Dive Brief:
- Victoria’s Secret on Thursday relaunched its VSX women’s collection of fashion sports apparel.
- Available on the company’s website and in all stores nationwide, VSX is billed as active clothing that marries performance, comfort and fashion, per a news release.
- VSX was first launched in 2011 under the banner of VSX Sexy Sport. The new collection includes sports bras for about $50, leggings (about $70), and ready-to- wear apparel including trench coats, catsuits and T-shirts starting for about $45.
Dive Insight:
Founded in 1977, Victoria’s Secret has recently moved in and out of different product categories — including swim and now activewear — as it looks to reassert itself as a leading brand that became well-known for women’s intimates.
“VSX is more than a sport collection — it's a lifestyle at the intersection between performance and fashion,” Kira Fisher, vice president of brand design at VS&CO, said in a statement. “The world-class designs leverage body mapping and superior fabrics that celebrate the curves of women's bodies, created to empower confidence, support, and ease as you live your life from day to night with next-level style."
The relaunch of VSX comes as Victoria’s Secret continues to navigate challenging retail waters that have seen sales and income dip over the past couple of years.
Victoria’s Secret late last month reported second-quarter operating income grew for the first time since 2021, while overall sales in the quarter decreased by just under 1% over last year to reach $1.4 billion. The brand adjusted its guidance and now projects net sales for the full fiscal year to be down about 1% year over year compared to its earlier estimate for a low-single-digit decline.
Bringing back VSX, which has its own Instagram page, is an attempt by Victoria’s Secret to take advantage of robust activewear and athleisure markets, according to GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders.
During and after the pandemic, which found more people opting for casual active sportswear, brands across a wide spectrum of retailing and manufacturing bought into the athleisure market. J.C. Penney, in 2021, revamped its private label activewear. Walmart in 2022 launched an active label, Love & Sports. And teen apparel chain Pacsun opened its first stand-alone Pac1980 store last year focused on activewear.
“Bringing back VSX is a sensible decision,” Saunders said in an email. “The sports and activewear market is very crowded, but it is also a fast-growing and lucrative space that Victoria’s Secret should be playing in. With VSX there is an opportunity to grow share of spending from existing customers. That said, Victoria’s Secret needs to make sure VSX stands out and has a point of differentiation from what is already out there.”
