Lingerie Secret

Lingerie Secret

VICTORIA'S SECRET launched its first high end lingerie line yesterday - and it's nearly sold out already. Described by the brand as "exquisite, timeless, delicate and glamorous", several of the key pieces were shown during the brand's latest show in November - although the project was a kept a secret until now.

The offering, entitled The Victoria's Secret Designer Collection, will replace the luxury lingerie labels that are stocked in most VS stores. The collection features chiffon baby dolls, bras and matching thongs with delicate ruffle detailing and silk garter belts.

"We took it in-house because we have a design team that has such a passion for lingerie, and they differentiate Victoria's Secret from any other brand," the brand's president and chief marketing officer Ed Razek told WWD.

Prices start at $38 (£24.40) for a garter belt and stretch to $298 (£191.40) for a lace merry widow. The collection is available now from VICTORIASSECRET.COM.

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Source: VOGUE - ELLA ALEXANDER 25 January 2012

No Longer A Secret

No Longer A Secret

VICTORIA'S SECRET has promised to investigate claims of child labour, after reports emerged that the company it uses to create its fairtrade cotton - the Burkina Faso programme - beat and abuse its child employees.

"[The allegations] describe behaviour contrary to our company's values and the code of labour and sourcing standards we require all of our suppliers to meet," said Tammy Roberts Myers, the lingerie brand's parent company Limited Brands Inc's vice president of external communications. "Our standards specifically prohibit child labour. We are vigorously engaging with stakeholders to fully investigate this matter."

According to Bloomsberg, Victoria's Secret made a deal in 2007 to buy cotton "fairtrade" and organic from Burkina Faso. The products were launched in shops in 2009 and were labelled "Good for women. Good for the children who depend on them." Bloomberg Marketshas since discovered that the farmer, Victorien Kamboule, who produces the cotton whips and denies food to his child work force, using 13-year-old Clarisse Kambire as a case study.

"If I leave the child out, how will I be able to do the work?" Kamboule said. "I sometimes beat her. "This is when I give her work and she doesn't deliver."

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SOURCE: VOGUE - ELLA ALEXANDER 16 December 2011