news

sexy is not enough, victoria's secret is focusing on sportswear. on september 18, a beijing business daily reporter learned that the underwear brand victoria's secret announced that it would relaunch its women's casual sportswear line "vsx". in the eyes of victoria's secret management, this series is not just a sportswear line, but also a fusion of functionality and fashion. this time, victoria's secret emphasizes functionality more, but how much opportunity does victoria's secret, which has only just entered the market, have in the sportswear market?

repeatedly "testing the waters" of the sports line

while announcing the restart of the vsx series, victoria's secret released a new promotional video of the vsx series on its official douyin account, showcasing the series' main products, including sports bras, yoga pants, stretch cardigans, jumpsuits, t-shirts and other ready-to-wear items. a victoria's secret official told the beijing business daily that the return of vsx and this new series redefines sports performance, combining comfort and fashion, and embodying unparalleled style and innovation through groundbreaking designs.

according to the person in charge, the series has been launched in the us market and is very popular. in the future, it will also be promoted in the chinese market.

the vsx series that victoria's secret has relaunched is a sports line that it launched in 2011. at that time, victoria's secret intended to enter the sports bra market, but the series of products was somewhat tepid after its launch. then in 2016, victoria's secret launched victoria sport, a sports series, and used its victoria's secret angels to shoot sports short films to promote it, with the slogan "the world's number one underwear brand wants to make the world's best sports bras."

however, under the victoria's secret system, which was mainly based on sexy underwear and had an annual revenue of over $7 billion at the time, victoria sport did not make much of a splash, and the slogan of "making the best sports bra in the world" seemed to have been shelved. victoria's secret has never disclosed the specific revenue data of victoria sport, but there are public data reports that victoria sport's annual sales are between $200 million and $250 million, and it will become a $1 billion brand in the future.

this set of data has not been officially confirmed, but it may also reflect that the sports line does not play an important role in victoria's secret's revenue system. in 2018, victoria's secret closed the vsx sports line.

in the opinion of zhou ting, director of yaoke research institute, the series of repeated operations reflects the unprofessionalism of the victoria's secret decision-making team. "because the team is unprofessional and lacks accurate judgment of the market, it leads to the vacillation of strategic direction; the mistakes in market judgment lead to the situation of stopping and starting the project again," zhou ting said.

victoria's secret has experienced many changes since then, and the once glorious sexy empire has also encountered difficulties. according to public data, from 2016 to 2018, victoria's secret's market share in the united states dropped from 33% to 24%. then victoria's secret ushered in a series of changes, such as the victoria's secret fashion show, which had been held for many years, was discontinued in 2019; victoria's secret's performance declined and suffered losses, and many stores were closed. under the leadership of the parent company, victoria's secret was also waiting for a price, and the parent company was exposed to scandals.

the final outcome of a series of changes was that victoria's secret failed to sell and was split off and listed independently. in order to "survive", victoria's secret began to seek change. sexy is no longer the only label of victoria's secret. victoria's secret even intends to tear off the sexy label. the sports line fits victoria's secret's psychology of change. coupled with the booming sports market, victoria's secret has no reason not to make a layout. after all, after many twists and turns, victoria's secret's net sales still fell by 1% in the second quarter of 2024.

in the opinion of cheng weixiong, an independent analyst in the fashion industry and founder of shanghai liangqi brand management co., ltd., by restarting the sports line, victoria's secret sees the huge market space for sports bras. relying on victoria's secret's resources and capabilities in the underwear field to extend its products will undoubtedly enhance its business expansion capabilities.

are sports bras the antidote?

more and more female consumers are becoming indifferent or even resistant to the concept of sexiness being scrutinized. more and more female consumer groups are shouting the slogan "sexiness is dead, long live freedom". underwear with labels such as comfort, no underwire, large size and sportswear are becoming popular. victoria's secret, which has been telling sexy stories in the global market, even shows signs of being "abandoned".

in fact, it is not just victoria's secret. traditional sexy underwear brands are not doing well. embry form holdings, aimei holdings, and virgin australia have all faced difficulties in performance growth in the past two years. in order to break through the difficulties, the old underwear brands have set their sights on sports bras.

according to public data, in 2020, the global sports bra revenue was approximately us$9 billion, and is expected to reach us$13.2 billion in 2026, with an average annual compound growth rate of 10.2%. according to statistics from the state sports general administration, by 2025, the number of people participating in sports in my country is expected to reach more than 500 million, of which 40% (i.e. more than 200 million people) will be women.

li muzi, who often runs and works out, told the beijing business daily that in the running circle, fitness bras are standard equipment, and each of her friends has at least two or more sports bras. for many female runners, sports bras are not only standard equipment for sports, but also often appear in daily wear.

demand determines the market, and many underwear brands are entering this track. in 2021, aimei co., ltd. launched the sports underwear brand "彳亍chichu" and opened its first store in beijing in 2023. neiwai also launched the sports sub-brand neiwai active in 2018 and opened its first offline store in 2019. in addition, underwear brands such as bananain and ubras, which focus on "comfort" and "no steel ring" and layout sports products, are gradually rising. of course, when talking about sports underwear, professional sports brands cannot be avoided. nike and adidas have already started their layout in the sports underwear market, and they are even better in terms of research and development technology. in addition, lululemon, which focuses on the women's market, is developing at a considerable speed in the sports underwear market and yoga apparel market. for victoria's secret and traditional underwear brands seeking change, these will be competitors.

in zhou ting's opinion, there are many players in the sports bra and yoga apparel market. it is unwise for victoria's secret to restart at this time. if the main business is not doing well, there will be no chance for the secondary business. victoria's secret is obviously in a desperate state. the sports market is already full of competitors and the competition is fierce. professional sports brands may not do well, and victoria's secret has even less chance.

however, judging from the promotion of victoria's secret's restart of the sports line, the new series emphasizes sportiness and functionality. kira fisher, vice president of brand design at victoria's secret, said: "the vsx series is not just a sports series, it represents a lifestyle where functionality and fashion meet." at the same time, a relevant person in charge of victoria's secret revealed to the beijing business daily reporter: "the vsx series products combine performance and technology, using xdefine™ functional fabrics - providing a breathable, dry, cool, smooth and comfortable wearing experience, while combining 360° stretch technology with lycra® adaptiv elastic fiber, which can be adjusted according to the wearer's body shape and size."

cheng weixiong said that there is no leading brand in the domestic sports bra market yet. only sports brands and online brands are making sports bras. women's sports bras need to be developed according to different sports scenes and different sports intensity. not every product is suitable for all sports scenes. this is the market opportunity. for victoria's secret, its product development capabilities for women's underwear are undoubtedly leading. if it really works hard to make sports bras for professional sports scenes, it will naturally have greater opportunities.

beijing business daily reporter zhang junhua