Victoria's Secret is facing mounting pressure to offer larger sizes and use ... - Business Insider:
Lucas Jackson/ReutersVictoria's Secret models are traditionally stick-thin.
Consumers are increasingly pressuring the world's most dominant lingerie brand to offer plus-size lingerie.
Thousands of people have signed
petitions in recent weeks for Victoria's Secret to offer larger sizes.
Victoria's Secret
controls a whopping 35% of the lingerie market, far more than any other retailer.
The largest panty size it offers is XL, or equivalent to a size 16. The fashion industry defines plus-size clothing as sizes 12-24, though many retailers offer up to a size 28 to meet demand.
Bra sizes are inconsistent. Some styles are offered up to a D, while others go up to a DDD.
Still, many women feel they don't have a good selection at Victoria's Secret.
The author of one petition, Dana Drew, said she loves her California Victoria's Secret store so much that she has a credit card there.
She can't, however, buy lingerie there.
"My money and my credit are good enough for them, but the fact that I can only buy items like perfume, lotion, and body spray sends the message that my body is not,"
Drew says. "Every year I watch the Angel fashion show and would love to purchase the items I see on my screen but can’t because Victoria’s Secret doesn’t sell plus sizes."
Other petitions are encouraging Victoria's Secret to show more diverse body types than the ultra-thin models at its annual fashion show.
Victoria's Secret models like Doutzen Kroes and Lily Aldridge are known to work out for four hours a day in the weeks leading up to the show.
The brand recently
ignited controversy with an ad campaign portraying a series of stick-thin models with the tagline "The Perfect 'Body.'"
While the phrase was a play on the brand's "Body by Victoria" bras, many people were offended by how models were portrayed.
Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret eventually ditched the campaign and changed the headline to "A Body For Every Body."
But a recent petition on Change.org
calling for curvier models suggests that the annual fashion show promotes unrealistic expectations for the average woman.
"Victoria’s Secret should consider their bottom line when making this decision," according to the petition. "There are over 100 million plus size women in the United States and we spent over 17.5 billion dollars on plus-size clothing last year."
We've reached out to Victoria's Secret to ask if they plan to offer more plus sizes in the future.
