Dive Brief:

• L Brands announced Friday that Victoria's Secret CEO Sharen Jester Turney will step down from her position at the company. 
• L Brands CEO and chairman Leslie Wexner will take the top position at Victoria's Secret, while Turney will continue to serve as an adviser.
• Turney has been with Victoria's Secret since 2000, where she joined as CEO of Victoria's Secret Direct, the company's online and catalog business. She took the CEO position at the brand in 2006. 

Dive Insight:

Turney's time at Victoria's Secret has been impressive: since 2006 the brand's sales have increased more than 70% to $7.7 billion. She was viewed as a possible successor to Wexner, who turns 79 this year. Since the announcement, L Brands' shares fell 5.5% by midday Friday. 

Victoria's Secret remains L Brands' biggest business, with the Columbus-based retailer pulling in almost two-thirds of its revenue from the brand. The company reported record sales of $12.15 billion for its fiscal 2015, a 6% increase from last year. 

“We have strong confidence in the strength of the brand and our growth opportunities, and I look forward to taking on a more active role and working with the talented leadership team at Victoria’s Secret,” Wexner said in a statement. 

While Wexner certainly has the credentials to take up the leadership position at Victoria's Secret—he's been CEO of L Brands for 53 years—Turney's departure may have some wondering what's next for the brand.

Victoria's Secret labels made up a whopping 41% of U.S. bra sales in 2014, according to IBIS World, a success Wexner attributes to its stores' shopping experience. Wexner has always been outspoken on the importance of brick-and-mortar, stating in November that physical stores were "way bigger" than the Internet and redesigning Victoria's Secret's stores every three to four years. 

It's a strategy that may continue to work for the retailer, even as e-commerce sales growth outpaces brick-and-mortar growth; after all, the experience of trying on a bra is very personal to a woman, and one that usually takes multiple tries to find the right fit. But as e-commerce startups like ThirdLove and Adore Me continue to pop up in the marketplace, threatening to disrupt this traditional format with image-based sizing and a cheaper approach to underwear shopping, perhaps Wexner may be forced to see online in a different light.