthy and unrealistic standards of beauty," urging the company not to use such harmful marketing in the future. Petitioners created the hashtag "#iamperfect", which trended on Twitter for body shaming women. The petition had over 30,000 signatures.Although there was no formal apology released, Victoria's Secret changed the words on their ad campaign to 'A Body for Every Body'.

Cultural appropriation
The company has repeatedly been criticized for appropriating the designs of other cultures while displaying their fashions on abnormally thin and uniform body types.During the 2010 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, the segment 'Wild Things' caused controversy due to the "tribal style" outfits on display. The most notable of these was worn by Afro-Brazilian model Emanuela De Paula who, alongside a group of dancers, was painted with black lines, meant to depict tribal body art. This outfit received backlash from the media, not only for appropriating African culture but for the racist connotations associated with dressing a woman of color in animal print lingerie and body art and branding her a 'Wild Thing'. No apology was released by the brand.In 2012, the company drew criticism for a lingerie collection offer for sale on their website that was titled 'Go East', with a tagline that pledged to women the capacity to "indulge in touches of eastern delight with lingerie inspired by the exquisite beauty of secret Japanese gardens." The collection included a 'Sexy Little Geisha' outfit that was pulled by the company after critics described the items as "stereotypical images that use racist transgression to create an exotic edge." The Wall Street Journal confirmed that the geisha outfit was "accessorized with a miniature fan and a kimono-esque obi sash" and the Asian-themed collection "that traded in sexualized, generic pan-Asian ethnic stereotypes" was removed by the company.At the 2012 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, an outfit in the 'Calendar Girls' segment caused controversy. The outfit, worn by Karlie Kloss, was meant to represent November and the American holiday of Thanksgiving, but featured a Native American headdress alongside an animal print bikini. This caused outrage among members of the Native American community, who stated that the headdress depicted had deep cultural significance, and was only worn by certain notable war chiefs and warriors. After media backlash over the offensiveness of the outfit and the uncomfortable position that the brand put Kloss in, the outfit was cut from the show's final broadcast. Kloss apologized for the incident via Twitter and the brand later made a statement of apology.At the 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, the brand was accused of cultural appropriation during the segment entitled 'The Road Ahead' which drew inspiration from both Chinese and Mexican culture. Kendall Jenner's flame tail wings, Elsa Hosk's dragon costume, and Adriana Lima's embroidered thigh-high boots caused an uproar, as some media and fans believed it was inappropriate for women of other descents to wear items important to Chinese culture. Victoria's Secret claimed it included this segment in the 2016 show because of their recent expansion into the Chinese market, and believed a segment featuring Chinese garments, as well as Liu Wen and Ming Xi, two popular Chinese models, would be a good way to appeal to their new Chinese customer base. No apology or statement was released from the brand.In the 2017 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, the brand faced further controversy and allegations of cultural appropriation. The criticism was directed at fashions in the 'Nomadic Adventures' segment that appropriated Native American and Indigenous African cultures. Nylon magazine suggested that the company had learned nothing from previous, similar incidents.

Transphobia
In a November 2018 interview with Vogue, Victoria's Secret president Ed Razek stated (when discussing diversity the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show): "Shouldn't you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don't think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy. It's a 42-minute entertainment special. That's what it is." These comments received immediate backlash from many in the modeling community, including transgender model Carmen Carrera, Kendall Jenner, then Angel Lily Aldridge, and former Angel Karlie Kloss.Razek later issued an apology, stating "My remark regarding the inclusion of transgender models in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show came across as insensitive. I apologize. To be clear, we would absolutely cast a transgender model for the show."In August 2019, the brand cast its first openly transgender Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio, who was hired to work for PINK. That same month, Razek stepped down. In 2022, the brand hired Emira D'Spain as their first Black transgender model.

See also
List of Victoria's Secret models
Victoria's Secret Swim Special

Notes
Passage 9:
Lake Victoria (disambiguation)
Lake Victoria or Victoria Lake may refer to:

Lake Victoria, a lake in Africa
in Australia:
Lake Victoria (New South Wales), a lake in New South Wales, Australia
Lake Victoria (Victoria), a shallow saline lake on the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria, Australia
Lake Victoria, one of the Gippsland Lakes in Victoria, Australia
Lake Victoria, Michigan, United States, a small lake and census-designated place
Lake Victoria (Minnesota), a lake in Douglas County, Minnesota
Laguna Victoria, a lake in Bolivia
Victoria Lake (Newfoundland and Labrador), a lake in Canada
Victoria Lake (New Zealand), a lake in Hagley Park, Christchurch, New Zealand
Zorkul, a lake on the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan once known as Lake Victoria

See also
Queen Victoria Sea
Passage 10:
Roar-o-Saurus
Roar-o-Saurus is a wooden roller coaster located at Story Land in Glen, New Hampshire, United States. The coaster was designed and built by American wooden coaster design firm The Gravity Group.