1 00:00:01,211 --> 00:00:04,589 - Everybody knows what the Victoria's Secret brand means. 2 00:00:04,589 --> 00:00:05,799 [laughs] 3 00:00:05,799 --> 00:00:07,092 - It's tits and glitz. 4 00:00:07,092 --> 00:00:08,677 ♪ ♪ 5 00:00:08,677 --> 00:00:11,263 - Les Wexner thought that he was a god. 6 00:00:11,263 --> 00:00:13,223 - Victoria's Secret put girls on the map. 7 00:00:13,223 --> 00:00:15,141 - Every celebrity wanted to be part of that show. 8 00:00:15,141 --> 00:00:16,768 - Business was so good. 9 00:00:16,768 --> 00:00:20,730 MICHAEL GROSS: Victoria's Secret made fortunes on young bodies. 10 00:00:20,730 --> 00:00:22,691 LYNDSEY SCOTT: It wasn't about the clothes. 11 00:00:22,691 --> 00:00:24,442 It was models fulfilling this idea of fantasy. 12 00:00:24,442 --> 00:00:26,695 There was something else going on. 13 00:00:27,404 --> 00:00:29,406 GLORIA ALLRED: There's a number of red flags. 14 00:00:29,406 --> 00:00:32,867 SCOTT: The modeling industry had people who allowed bad things to happen. 15 00:00:32,867 --> 00:00:34,536 - Did Les Wexner know about them? 16 00:00:34,536 --> 00:00:36,830 - And there's this huge mystery. 17 00:00:36,830 --> 00:00:38,957 - People had mentioned this name. 18 00:00:38,957 --> 00:00:41,418 BARRY LEVINE: And part of the mystery was Jeffrey Epstein. 19 00:00:41,418 --> 00:00:43,837 What Wexner did was unthinkable, 20 00:00:43,837 --> 00:00:45,589 giving him power of attorney. 21 00:00:45,589 --> 00:00:48,008 But there's a larger picture here. 22 00:00:48,008 --> 00:00:49,885 VIRGINIA GIUFFRE: Politicians, royalty. 23 00:00:49,885 --> 00:00:51,094 CONCHITA SARNOFF: Intelligence agencies. 24 00:00:51,094 --> 00:00:52,512 Why was Epstein doing this? 25 00:00:52,512 --> 00:00:54,973 Was this about power and blackmail? 26 00:00:54,973 --> 00:00:57,809 - It makes you wonder how many more layers there are to this world. 27 00:00:58,602 --> 00:01:01,730 GROSS: This is all a story that was meant to stay hidden. 28 00:01:01,730 --> 00:01:03,356 ♪ ♪ 29 00:01:09,487 --> 00:01:11,489 ♪ dramatic music playing ♪ 30 00:01:11,489 --> 00:01:14,200 [people chattering] 31 00:01:18,121 --> 00:01:20,749 WOMAN: Okay, got it? Okay, thank you, everybody. PHOTOGRAPHER: Gigi, Gigi. 32 00:01:20,749 --> 00:01:22,751 [people chattering] 33 00:01:26,296 --> 00:01:28,298 WOMAN: Okay, they're done. Thank you, guys. 34 00:01:29,382 --> 00:01:31,384 ♪ 35 00:01:33,136 --> 00:01:36,264 - It's the countdown. Almost ready. Let's go. 36 00:01:36,264 --> 00:01:38,391 WOMAN 2: Let's go. Thank you so much. - Let's go. Thank you. 37 00:01:38,391 --> 00:01:42,187 ANNOUNCER: This is the 45-minute call for hair and makeup. 38 00:01:42,187 --> 00:01:43,813 - Shit. [Announcer speaking] 39 00:01:46,441 --> 00:01:49,277 MAN 1: Gimme a kiss. Thank you, honey. 40 00:01:52,781 --> 00:01:55,283 WOMAN 3: You get it after, so just hold now. 41 00:01:55,283 --> 00:01:57,369 [chattering] You have to get over. 42 00:01:57,369 --> 00:01:59,913 PHOTOGRAPHER: Beautiful. You look nice, guys. Beautiful. 43 00:01:59,913 --> 00:02:00,956 Look here. 44 00:02:00,956 --> 00:02:02,374 Okay, we're going higher, we're going higher-- 45 00:02:02,374 --> 00:02:04,000 MAN 2: Hey, guys, move! 46 00:02:04,417 --> 00:02:07,045 - Ask Bob. Do not tell Bob to move. 47 00:02:09,673 --> 00:02:12,259 REPORTER 1: The lingerie brand held its first fashion show 48 00:02:12,259 --> 00:02:15,011 nearly a quarter century ago, and it's gonna be no more. 49 00:02:15,011 --> 00:02:16,263 The runway is closed. 50 00:02:16,263 --> 00:02:19,432 I'm talking about the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 51 00:02:19,432 --> 00:02:21,476 is now officially canceled. 52 00:02:22,727 --> 00:02:24,145 REPORTER 2: After more than two decades, 53 00:02:24,145 --> 00:02:27,607 the TV special is accused of being out of step with the times. 54 00:02:29,859 --> 00:02:31,653 PERSON 1: So many people do not fit 55 00:02:31,653 --> 00:02:33,280 into that narrow standard of beauty. 56 00:02:34,114 --> 00:02:36,992 PERSON 2: It's very obvious from what's going on in the world today 57 00:02:36,992 --> 00:02:38,952 that women are demanding more. 58 00:02:38,952 --> 00:02:41,079 PERSON 3: It's a company that is not at all, 59 00:02:41,079 --> 00:02:44,916 sort of, surefooted in this new environment. 60 00:02:45,333 --> 00:02:46,585 ♪ 61 00:02:46,585 --> 00:02:49,671 REPORTER 3: It's hard to ignore some difficult questions 62 00:02:49,671 --> 00:02:52,465 about billionaire founder Les Wexner's ties 63 00:02:52,465 --> 00:02:54,676 to the late financier Epstein 64 00:02:54,676 --> 00:02:57,512 who was indicted on sex trafficking charges. 65 00:03:00,265 --> 00:03:03,268 LES WEXNER: I think what I've tried to do is make the world a better place. 66 00:03:04,352 --> 00:03:05,520 I think that's what's really important. 67 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:09,316 N-Nobody remembers who sold the most togas in Rome. 68 00:03:09,983 --> 00:03:13,403 In terms of legacy, people remember the great villains 69 00:03:13,403 --> 00:03:16,156 more than they remember the great heroes. 70 00:03:16,156 --> 00:03:18,074 And so, I think how you feel about yourself-- 71 00:03:18,074 --> 00:03:21,369 What do you say about yourself when you put your head on the pillow? 72 00:03:23,371 --> 00:03:26,708 Are you really proud of what you're doing and the way you're doing it? 73 00:03:26,708 --> 00:03:29,336 I think it's a really-- a fundamental question. 74 00:03:30,086 --> 00:03:32,088 ♪ 75 00:03:47,687 --> 00:03:50,523 NARRATOR: First, there was the miracle, 76 00:03:50,523 --> 00:03:52,525 then came angels. 77 00:03:52,525 --> 00:03:56,613 Now, Victoria's Secret introduces Angels 2000. 78 00:03:57,239 --> 00:03:59,783 - The bra of the future is here today. 79 00:04:01,493 --> 00:04:02,869 - Do you believe? - Do you believe? 80 00:04:02,869 --> 00:04:04,746 - Do you believe? - I believe in miracles. 81 00:04:04,746 --> 00:04:06,164 - I believe. - I believe. 82 00:04:06,164 --> 00:04:08,166 I believe... 83 00:04:12,212 --> 00:04:14,214 ♪ 84 00:04:17,801 --> 00:04:19,803 FREDERIQUE VAN DER WAL: You know, Victoria's Secret, 85 00:04:19,803 --> 00:04:21,721 there's a great history to it, 86 00:04:21,721 --> 00:04:25,350 but I think, uh, when we get to the heart of it, 87 00:04:25,350 --> 00:04:28,270 it's mostly an unknown story. 88 00:04:30,021 --> 00:04:32,440 SOPHIE ALEXANDER: A lot of people know what Victoria's Secret is, 89 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:34,776 and even The Limited. 90 00:04:34,776 --> 00:04:38,655 Fewer people know about Les Wexner, 91 00:04:38,655 --> 00:04:42,158 the discreet billionaire behind those brands. 92 00:04:43,618 --> 00:04:46,913 He was and still is the richest man in Ohio. 93 00:04:47,914 --> 00:04:50,875 But no one really knew who he was. 94 00:04:52,043 --> 00:04:53,670 SARA ZOFKO: Les was a genius. 95 00:04:53,670 --> 00:04:56,715 He thinks on a global scale 96 00:04:56,715 --> 00:04:59,926 that very few other entrepreneurs have, 97 00:04:59,926 --> 00:05:02,012 maybe Zuckerberg, you know? 98 00:05:02,012 --> 00:05:03,471 But, like, 99 00:05:03,471 --> 00:05:06,016 Zuckerberg wanted to be a part of everything we do socially. 100 00:05:06,516 --> 00:05:09,269 Les was all about retail dominance. 101 00:05:09,269 --> 00:05:11,271 [excited chatter] 102 00:05:19,738 --> 00:05:24,075 You have to understand that this was an era where fashion influenced people, 103 00:05:24,075 --> 00:05:25,201 not the other way around. 104 00:05:25,452 --> 00:05:29,247 - Oh my god! Oh my god! 105 00:05:29,748 --> 00:05:35,378 - Victoria's Secret grew to a $7.5 billion 106 00:05:35,378 --> 00:05:38,423 enterprise worldwide. 107 00:05:38,423 --> 00:05:42,886 It became a very, very powerful brand, 108 00:05:42,886 --> 00:05:45,972 maybe the greatest in all of retailing. 109 00:05:45,972 --> 00:05:48,266 ♪ 110 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:56,566 People used to say that working at Victoria's Secret was a cult. 111 00:05:56,566 --> 00:06:00,028 Um, I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. 112 00:06:01,947 --> 00:06:05,575 But I'll tell you, at those annual meetings, 113 00:06:05,575 --> 00:06:07,911 you really felt the spirit. 114 00:06:07,911 --> 00:06:09,913 [all cheering] 115 00:06:14,542 --> 00:06:18,004 There was this tremendous adoration. 116 00:06:18,588 --> 00:06:23,760 The founder, the leader of us all 117 00:06:24,553 --> 00:06:26,304 was speaking. 118 00:06:26,304 --> 00:06:28,306 [crowd cheering, applauding] 119 00:06:29,474 --> 00:06:33,103 So... did I drink the Kool-Aid? 120 00:06:34,020 --> 00:06:37,232 And I think the answer is... I did. 121 00:06:38,024 --> 00:06:40,026 [crowd cheering, applauding] 122 00:06:42,404 --> 00:06:45,198 LYNDSEY SCOTT: Growing up, Victoria's Secret would be 123 00:06:45,198 --> 00:06:47,325 a model's dream to be included, 124 00:06:47,325 --> 00:06:49,911 and that was 125 00:06:49,911 --> 00:06:53,373 like, um... a teenage fantasy. 126 00:06:55,125 --> 00:06:59,212 But I realized later that there are people 127 00:06:59,212 --> 00:07:01,089 who allowed a lot of bad things to happen. 128 00:07:06,177 --> 00:07:08,179 MICHAEL GROSS: Fashion is essentially amoral. 129 00:07:08,179 --> 00:07:10,056 It doesn't care about good or bad. 130 00:07:10,599 --> 00:07:12,475 It has no ethics. 131 00:07:12,475 --> 00:07:13,894 It has one rule: 132 00:07:14,769 --> 00:07:15,979 sell the frock. 133 00:07:17,939 --> 00:07:20,567 No matter the collateral damage. 134 00:07:22,235 --> 00:07:25,071 So, it never really surprised me 135 00:07:25,071 --> 00:07:29,534 as the Jeffrey Epstein onion was unpeeled. 136 00:07:29,534 --> 00:07:32,412 What face was on the next layer of the onion? 137 00:07:32,412 --> 00:07:35,165 Oh, here's Les Wexner right at the top. 138 00:07:35,165 --> 00:07:37,167 ♪ 139 00:07:42,839 --> 00:07:44,049 LES: The funny story I like telling, 140 00:07:44,049 --> 00:07:45,759 I, I was driving to Dayton 141 00:07:45,759 --> 00:07:49,054 and I was thinking about what other businesses I could start. 142 00:07:49,054 --> 00:07:53,225 And I remember saying every-- all the women I know wear underwear 143 00:07:53,225 --> 00:07:54,601 most of the time, 144 00:07:54,601 --> 00:07:59,105 all of the women I know would like to wear lingerie all of the time. 145 00:07:59,105 --> 00:08:03,485 And I'm just driving, driving down the highway, laughing my butt off, 146 00:08:03,485 --> 00:08:05,904 and thinking what a funny thought that is. 147 00:08:07,072 --> 00:08:09,699 And so, I said, "I wonder why no one's done that." 148 00:08:11,326 --> 00:08:12,744 REPORTER: Victoria's Secret, 149 00:08:12,744 --> 00:08:16,706 a company started by Roy Raymond because he was embarrassed in stores 150 00:08:16,706 --> 00:08:18,750 buying lingerie for his wife, 151 00:08:18,750 --> 00:08:22,379 thought other men feeling the same would rather buy by catalog, 152 00:08:22,379 --> 00:08:27,384 so panties, bras, camisoles, and corsets in fine French silk. 153 00:08:28,927 --> 00:08:31,930 GAYE RAYMOND Victoria's Secret did start with just the two of us. 154 00:08:31,930 --> 00:08:35,892 And I don't know if people would be surprised by the fact 155 00:08:35,892 --> 00:08:38,728 that I was the inspiration for starting it. 156 00:08:41,273 --> 00:08:46,152 Les Wexner had contacted Roy over the years a couple of times 157 00:08:46,152 --> 00:08:51,199 because Les had always been interested in the lingerie concept. 158 00:08:52,993 --> 00:08:54,703 CINDY FEDUS-FIELDS: Victoria's Secret business, 159 00:08:54,703 --> 00:08:59,165 when Roy Raymond sold it to Les Wexner, 160 00:08:59,165 --> 00:09:01,001 was basically on its last legs. 161 00:09:01,001 --> 00:09:03,044 He was facing bankruptcy. 162 00:09:03,587 --> 00:09:06,840 LES: It was, uh, kind of, Victorian velvet sofas 163 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:09,593 and Tiffany lampshades kind of a place. 164 00:09:11,386 --> 00:09:15,599 GAYE: So, in 1982, Roy and I flew to Columbus on their jet. 165 00:09:16,224 --> 00:09:20,228 Les Wexner was initially a little hard to read. 166 00:09:21,730 --> 00:09:25,859 A-- I mean, he had an interesting group of men around him. 167 00:09:25,859 --> 00:09:28,111 Everybody around him was a man. 168 00:09:29,321 --> 00:09:32,532 LES: The notion of Victoria should be a ladies' paradise. 169 00:09:32,532 --> 00:09:35,744 If men like Victoria's Secret, that's kind of a bonus, 170 00:09:35,744 --> 00:09:37,370 but in my imagination, 171 00:09:37,370 --> 00:09:40,540 they should feel in-- uncomfortable when they're in the store. 172 00:09:41,374 --> 00:09:43,418 That thinking goes into the design of the store, 173 00:09:43,418 --> 00:09:45,962 the fitting rooms, the fabric, the display. 174 00:09:45,962 --> 00:09:49,591 It's all from the ladies' point of view. It's nothing to do with men. 175 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,346 GAYE: After the sale of Victoria's Secret, 176 00:09:54,346 --> 00:09:55,972 it became very different. 177 00:09:57,432 --> 00:10:00,477 CINDY: Les had a very powerful vision 178 00:10:00,477 --> 00:10:02,604 for how that business could be grown, 179 00:10:02,604 --> 00:10:06,650 could become very dominant in the marketplace. 180 00:10:07,609 --> 00:10:12,030 His idea was to take an everyday commodity, 181 00:10:12,030 --> 00:10:14,032 like milk or bread, 182 00:10:14,032 --> 00:10:17,577 and romanticize it, fantasize it, 183 00:10:17,577 --> 00:10:20,205 make it something bigger than it was. 184 00:10:27,796 --> 00:10:31,299 Les had read a book written by 185 00:10:31,299 --> 00:10:36,555 the famous director Sidney Lumet called Making Movies, 186 00:10:36,555 --> 00:10:39,099 and said, "This is what you need to do. 187 00:10:39,099 --> 00:10:43,812 "You need to have a story about your brand 188 00:10:43,812 --> 00:10:48,441 "that you use as your, not only inspirational mechanism, 189 00:10:48,441 --> 00:10:50,610 but also, as your control mechanism." 190 00:10:52,821 --> 00:10:56,992 So, he invented a story 191 00:10:56,992 --> 00:11:01,037 about the mythical founder of the brand, 192 00:11:01,037 --> 00:11:04,165 and her name was, of course, Victoria. 193 00:11:07,419 --> 00:11:11,423 She was refined, aspirational, 194 00:11:11,423 --> 00:11:13,508 and English. 195 00:11:13,508 --> 00:11:15,260 ♪ classical music plays ♪ 196 00:11:15,260 --> 00:11:17,846 VICTORIA: I am Victoria Stewart White. 197 00:11:17,846 --> 00:11:20,849 This spring, I shall turn 36 years old. 198 00:11:21,474 --> 00:11:23,643 Father taught me about business, 199 00:11:23,643 --> 00:11:26,313 but mother was determined that I develop 200 00:11:26,313 --> 00:11:30,692 my soul, my passion, and my femininity. 201 00:11:30,692 --> 00:11:32,986 Mother was passionate, 202 00:11:32,986 --> 00:11:35,363 a fiery French woman with a quick temper 203 00:11:35,363 --> 00:11:39,492 and a healthy disrespect for the English and their stodgy ways. 204 00:11:39,492 --> 00:11:42,537 She used to tease Father about everything. 205 00:11:42,537 --> 00:11:46,499 CINDY: Victoria's this smart, savvy woman, 206 00:11:46,499 --> 00:11:48,501 lived in London, 207 00:11:48,501 --> 00:11:50,879 her husband was a barrister. 208 00:11:52,589 --> 00:11:56,760 It was a fantastic story, and it was a very powerful tool. 209 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:00,013 We're always running around, asking ourselves, 210 00:12:00,013 --> 00:12:02,515 "Would Victoria do this?" 211 00:12:02,515 --> 00:12:04,100 That was the touchstone. 212 00:12:05,560 --> 00:12:09,231 A new young assistant buyer joined the team, 213 00:12:09,231 --> 00:12:13,193 and she said, "Cindy, when do we get to meet Victoria?" 214 00:12:15,445 --> 00:12:19,658 That's how real and powerful the story was. 215 00:12:19,658 --> 00:12:20,825 [camera clicks] - Beautiful. 216 00:12:20,825 --> 00:12:24,287 NARRATOR: Victoria's Secret is extremely protective of its image. 217 00:12:24,287 --> 00:12:26,498 It doesn't want to be mentioned in the same breath 218 00:12:26,498 --> 00:12:31,211 as Frederick's of Hollywood, or any, say, Trashy Lingerie store. 219 00:12:32,879 --> 00:12:35,632 Top models join the catalog's creative team 220 00:12:35,632 --> 00:12:38,260 in beautiful homes all around the country. 221 00:12:40,053 --> 00:12:43,598 But even in this spectacular Santa Barbara mansion, 222 00:12:43,598 --> 00:12:45,684 elaborate sets are erected 223 00:12:45,684 --> 00:12:48,853 to enhance every outfit that's about to be photographed. 224 00:12:48,853 --> 00:12:52,148 LAURA BERKMAN: We like our pictures to be sensual, elegant, 225 00:12:52,148 --> 00:12:54,776 to be slightly more editorial than what most people 226 00:12:54,776 --> 00:12:56,945 perceive catalog photos to be. 227 00:12:56,945 --> 00:12:58,947 PHOTOGRAPHER: Yeah, right there. [camera clicks] 228 00:12:58,947 --> 00:13:00,949 Keep your head down like that and just look up here. 229 00:13:01,950 --> 00:13:03,368 Great. 230 00:13:03,368 --> 00:13:06,246 NARRATOR: The catalog taps into America's fantasies, 231 00:13:06,246 --> 00:13:07,872 a gorgeous setting, 232 00:13:07,872 --> 00:13:11,668 a place every woman would dream of having her morning coffee. 233 00:13:15,005 --> 00:13:17,299 FREDERIQUE: We shot every other week almost, 234 00:13:17,299 --> 00:13:22,512 and we went to, uh, fantastic places around the world. 235 00:13:22,512 --> 00:13:26,600 And Victoria's Secret became this home brand, 236 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:29,811 the catalog came into the mail every week. 237 00:13:30,312 --> 00:13:32,147 - The catalog, in particular this year, 238 00:13:32,147 --> 00:13:35,150 is going to pick up close to double last year's business. 239 00:13:37,903 --> 00:13:41,197 The minute we shifted to the English image, 240 00:13:41,197 --> 00:13:43,825 the response rates rocketed up. 241 00:13:45,118 --> 00:13:49,122 The volume of the business then was around three million, 242 00:13:49,122 --> 00:13:52,459 and when I left in 2000, 243 00:13:52,459 --> 00:13:54,628 it was just shy of a billion. 244 00:13:56,087 --> 00:13:58,215 FREDERIQUE: The way that they presented 245 00:13:58,215 --> 00:14:00,091 the photography with the catalog, 246 00:14:00,091 --> 00:14:03,386 with the-- with all the great girls, um, 247 00:14:04,012 --> 00:14:05,096 it was chic, 248 00:14:05,096 --> 00:14:09,392 and we actually empowered women to own their bodies. 249 00:14:11,228 --> 00:14:14,981 - They made it acceptable for mainstream women 250 00:14:14,981 --> 00:14:18,985 to want to buy and covet underwear. 251 00:14:19,819 --> 00:14:23,657 They were givin' women permission to, to treat themselves. 252 00:14:25,742 --> 00:14:29,746 CINDY: The catalog was being mailed aggressively, 253 00:14:29,746 --> 00:14:33,124 going directly into consumers' homes 254 00:14:33,124 --> 00:14:37,754 and acting as an advertising vehicle that made money. 255 00:14:38,213 --> 00:14:41,049 REPORTER: The catalogs are certainly really, you know, 256 00:14:41,049 --> 00:14:42,926 provocative, and fun, and great... - Yeah. 257 00:14:42,926 --> 00:14:44,803 - ...and men like to read them, too. - Yes. 258 00:14:44,803 --> 00:14:46,846 - Um, has that been really a big part of the marketing 259 00:14:46,846 --> 00:14:49,099 of this company and the success? - No question, no question. 260 00:14:49,099 --> 00:14:54,020 Uh, the, the catalog, I think, is, is the best advertising for the business. 261 00:14:54,604 --> 00:14:57,440 HEIDI ZAK: I will say, you know, the free underwear card, 262 00:14:57,440 --> 00:14:59,484 which was in every catalog, 263 00:14:59,484 --> 00:15:02,112 "Bring this into the store and get a free pair of underwear," 264 00:15:02,112 --> 00:15:04,114 I succumbed to that almost every time. 265 00:15:06,366 --> 00:15:07,993 I brought that card into the store, 266 00:15:07,993 --> 00:15:09,369 I'd buy a few bras, 267 00:15:09,369 --> 00:15:11,329 I did what that company wanted me to do. 268 00:15:14,332 --> 00:15:16,751 CINDY: Spinning a fantasy, 269 00:15:16,751 --> 00:15:18,545 telling a story, 270 00:15:18,545 --> 00:15:20,964 is that really different 271 00:15:20,964 --> 00:15:24,426 from the retail shopping experience? 272 00:15:24,426 --> 00:15:28,388 When people bought the lingerie, 273 00:15:28,388 --> 00:15:30,891 whether they knew it or not, 274 00:15:30,891 --> 00:15:34,144 they were buying into that fantasy. 275 00:15:35,478 --> 00:15:37,230 LES: Our mental model in building 276 00:15:37,230 --> 00:15:40,609 the Victoria's Secret brand is Ralph Lauren. 277 00:15:40,609 --> 00:15:44,154 Today, if you talk about Ralph Lauren to men or to women, 278 00:15:44,154 --> 00:15:47,699 virtually of any age, everybody knows what that brand means. 279 00:15:47,699 --> 00:15:50,911 I, I would venture to say all of us in the room 280 00:15:50,911 --> 00:15:54,164 have a very clear sense of the personality of that brand. 281 00:15:54,164 --> 00:15:56,166 It's vivid in your mind. 282 00:15:57,250 --> 00:16:02,422 CINDY: Les was always a strong admirer 283 00:16:02,422 --> 00:16:04,591 of Ralph Lauren, 284 00:16:04,591 --> 00:16:09,554 and what Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lifshitz from the Bronx, 285 00:16:10,096 --> 00:16:15,560 was able to achieve in terms of his own personal lifestyle 286 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,188 and the brand he built. 287 00:16:19,356 --> 00:16:24,444 To a generation of American Jews, like Les Wexners, 288 00:16:24,444 --> 00:16:28,573 Ralph Lauren was a story of, you know, remaking oneself 289 00:16:28,573 --> 00:16:31,034 into the kinds of people who belonged to golf clubs, 290 00:16:31,034 --> 00:16:35,497 you know, these other, sorts of, ritzy places where Jews in America, 291 00:16:35,497 --> 00:16:37,624 once upon a time, were barred from. 292 00:16:38,083 --> 00:16:41,753 - I don't know whether... I was an upper lower class, 293 00:16:41,753 --> 00:16:44,297 or a lower middle class kind of kid growing up, 294 00:16:44,297 --> 00:16:46,800 but, uh, parents were working. 295 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:49,094 Uh, most of the houses we lived in were rented 296 00:16:49,094 --> 00:16:51,012 because we couldn't afford-- 297 00:16:51,012 --> 00:16:53,014 parents couldn't afford to buy a house. 298 00:16:54,891 --> 00:16:59,521 CINDY: Les wanted an aspirational lifestyle, 299 00:17:00,230 --> 00:17:03,233 something different than how he grew up. 300 00:17:04,234 --> 00:17:06,236 ♪ 301 00:17:06,236 --> 00:17:09,906 NARRATOR: Columbus, Ohio, test city, USA. 302 00:17:09,906 --> 00:17:12,742 For the past two decades, American business has tested 303 00:17:12,742 --> 00:17:15,036 more of its products in Columbus 304 00:17:15,036 --> 00:17:18,039 than in any other major American community. 305 00:17:20,375 --> 00:17:22,794 HARVEY WASSERMAN: Columbus was very clean-cut, 306 00:17:22,794 --> 00:17:25,005 very Republican, 307 00:17:25,547 --> 00:17:30,677 and was a bastion of WASP conservatism. 308 00:17:31,094 --> 00:17:34,514 You know, there was an undercurrent of antisemitism. 309 00:17:35,473 --> 00:17:40,687 TIM FERAN: Les had a sense of a little bit of inferiority. 310 00:17:41,104 --> 00:17:44,357 That's part of this whole psychology 311 00:17:44,357 --> 00:17:47,152 where Les really feels like, 312 00:17:48,069 --> 00:17:49,613 "I'm gonna show them." 313 00:17:54,451 --> 00:17:57,203 LES: When I was about 13 or 14 years old, 314 00:17:57,203 --> 00:17:58,830 my dad got fired. 315 00:17:59,623 --> 00:18:02,584 And I can remember so vividly, 316 00:18:02,584 --> 00:18:04,753 say, "This is never gonna happen to me. 317 00:18:04,753 --> 00:18:07,380 "When I grow up, I'm not gonna get fired. 318 00:18:08,340 --> 00:18:10,175 I'm not gonna fail." 319 00:18:12,052 --> 00:18:15,305 TIM: After Les's father, Harry, was fired, 320 00:18:15,305 --> 00:18:19,559 he opened a full-service women's dress shop 321 00:18:19,559 --> 00:18:22,062 named after Les, Leslie's. 322 00:18:23,355 --> 00:18:25,899 NARRATOR: After a few years working with his parents, 323 00:18:25,899 --> 00:18:28,193 Wexner came to his father with an idea. 324 00:18:28,193 --> 00:18:32,822 Why not focus on women's sportswear, the store's best-selling item? 325 00:18:32,822 --> 00:18:36,243 His dad's response? "You'll never be a merchant." 326 00:18:37,619 --> 00:18:40,914 MICHAEL CURTIN: Les wasn't shy about telling audiences 327 00:18:40,914 --> 00:18:44,876 that his dad challenged him, and basically, said to him, 328 00:18:44,876 --> 00:18:46,753 "You will not be a success." 329 00:18:48,004 --> 00:18:52,050 Uh, that's quite a, uh... stringent comment coming from a dad. 330 00:18:52,050 --> 00:18:55,929 - It got so intense that my dad and I didn't talk for a whole year. 331 00:18:55,929 --> 00:18:57,514 And, uh, my dad had a... 332 00:18:57,514 --> 00:19:01,184 SARAH ELLISON: Wexner borrows $5,000 from his Aunt Ida 333 00:19:01,184 --> 00:19:05,188 to set out on his own, and he opens his own store. 334 00:19:06,147 --> 00:19:10,151 TIM: And he called it, because of the limited selection, 335 00:19:10,151 --> 00:19:12,070 The Limited. 336 00:19:14,698 --> 00:19:16,575 NARRATOR: Wexner's gamble paid off 337 00:19:16,575 --> 00:19:19,578 with profits that exceeded his expectations. 338 00:19:19,578 --> 00:19:21,454 And just three years later, 339 00:19:21,454 --> 00:19:24,541 his parents closed their shop and joined their son. 340 00:19:24,541 --> 00:19:29,337 By 1982, The Limited was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. 341 00:19:29,337 --> 00:19:30,839 LES: Store was successful. 342 00:19:30,839 --> 00:19:33,842 And by the time I was 30 years old, 343 00:19:34,593 --> 00:19:36,803 I was several times a millionaire. 344 00:19:37,345 --> 00:19:38,972 And it kept expanding. 345 00:19:40,223 --> 00:19:42,517 [indistinct chatter] 346 00:19:45,061 --> 00:19:49,190 CINDY: Les started with one little store in Columbus, Ohio, 347 00:19:49,190 --> 00:19:52,027 and grew that business into 348 00:19:52,027 --> 00:19:56,156 12 or 14 brands that dominated 349 00:19:56,156 --> 00:19:58,575 the malls of America. 350 00:20:02,037 --> 00:20:06,082 - There was this great expression in the '80s fashion business. 351 00:20:06,082 --> 00:20:11,504 "If you sell to the classes, you go to work with the masses." 352 00:20:11,504 --> 00:20:12,923 If you sell to rich people, 353 00:20:12,923 --> 00:20:15,550 you're gonna take the subway to your office. 354 00:20:15,550 --> 00:20:17,260 But if you sell to the masses, 355 00:20:17,260 --> 00:20:19,554 then you travel with the classes. 356 00:20:19,554 --> 00:20:22,724 If you were a mall retailer, like Les Wexner, 357 00:20:22,724 --> 00:20:26,478 you were gonna get incredibly rich if you had a knack for it, 358 00:20:26,478 --> 00:20:28,855 which, clearly, the guy did. 359 00:20:30,774 --> 00:20:35,403 - He created clothes for every demographic from cradle to grave. 360 00:20:36,196 --> 00:20:38,198 [crowd cheering] 361 00:20:40,325 --> 00:20:42,786 And the thing that Wexner figured out was, 362 00:20:42,786 --> 00:20:46,289 is that women were shopping in the mall two and three times a week. 363 00:20:46,289 --> 00:20:49,459 He wanted to make certain that every time they came in that store, 364 00:20:49,459 --> 00:20:51,086 they were gonna see some novelty, 365 00:20:51,086 --> 00:20:53,380 where the store felt like it was brand new and fresh. 366 00:20:58,218 --> 00:21:00,595 Les Wexner invented fast fashion. 367 00:21:01,846 --> 00:21:06,518 He is the guy who figured out how to make Americans 368 00:21:06,518 --> 00:21:08,103 shop, shop, shop, shop, shop. 369 00:21:08,895 --> 00:21:14,401 - Just the same way Jeff Bezos has revolutionized shopping, 370 00:21:14,401 --> 00:21:17,279 the brands that Wexner started, 371 00:21:17,279 --> 00:21:21,575 Victoria's Secret being one of the most successful, 372 00:21:22,158 --> 00:21:24,911 revolutionized those malls. 373 00:21:28,039 --> 00:21:30,875 ASHLEY MEARS: In the '80s, it was all status-driven, 374 00:21:30,875 --> 00:21:33,003 going into the mall. 375 00:21:33,003 --> 00:21:36,798 And today, what people are doing on social media is very similar. 376 00:21:36,798 --> 00:21:38,341 It taps into that impulse. 377 00:21:40,093 --> 00:21:42,721 The mall is like Instagram 1.0 378 00:21:42,721 --> 00:21:45,849 in the sense that it's where people go to show off 379 00:21:45,849 --> 00:21:49,227 and display themselves, and that's a pursuit of status. 380 00:21:54,024 --> 00:21:59,112 - Les always said that the world designs for us, 381 00:21:59,696 --> 00:22:04,534 and it was the merchant's job to edit from all the stuff that was in the world 382 00:22:04,534 --> 00:22:06,995 for the customer that we were targeting. 383 00:22:08,830 --> 00:22:11,833 So, the way we would accomplish this 384 00:22:11,833 --> 00:22:16,338 is by shopping various fashion meccas frequently. 385 00:22:17,547 --> 00:22:20,717 We were always shopping London and Paris, obviously, 386 00:22:21,468 --> 00:22:23,011 also Rome, 387 00:22:24,012 --> 00:22:25,347 Milan. 388 00:22:25,347 --> 00:22:27,474 Oh, and I can't forget, 389 00:22:27,474 --> 00:22:30,185 we also shopped the south of France in the summer. 390 00:22:30,185 --> 00:22:33,480 Nice, Cannes, Saint-Tropez, oh gosh. 391 00:22:34,814 --> 00:22:37,817 And the way we were able to do this, 392 00:22:37,817 --> 00:22:42,113 there was a fleet, small fleet, of private jets. 393 00:22:42,113 --> 00:22:45,825 You cannot imagine how much time that saved us. 394 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:52,332 - Typically, other competitors would go twice a year, 395 00:22:52,332 --> 00:22:54,584 but we went more often. 396 00:22:54,584 --> 00:22:57,254 At least six times a year, you would go. 397 00:22:58,255 --> 00:23:00,590 MICHAEL GROSS: It's called shopping the stores. 398 00:23:00,966 --> 00:23:04,386 Shopping the stores is going to look for shit that you can copy. 399 00:23:05,512 --> 00:23:09,474 LINDSEY CASELLA: All employees were taught the L Brand's way, 400 00:23:09,474 --> 00:23:13,728 the core ideals and beliefs of our founder, Les Wexner, 401 00:23:13,728 --> 00:23:17,065 that amateurs borrow and professionals steal. 402 00:23:18,275 --> 00:23:21,945 MICHAEL GROSS: Taking something that's popular in Europe, 403 00:23:21,945 --> 00:23:25,323 make a tiny little change here, a tiny little change there. 404 00:23:25,323 --> 00:23:29,244 If originally it was in cashmere, you sell it in acrylic. 405 00:23:29,244 --> 00:23:32,581 If originally it was $800, you sell it for $35, 406 00:23:32,581 --> 00:23:36,209 and boom, you know, any girl who can afford a fashion magazine 407 00:23:36,209 --> 00:23:38,879 can now afford the most fashionable sweater of the season. 408 00:23:41,590 --> 00:23:43,049 And in their brilliance, 409 00:23:43,049 --> 00:23:47,053 The Limited even created a label for their knockoffs. 410 00:23:47,053 --> 00:23:51,474 They made it sound as if it was an Italian designer named Forenza. 411 00:23:52,183 --> 00:23:54,185 ♪ 412 00:24:01,526 --> 00:24:06,531 NICOLE PHELPS: The Forenza sweater was the aspirational sweater 413 00:24:06,531 --> 00:24:11,578 for my seventh and eighth grade years in the, in the mid-'80s. 414 00:24:11,578 --> 00:24:15,165 All the cool girls, the popular girls, wore their Forenza sweaters. 415 00:24:15,957 --> 00:24:19,211 NARRATOR: Over three million sweaters were sold, 416 00:24:19,211 --> 00:24:23,381 making it the most successful sweater to ever hit America. 417 00:24:25,508 --> 00:24:28,845 - It's all of a piece with what turns into the cerulean blue sweater 418 00:24:28,845 --> 00:24:32,057 that Miranda Priestly berates her assistant over 419 00:24:32,057 --> 00:24:33,683 in The Devil Wears Prada. 420 00:24:34,184 --> 00:24:37,062 - What you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue. 421 00:24:37,062 --> 00:24:39,814 It's not turquoise. It's not lapis. 422 00:24:39,814 --> 00:24:42,025 It's actually cerulean. 423 00:24:42,025 --> 00:24:45,820 And you're also blithely unaware of the fact that... in 2002, 424 00:24:45,820 --> 00:24:48,573 Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. 425 00:24:48,573 --> 00:24:50,325 And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent, wasn't it, 426 00:24:50,325 --> 00:24:53,078 who showed cerulean military jackets? 427 00:24:53,078 --> 00:24:56,623 And then it, uh, filtered down through the department stores 428 00:24:56,623 --> 00:24:59,834 and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner 429 00:24:59,834 --> 00:25:03,713 where you no doubt fished it out of some clearance bin. 430 00:25:03,713 --> 00:25:07,300 TIM: It's the sweater that built the empire 431 00:25:07,300 --> 00:25:11,763 is how it's been described and very, very accurately. 432 00:25:11,763 --> 00:25:13,765 ♪ 433 00:25:19,020 --> 00:25:23,483 - Les knew that inventories had to be refreshed quickly. 434 00:25:24,734 --> 00:25:30,407 And the quickest way to do that was through sourcing that he controlled, 435 00:25:30,407 --> 00:25:33,577 would put him ahead of the other retailers. 436 00:25:34,661 --> 00:25:38,707 TIM: Les became aware that if he wanted to make 437 00:25:38,707 --> 00:25:41,209 really huge profit margins, 438 00:25:41,209 --> 00:25:45,046 he was going to have to have merchandise 439 00:25:45,046 --> 00:25:50,510 manufactured in places where... wages were considerably lower. 440 00:25:51,469 --> 00:25:53,221 LES: We were the first American company 441 00:25:53,221 --> 00:25:55,307 to do business in the PRC, 442 00:25:55,307 --> 00:25:59,311 before the United States government had consular relations with China. 443 00:26:04,107 --> 00:26:06,568 MICHAEL GROSS: A lot of the business was based in Hong Kong, 444 00:26:06,568 --> 00:26:09,070 and then they would cross the border 445 00:26:09,070 --> 00:26:11,615 where the factories were with the poorer people 446 00:26:11,615 --> 00:26:14,367 making, you know, probably 15 cents an hour, 447 00:26:14,367 --> 00:26:15,577 making these sweaters, 448 00:26:15,577 --> 00:26:18,413 which is how you could afford to sell them for 35. 449 00:26:19,497 --> 00:26:21,458 TERI AGINS: They could control everything-- 450 00:26:21,458 --> 00:26:23,501 manufacturing, prices. 451 00:26:23,501 --> 00:26:24,586 They created this. 452 00:26:24,586 --> 00:26:27,047 They did it on a grand scale, 453 00:26:27,047 --> 00:26:28,757 created this great empire. 454 00:26:28,757 --> 00:26:31,509 TOM PETERS: The magic of The Limited and Victoria's Secret 455 00:26:31,509 --> 00:26:37,015 is that you've got a $3 billion, 2,500-store operation 456 00:26:37,015 --> 00:26:39,100 that can literally do in four weeks 457 00:26:39,100 --> 00:26:42,520 what it takes most of their big competitors nine months to do. 458 00:26:46,316 --> 00:26:49,945 CINDY: I remember Les was taking some criticism 459 00:26:49,945 --> 00:26:53,782 for doing so much of his sourcing overseas, 460 00:26:53,782 --> 00:26:57,369 and so, he was putting forward a concept, "Make it in America." 461 00:26:57,869 --> 00:27:02,290 And at the kickoff meeting, an older woman shouted out, 462 00:27:02,290 --> 00:27:04,334 "It'll never work!" 463 00:27:04,834 --> 00:27:06,878 And I was shocked. 464 00:27:07,420 --> 00:27:10,423 It was Bella, his mother. 465 00:27:13,385 --> 00:27:17,222 - I think it takes it a, a very unusual... parent 466 00:27:17,222 --> 00:27:20,225 to encourage a kid to start his own business, 467 00:27:20,225 --> 00:27:21,226 and to keep saying, you know, 468 00:27:21,226 --> 00:27:23,353 "You can do it, you can do it, you can do it." 469 00:27:23,353 --> 00:27:24,563 - He liked it. 470 00:27:25,063 --> 00:27:26,898 He liked the rag business, 471 00:27:26,898 --> 00:27:30,360 used to go with Daddy to, uh, unpack the shipments on Sunday 472 00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:31,987 and hand him the hangers. 473 00:27:32,821 --> 00:27:34,489 SARAH: Les and his mother, Bella, 474 00:27:34,489 --> 00:27:36,825 were very, very close for years. 475 00:27:36,825 --> 00:27:38,785 A longtime executive told us that 476 00:27:38,785 --> 00:27:41,413 they were basically married to one another. 477 00:27:42,205 --> 00:27:44,040 TIM: As the years transpired, 478 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:48,336 Les kept Harry and Bella close to him, 479 00:27:48,336 --> 00:27:53,425 and they both were on the board of The Limited. 480 00:27:53,425 --> 00:27:59,180 And famously, Bella's office was right across the hall from Les's. 481 00:28:02,434 --> 00:28:04,728 BELLA WEXNER: You felt that there was a foundation there 482 00:28:05,228 --> 00:28:08,231 that you could build on, and that's what you did. 483 00:28:09,900 --> 00:28:12,068 That's just, just, just what happened. 484 00:28:12,068 --> 00:28:15,739 And that, that confidence, I think that you inherit that 485 00:28:15,739 --> 00:28:17,657 s-somewhere in the genes, 486 00:28:17,657 --> 00:28:20,118 [Les laughs] that you inherit those qua-- You do. 487 00:28:20,118 --> 00:28:22,203 I think the important thing, the message is, 488 00:28:22,203 --> 00:28:26,625 is you must have confidence in yourself that you can do it. 489 00:28:26,625 --> 00:28:29,127 I can do it, and I will do it. 490 00:28:33,381 --> 00:28:34,674 ♪ 491 00:28:34,674 --> 00:28:39,429 - When I reflect back on my 13 years at Victoria's Secret, 492 00:28:39,429 --> 00:28:41,848 I always tell people that I felt like I went 493 00:28:41,848 --> 00:28:44,184 to the Ivy League school of retailing. 494 00:28:47,646 --> 00:28:51,274 Everything about how Les approached the business 495 00:28:51,274 --> 00:28:55,362 from ideations around innovation, and new materials, 496 00:28:55,362 --> 00:28:57,364 and product categories, 497 00:28:58,114 --> 00:28:59,950 that was Les's vision. 498 00:29:01,826 --> 00:29:04,037 SARA: I loved how overly thought-out it was. 499 00:29:04,037 --> 00:29:05,872 It was like, here's the plan, 500 00:29:05,872 --> 00:29:07,207 here's the pathway, 501 00:29:07,207 --> 00:29:09,334 here's how we're gonna convert clients. 502 00:29:09,334 --> 00:29:10,752 We're gonna get them in the fitting room. 503 00:29:10,752 --> 00:29:12,629 Once they're in the fitting room, they're ours. 504 00:29:13,838 --> 00:29:17,425 So, throw as much at them to expand that sale. 505 00:29:18,969 --> 00:29:20,762 I obviously drunk the Kool-Aid and I loved it. 506 00:29:20,762 --> 00:29:22,764 ♪ 507 00:29:27,352 --> 00:29:30,855 TERI: Initially, Victoria's Secret did no, you know, 508 00:29:30,855 --> 00:29:32,440 traditional advertising. 509 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:34,859 In fact, Les Wexner did not believe in advertising 510 00:29:34,859 --> 00:29:39,030 because his attitude was, you've got a showcase in the mall 511 00:29:39,030 --> 00:29:40,824 with all these great windows 512 00:29:40,824 --> 00:29:43,034 and you really didn't need to advertise. 513 00:29:43,577 --> 00:29:45,996 It was Ed Razek who started that system, 514 00:29:45,996 --> 00:29:50,083 and he got that working like a fine-tuned modern marketing machine. 515 00:29:50,083 --> 00:29:54,129 He was, like, number two to Les Wexner, and they kinda worked hand-in-glove. 516 00:29:54,796 --> 00:29:57,090 ED RAZEK: In a matter of months, we went from the idea of, 517 00:29:57,090 --> 00:29:59,718 could we get on a radio program in a local market 518 00:29:59,718 --> 00:30:03,722 to being on every national entertainment news program. 519 00:30:03,722 --> 00:30:06,099 And I think that in the future, you're gonna have a combination of media 520 00:30:06,099 --> 00:30:09,352 that includes every sophisticated 521 00:30:09,352 --> 00:30:11,855 kind of extension that a brand can have, 522 00:30:11,855 --> 00:30:14,399 and if you don't use 'em, it'll-- it will be at your peril. 523 00:30:14,399 --> 00:30:16,401 You really have to have all the components. 524 00:30:19,946 --> 00:30:21,948 ♪ 525 00:30:22,490 --> 00:30:25,160 JAMES SCULLY: At the time, even though Victoria's Secret 526 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:28,580 was a very respectable company throughout the country, 527 00:30:28,580 --> 00:30:30,040 and had a great image, 528 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,126 if you worked in fashion as a model, 529 00:30:33,126 --> 00:30:35,253 um, it is not the booking you wanted. 530 00:30:37,047 --> 00:30:40,050 If you were a Victoria's Secret contract girl, that basically meant 531 00:30:40,050 --> 00:30:42,469 [chuckles] your Vogue days were over, 532 00:30:42,469 --> 00:30:43,803 your high-fashion career was over. 533 00:30:43,803 --> 00:30:47,390 It was basically where models went to die, but make a ton of money. 534 00:30:47,390 --> 00:30:48,808 ALL: Hi, Santa. 535 00:30:48,808 --> 00:30:49,935 - Can you blame me? 536 00:30:49,935 --> 00:30:51,603 CINDY: In the earlier years, 537 00:30:51,603 --> 00:30:53,980 it was kinda tough to get models 538 00:30:53,980 --> 00:30:56,524 who were willing to model lingerie. 539 00:30:56,524 --> 00:30:58,693 It wasn't easy, but we did it. 540 00:30:59,277 --> 00:31:01,571 ED: Stephanie Seymour, who is now and was then 541 00:31:01,571 --> 00:31:03,990 a very major international model, 542 00:31:03,990 --> 00:31:06,701 started... working with Victoria's Secret. 543 00:31:06,701 --> 00:31:11,248 I think that legitimized our, um, our brand and our business, 544 00:31:11,248 --> 00:31:14,668 and allowed other girls to get into the business. 545 00:31:16,211 --> 00:31:19,047 CINDY: The models were lending 546 00:31:19,047 --> 00:31:23,176 their status to our brand. 547 00:31:23,176 --> 00:31:25,929 - You know, it has helped me enormous. It has helped them. 548 00:31:25,929 --> 00:31:29,224 I've been, uh, a good spokesperson for them and vice versa. 549 00:31:29,224 --> 00:31:32,686 So, it's been a good-- It is very good team. 550 00:31:34,521 --> 00:31:39,693 The '80s, and really, the mid-'90s, was a time when models had a name. 551 00:31:39,693 --> 00:31:43,530 We were suddenly-- We were Frederique. We were Stephanie. 552 00:31:43,530 --> 00:31:45,282 We were these supermodels, 553 00:31:45,282 --> 00:31:48,910 and Victoria's Secret was very early on in saying, 554 00:31:48,910 --> 00:31:52,539 "We're... stepping on this bandwagon." 555 00:31:53,498 --> 00:31:58,295 NICOLE: Co-opting the formula from designer fashion 556 00:31:58,295 --> 00:32:01,006 was... pretty brilliant 557 00:32:01,006 --> 00:32:03,592 because it equated 558 00:32:03,592 --> 00:32:07,220 panties and bras with high fashion, 559 00:32:07,220 --> 00:32:11,349 and it does slowly serve to 560 00:32:11,349 --> 00:32:13,768 raise Victoria's Secret profile. 561 00:32:15,186 --> 00:32:16,730 GRACE NICHOLS: A couple of years ago, 562 00:32:16,730 --> 00:32:19,232 Les presented the idea to all the CEOs 563 00:32:19,232 --> 00:32:21,568 about considering a fashion show 564 00:32:21,568 --> 00:32:26,740 as a part of the general business strategy and several of the brand personalities. 565 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:30,660 It really seemed that it was right for Victoria's Secret. 566 00:32:30,660 --> 00:32:32,454 JAMES: What a phenomenon Victoria's Secret is 567 00:32:32,454 --> 00:32:34,873 and how this catalog's become the thing 568 00:32:34,873 --> 00:32:37,626 that either every man is dying to see on his coffee table, 569 00:32:37,626 --> 00:32:40,503 or every woman, sort of, aspires to, you know, look that way, 570 00:32:40,503 --> 00:32:42,172 or be, sort of, a Victoria's Secret woman. 571 00:32:42,172 --> 00:32:43,757 And I think it'll be really interesting tonight 572 00:32:43,757 --> 00:32:46,384 to see the actual catalog come to life. 573 00:32:48,053 --> 00:32:51,973 I cast the very first Victoria's Secret fashion show, 574 00:32:51,973 --> 00:32:55,477 and it was a totally bold idea to have a show for a lingerie brand 575 00:32:55,477 --> 00:32:59,731 because there was nothing else like that at the time. 576 00:32:59,731 --> 00:33:01,775 They saw it as a marketing tool because they thought 577 00:33:01,775 --> 00:33:04,861 this is how we can get the face of our brand out there. 578 00:33:04,861 --> 00:33:09,074 - Maybe 15 years ago, if a woman had a half a dozen bras 579 00:33:09,074 --> 00:33:10,951 and a half a dozen pairs of panties, 580 00:33:10,951 --> 00:33:12,327 she thought she was covered. 581 00:33:12,327 --> 00:33:15,580 It was, it was basically the man's approach to underwear. 582 00:33:15,580 --> 00:33:17,749 And, uh, and point of fact, that's not true anymore. 583 00:33:17,749 --> 00:33:20,585 It's a very different business than it was just a few years ago. 584 00:33:22,462 --> 00:33:24,506 MAN: I'm about to rehearse Beverly Peele, 585 00:33:25,006 --> 00:33:27,008 which is a very exciting moment in my life. 586 00:33:28,051 --> 00:33:30,595 [person laughs] She could probably rehearse me. 587 00:33:30,595 --> 00:33:33,598 - You knew this is gonna be on Times Square? - Yeah, I just heard that. 588 00:33:33,598 --> 00:33:35,141 - I didn't know that-- - What time are we on Times Square? 589 00:33:35,141 --> 00:33:37,060 We're gonna be on Times Square, oh my god! 590 00:33:37,477 --> 00:33:39,980 - How do y-- How do you feel, Ingrid? 591 00:33:39,980 --> 00:33:41,606 How do you feel? You feel great? 592 00:33:43,900 --> 00:33:45,527 VICTORIA BARTLETT: Back in 1995, 593 00:33:45,527 --> 00:33:50,073 I was hired to do the first show for Victoria's Secret. 594 00:33:51,074 --> 00:33:54,327 In the '90s, I was one of the top stylists. 595 00:33:54,327 --> 00:33:56,329 I was working with Miu Miu, 596 00:33:56,830 --> 00:33:58,957 I was working with Versace. 597 00:33:58,957 --> 00:34:00,709 Victoria's Secret, for me, was this, 598 00:34:00,709 --> 00:34:03,712 sort of, patriarchal company in the mass market. 599 00:34:03,712 --> 00:34:05,463 I thought it was almost a paradox 600 00:34:05,463 --> 00:34:09,926 that they asked me to come and style for it. 601 00:34:10,468 --> 00:34:13,054 ED: Everything we said, it was a mantra. 602 00:34:13,054 --> 00:34:16,099 This is a fashion business, a fashion brand, 603 00:34:16,099 --> 00:34:19,728 and this is a fashion show to show our latest fashion. 604 00:34:20,145 --> 00:34:21,730 [indistinct chatter] 605 00:34:21,730 --> 00:34:23,315 ♪ 606 00:34:24,816 --> 00:34:26,192 TERI: One thing that was really important 607 00:34:26,192 --> 00:34:27,819 at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 608 00:34:27,819 --> 00:34:31,823 is that there were a lotta guys there because this was tits and glitz. 609 00:34:31,823 --> 00:34:35,201 REPORTER: Okay, what brought you here? - What brought me here to this show 610 00:34:35,201 --> 00:34:38,747 is the exact same thing that brought this guy here. 611 00:34:38,747 --> 00:34:39,998 - Are you hosting the show? 612 00:34:39,998 --> 00:34:42,918 - Lookin' forward to it, uh, since the moment I heard about it. 613 00:34:42,918 --> 00:34:44,961 - And your intentions are purely innocent? 614 00:34:44,961 --> 00:34:48,173 - Of course, I'm really here just for the cultural enrichment of it all. 615 00:34:48,673 --> 00:34:50,675 REPORTER: Are you a fan of Victoria's Secret? 616 00:34:50,675 --> 00:34:53,053 - Isn't every red-blooded man a fan of Victoria's Secret? 617 00:34:53,053 --> 00:34:54,471 REPORTER: So many men. 618 00:34:54,471 --> 00:34:56,723 I've never seen so many men at a fashion show. 619 00:34:57,349 --> 00:34:58,642 ROBIN LEACH: I guess every person, 620 00:34:58,642 --> 00:35:01,436 they, they dress their woman in Victoria's Secret 621 00:35:02,812 --> 00:35:05,857 that they believe that their woman winds up looking like Frederique. 622 00:35:06,942 --> 00:35:09,611 - The fashion show was very unique 623 00:35:09,611 --> 00:35:13,365 because it wasn't a show where you're showing to buyers. 624 00:35:13,365 --> 00:35:14,991 [indistinct] 625 00:35:17,661 --> 00:35:19,621 ♪ 626 00:35:23,625 --> 00:35:26,044 FREDERIQUE: If you use all the right elements, 627 00:35:26,753 --> 00:35:30,966 what you get is a sensation, and that's what they did. 628 00:35:32,259 --> 00:35:37,722 Victoria's Secret became itself something to know. 629 00:35:42,143 --> 00:35:44,271 I think it was brilliant, 630 00:35:44,271 --> 00:35:47,691 but it was definitely, for me personally, 631 00:35:47,691 --> 00:35:49,651 quite exposing. 632 00:35:52,237 --> 00:35:56,992 I was happy to leave, go home, and cry in a bathtub. [laughs] 633 00:35:56,992 --> 00:35:58,910 And say, "God, I got that over with." 634 00:35:58,910 --> 00:36:00,912 ♪ 635 00:36:12,424 --> 00:36:14,426 ♪ 636 00:36:14,426 --> 00:36:17,637 BARRY LEVINE: Despite Les Wexner's incredible wealth 637 00:36:17,637 --> 00:36:19,514 and incredible success, 638 00:36:19,514 --> 00:36:23,894 Wexner was an individual running his huge company 639 00:36:23,894 --> 00:36:27,147 out of the middle of Ohio. 640 00:36:27,147 --> 00:36:31,192 This was far away from the movers and the shakers 641 00:36:31,192 --> 00:36:33,820 and the social scene of New York. 642 00:36:34,946 --> 00:36:38,033 MICHAEL GROSS: Back in the '80s, it was a great moment 643 00:36:38,033 --> 00:36:41,786 for what was the tippy-top of American fashion. 644 00:36:41,786 --> 00:36:43,538 And at the same time, 645 00:36:43,538 --> 00:36:48,418 you had the arrival of an entire new billionaire class. 646 00:36:49,836 --> 00:36:52,839 So, you could be a thug, like a Trump, 647 00:36:53,673 --> 00:36:56,760 but you still, because of your money and your spending, 648 00:36:56,760 --> 00:36:59,387 you could be part of nouvelle society. 649 00:37:00,722 --> 00:37:02,724 ♪ 650 00:37:04,809 --> 00:37:10,065 Wexner had the advantage of coming to New York astonishingly rich, 651 00:37:10,065 --> 00:37:12,984 and almost immediately thereafter, 652 00:37:12,984 --> 00:37:16,529 Wexner ends up buying Henri Bendel's. 653 00:37:17,989 --> 00:37:19,616 SHARLEEN ERNSTER: I worked at Henri Bendel 654 00:37:19,616 --> 00:37:22,452 in this jewel box lingerie section 655 00:37:22,452 --> 00:37:26,373 where the most influential women in the world shop. 656 00:37:27,749 --> 00:37:30,669 The announcement that we had been purchased 657 00:37:30,669 --> 00:37:34,673 by The Limited Inc. was shocking. 658 00:37:36,007 --> 00:37:38,260 - He wanted that New York cache, 659 00:37:38,260 --> 00:37:40,720 and that was a way to buy into it. 660 00:37:44,933 --> 00:37:49,187 - The city was, kind of, "Huh?" They were aghast. 661 00:37:55,902 --> 00:38:01,533 - He invited Jackie Onassis to the christening of the store. 662 00:38:03,827 --> 00:38:05,120 All the photographers were there. 663 00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:07,664 This was a big paparazzi moment 664 00:38:07,664 --> 00:38:11,376 because he wanted that respect 665 00:38:11,376 --> 00:38:16,381 with New York society and high-fashion New York. 666 00:38:16,381 --> 00:38:18,842 This was something that, obviously, was really important to him. 667 00:38:23,179 --> 00:38:25,932 Anytime, when you see a socialite like that 668 00:38:25,932 --> 00:38:28,476 paired with a retailer like Les Wexner, 669 00:38:28,476 --> 00:38:31,396 it's understood that someone has written out 670 00:38:31,396 --> 00:38:34,399 a very big check to their favorite charity. 671 00:38:36,693 --> 00:38:38,695 ♪ 672 00:38:41,448 --> 00:38:44,200 SARAH: Wexner is coming in from the Midwest 673 00:38:44,784 --> 00:38:47,913 and he's intimidated by this New York society 674 00:38:47,913 --> 00:38:51,499 that he can't quite dominate the way he can in Columbus. 675 00:38:51,499 --> 00:38:56,296 And you can see how he might benefit from a translator, 676 00:38:56,296 --> 00:38:58,048 or someone who can, kind of, 677 00:38:58,048 --> 00:39:01,593 take his elbow and lead him into the right rooms, 678 00:39:01,593 --> 00:39:04,221 and the right charities, and the right parties. 679 00:39:09,100 --> 00:39:13,730 - This was about the time Jeffrey Epstein came into Wexner's life. 680 00:39:18,276 --> 00:39:20,111 MICHAEL GROSS: Jeffrey Epstein was a college dropout 681 00:39:20,111 --> 00:39:22,113 who somehow managed to get a job teaching 682 00:39:22,113 --> 00:39:25,325 at the very prestigious prep school Dalton in New York, 683 00:39:25,325 --> 00:39:27,410 hired by Donald Barr, 684 00:39:27,410 --> 00:39:29,162 whose son was William Barr, 685 00:39:29,162 --> 00:39:31,748 the Trump administration's Attorney General. 686 00:39:31,748 --> 00:39:35,043 It was at Dalton that Epstein met Ace Greenberg, 687 00:39:35,043 --> 00:39:36,253 who was a parent there. 688 00:39:36,253 --> 00:39:39,172 Greenberg ran Bear Stearns, an investment bank, 689 00:39:39,172 --> 00:39:42,384 and that was Epstein's next job, working for Bear Stearns. 690 00:39:44,678 --> 00:39:48,431 Bear Stearns wasn't one of those white shoe Wall Street firms. 691 00:39:48,431 --> 00:39:51,434 It was a rough-and-tumble streetwise place run by Jewish guys. 692 00:39:51,810 --> 00:39:56,314 And it was at Bear that Epstein manifested a trait 693 00:39:56,314 --> 00:39:59,109 that would be part of his career thereafter, 694 00:39:59,109 --> 00:40:01,528 which was worming his way into the lives 695 00:40:01,528 --> 00:40:05,031 of older, successful, influential Jewish men. 696 00:40:06,366 --> 00:40:08,785 STEVEN J. HOFFENBERG: Epstein was, uh, 697 00:40:08,785 --> 00:40:12,247 extraordinarily mesmerizing 698 00:40:12,247 --> 00:40:17,210 and... could convince anything of anybody, 699 00:40:17,210 --> 00:40:19,462 the master manipulator. 700 00:40:21,590 --> 00:40:23,967 SARAH: After a time, Epstein develops 701 00:40:23,967 --> 00:40:27,095 this cloud of suspicion about various misdeeds 702 00:40:27,095 --> 00:40:29,306 around him at Bear Stearns, 703 00:40:29,306 --> 00:40:33,518 and he's eventually forced out in 1981. 704 00:40:33,518 --> 00:40:36,938 But importantly, Ace Greenberg opens the door 705 00:40:36,938 --> 00:40:39,900 for Epstein to this world, 706 00:40:39,900 --> 00:40:44,321 and that is... what really seals the deal for him. 707 00:40:46,740 --> 00:40:50,660 BARRY: Jeffrey Epstein would eventually take on 708 00:40:50,660 --> 00:40:53,872 as his key client Leslie Wexner. 709 00:40:54,956 --> 00:40:57,292 When Les Wexner met Jeffrey Epstein, 710 00:40:57,292 --> 00:41:01,755 he apparently remarked that Jeffrey Epstein was so exciting, 711 00:41:01,755 --> 00:41:05,175 that Epstein was everything 712 00:41:05,175 --> 00:41:10,430 that Les Wexner thought was lacking in... Ohio. 713 00:41:11,723 --> 00:41:17,729 - Both Epstein, apparently, and Wexner, definitely, 714 00:41:18,355 --> 00:41:20,690 were very smart men. 715 00:41:20,690 --> 00:41:26,029 And each one must have fulfilled the need of the other. 716 00:41:26,029 --> 00:41:31,576 Wexner had the money that Epstein was seeking, 717 00:41:31,576 --> 00:41:35,914 and Wexner got from Epstein 718 00:41:35,914 --> 00:41:39,793 the glamour and smoothness 719 00:41:39,793 --> 00:41:42,170 that he was seeking. 720 00:41:42,170 --> 00:41:47,050 And I'm not at all inferring it was a sexual need, 721 00:41:47,717 --> 00:41:49,719 but there is something there. 722 00:41:52,389 --> 00:41:57,394 - Wexner bought this fabulous townhouse, the biggest private house in Manhattan. 723 00:41:58,895 --> 00:42:01,147 SARAH: It being the largest house in the city 724 00:42:01,147 --> 00:42:05,151 strikes me as a, sort of, desperate move 725 00:42:05,151 --> 00:42:09,114 because the biggest house is also a little gauche in some ways. 726 00:42:10,574 --> 00:42:12,534 MICHAEL GROSS: Even with Epstein's help, 727 00:42:12,534 --> 00:42:14,953 Wexner stayed an outsider in New York City. 728 00:42:15,495 --> 00:42:19,457 He never became part of the cultural New York world, 729 00:42:19,457 --> 00:42:21,459 or the fashion New York world. 730 00:42:23,044 --> 00:42:24,921 This has happened time immemorial, 731 00:42:24,921 --> 00:42:29,676 you know, the Midwest king of the hill comes to New York and discovers 732 00:42:29,676 --> 00:42:32,512 that he's really just a pimple on New York's backside. 733 00:42:34,806 --> 00:42:36,558 BARRY: So, at that point, 734 00:42:36,558 --> 00:42:38,935 Jeffrey Epstein eyed that townhouse 735 00:42:38,935 --> 00:42:44,274 and maneuvered to acquire it from Les Wexner. 736 00:42:44,274 --> 00:42:47,152 - Wexner eventually sold it to Epstein, 737 00:42:47,152 --> 00:42:52,115 and it wasn't until years later that there was a transfer of real estate deed. 738 00:42:54,034 --> 00:42:59,080 - Epstein paid upwards of $20 million, uh, for the townhouse, 739 00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:03,043 but there's no question that the property 740 00:43:03,043 --> 00:43:05,962 ended up being worth so much more than he paid for it. 741 00:43:18,308 --> 00:43:20,518 SARAH: After Epstein had managed to 742 00:43:20,518 --> 00:43:23,939 navigate his way into Wexner's life, 743 00:43:23,939 --> 00:43:28,026 Wexner did something that I've never seen in all of my years of reporting. 744 00:43:28,026 --> 00:43:30,779 He granted full power of attorney to Epstein 745 00:43:30,779 --> 00:43:36,701 and gave him unmitigated control over all of his assets, 746 00:43:36,701 --> 00:43:38,995 20 of Wexner's companies, 747 00:43:38,995 --> 00:43:42,249 19 trusts and different charitable foundations. 748 00:43:42,249 --> 00:43:44,834 He was able to manage his real estate. 749 00:43:44,834 --> 00:43:48,547 He managed his investments. He managed his businesses. 750 00:43:48,547 --> 00:43:53,552 There wasn't a part of Wexner's empire that Epstein didn't have access to 751 00:43:53,552 --> 00:43:56,763 and, and didn't have some ability to control. 752 00:43:57,597 --> 00:44:00,517 And so, to give carte blanche to someone 753 00:44:00,517 --> 00:44:03,937 the way he did with Epstein, is such a puzzle. 754 00:44:03,937 --> 00:44:05,939 ♪ tense music playing ♪ 755 00:44:19,077 --> 00:44:23,707 BARRY: Here was Jeffrey Epstein, who was obviously a conman 756 00:44:23,707 --> 00:44:26,751 to anyone paying any attention. 757 00:44:26,751 --> 00:44:29,004 I think the million-dollar question 758 00:44:29,004 --> 00:44:32,340 is why a gentleman as brilliant as Leslie Wexner 759 00:44:32,340 --> 00:44:35,552 could allow this guy into his life? 760 00:44:37,053 --> 00:44:40,473 CINDY: Years later, when I heard 761 00:44:40,473 --> 00:44:43,184 Epstein was involved in the business, 762 00:44:43,184 --> 00:44:44,895 it struck me as odd 763 00:44:46,354 --> 00:44:50,233 because Les was a micromanager 764 00:44:50,233 --> 00:44:56,114 and someone who was involved in every aspect of the business. 765 00:44:56,531 --> 00:45:02,454 I couldn't believe... that Les would let that happen. 766 00:45:04,915 --> 00:45:06,917 Something was amiss. 767 00:45:10,003 --> 00:45:14,633 SARAH: Epstein was at the first-ever fashion show, 768 00:45:14,633 --> 00:45:17,928 and he even eventually found himself sitting near Wexner 769 00:45:17,928 --> 00:45:20,722 at one of the later fashion shows. 770 00:45:20,722 --> 00:45:24,643 It was something that he was able to use much to his advantage, 771 00:45:24,643 --> 00:45:27,395 certainly, in his early years of predation 772 00:45:27,395 --> 00:45:30,065 as a kind of calling card 773 00:45:30,065 --> 00:45:32,984 that got him introductions where he wanted. 774 00:45:37,739 --> 00:45:41,451 - I think retailing has a great future as, as long as you see it as entertainment. 775 00:45:42,327 --> 00:45:45,413 And the internet is an important part of retailing, 776 00:45:45,413 --> 00:45:49,042 an important part of the marketing, an important part of advertising. 777 00:45:50,877 --> 00:45:53,672 - We tried to get onto your site a number of times today 778 00:45:53,672 --> 00:45:56,258 and found that it was just an overwhelming experience, 779 00:45:56,258 --> 00:45:58,885 not to watch the models, mind you, but to get to it. 780 00:45:58,885 --> 00:46:02,264 - We've been handling very nicely the daily demand, 781 00:46:02,264 --> 00:46:04,349 uh, up until the Super Bowl ad, 782 00:46:04,891 --> 00:46:08,103 which generated a surge of a million hits. 783 00:46:09,604 --> 00:46:11,439 ♪ upbeat music playing ♪ 784 00:46:16,820 --> 00:46:19,864 ED: I think that's probably the most successful commercial, 785 00:46:19,864 --> 00:46:21,241 maybe in the history of the Super Bowl. 786 00:46:21,241 --> 00:46:24,202 I can't imagine that happening with anyone else. 787 00:46:24,202 --> 00:46:26,580 I can't remember an incident ever where 788 00:46:26,580 --> 00:46:31,001 a million people left their TVs during the game to go do something else. 789 00:46:31,668 --> 00:46:33,795 MAN: It's all your friend's fault. 790 00:46:33,795 --> 00:46:36,673 NICOLE: The brand really did, sort of, beat fashion to the punch. 791 00:46:36,673 --> 00:46:41,511 Victoria's Secret... really understood 792 00:46:41,511 --> 00:46:45,557 we're very hungry, as a culture, for beauty and beau-beautiful people, 793 00:46:45,557 --> 00:46:48,184 and they just, sort of, fed us what we all wanted. 794 00:46:49,352 --> 00:46:52,480 And so, the beauty pageant of the 1950s 795 00:46:52,480 --> 00:46:56,985 became the Victoria's Secret Show of 1999... and on. 796 00:46:56,985 --> 00:46:59,070 ♪ 797 00:47:03,366 --> 00:47:05,327 MAN: I don't really look at fashion shows. 798 00:47:05,327 --> 00:47:07,078 Just, you know, they're modeling lingerie. 799 00:47:07,078 --> 00:47:09,289 That's why I was interested in it as a fashion show. 800 00:47:10,248 --> 00:47:12,292 CINDY: Everyone tells a joke that 801 00:47:12,292 --> 00:47:16,338 the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show crashed the web. 802 00:47:16,338 --> 00:47:21,593 Uh, we only crashed our site, and we got it up and running very quickly. 803 00:47:23,887 --> 00:47:26,514 MICHAEL GROSS: They used the crash to their advantage. 804 00:47:27,182 --> 00:47:30,727 It was nothing but a stunt. It was a way to get headlines. 805 00:47:31,228 --> 00:47:36,650 This is a problem for any marketer who, who depends upon the press. 806 00:47:37,150 --> 00:47:39,069 You live by the press, you die by the press. 807 00:47:39,069 --> 00:47:40,737 If you don't keep upping the ante, 808 00:47:40,737 --> 00:47:43,198 you're not going to get the attention paid to you. 809 00:47:49,287 --> 00:47:51,289 ♪ 810 00:47:56,711 --> 00:47:59,256 JAMES: With the Angels, Victoria's Secret created 811 00:47:59,256 --> 00:48:02,300 a whole sexier, more playful narrative. 812 00:48:02,300 --> 00:48:04,678 I think people wanted to see something sexy. 813 00:48:04,678 --> 00:48:06,388 And then all of a sudden, 814 00:48:06,388 --> 00:48:09,224 it became, probably, the number-one booking 815 00:48:09,224 --> 00:48:12,852 because you could start a career by being a Victoria's Secret Angel. 816 00:48:15,647 --> 00:48:17,524 MICHAEL GROSS: One of the truisms of show business 817 00:48:17,524 --> 00:48:19,651 is that corny can work. 818 00:48:19,651 --> 00:48:21,403 And the wings were corny. 819 00:48:21,403 --> 00:48:23,238 And yet, the press loved it, 820 00:48:23,238 --> 00:48:25,448 the audience at the shows loved it, 821 00:48:25,448 --> 00:48:27,867 and they worked like crazy. 822 00:48:28,660 --> 00:48:31,204 And not only that, it caught the models' attention 823 00:48:31,204 --> 00:48:36,042 because they competed like mad to wear those wings. 824 00:48:39,546 --> 00:48:43,258 - It would become a huge thing every season about 825 00:48:43,258 --> 00:48:45,594 who would be chosen to wear these. 826 00:48:46,553 --> 00:48:49,681 Or who would get one of the few allotted wings. 827 00:48:50,724 --> 00:48:55,353 - It's amazing for me to be part of the Angels Across America. 828 00:48:55,353 --> 00:48:57,981 - Those wings were so heavy. 829 00:48:57,981 --> 00:49:01,359 I almost gave them to another girl and then saw how good she looked in them. 830 00:49:01,359 --> 00:49:02,819 I was like, "No, no, no." 831 00:49:02,819 --> 00:49:04,613 ED: We're doing the fittings today. 832 00:49:04,613 --> 00:49:06,907 The outfits have been in the works for several months now. 833 00:49:06,907 --> 00:49:08,408 - Hi! 834 00:49:09,492 --> 00:49:13,914 - Giving a girl her first wings is really a special experience. 835 00:49:14,623 --> 00:49:17,125 MODELS: [echoing] Do you believe? 836 00:49:17,125 --> 00:49:19,252 MODELS: [echoing] I believe in miracles. 837 00:49:19,252 --> 00:49:20,879 MODELS: [echoing] I believe, I believe... 838 00:49:24,049 --> 00:49:26,885 TODD THOMAS: The Angels with the wings 839 00:49:26,885 --> 00:49:30,472 became a huge part of the iconography of the show, 840 00:49:30,472 --> 00:49:34,559 and that started with a pretty basic concept. 841 00:49:37,854 --> 00:49:40,690 MARTIN IZQUIERDO: The powers-that-be at Victoria's Secret 842 00:49:40,690 --> 00:49:42,108 came to me for wings 843 00:49:42,108 --> 00:49:46,488 because I think that they all wanted to create something big. 844 00:49:46,863 --> 00:49:50,867 At first, I made preliminary sketches, 845 00:49:50,867 --> 00:49:55,455 and they also saw samples of what the wings were that I had created 846 00:49:55,455 --> 00:49:57,540 for Angels in America. 847 00:49:59,417 --> 00:50:01,169 - Greetings, prophet. 848 00:50:01,670 --> 00:50:04,089 The great work begins. 849 00:50:10,595 --> 00:50:13,932 MARTIN: We had a preliminary conversation 850 00:50:13,932 --> 00:50:18,353 determining the looks or the styles for each segment. 851 00:50:19,020 --> 00:50:22,315 I showed them to Ed Razek, and to the stylists, 852 00:50:22,315 --> 00:50:25,443 and, and ultimately, the models would see them as well. 853 00:50:25,443 --> 00:50:30,824 Heidi always wanted the biggest wings in the history of the show, 854 00:50:30,824 --> 00:50:33,326 and we gave them to her, 855 00:50:34,202 --> 00:50:37,205 ones that were 10-feet, 12-feet tall. 856 00:50:37,831 --> 00:50:43,461 I think, ultimately, I was lucky to be entrusted with this. 857 00:50:44,296 --> 00:50:47,507 But, uh, well, I mean it was 10 years. 858 00:50:51,428 --> 00:50:53,430 ♪ dramatic music playing ♪ 859 00:50:54,472 --> 00:50:56,975 [crowd cheering, applauding] 860 00:51:14,826 --> 00:51:20,123 I was influenced by movies, arts... musicals 861 00:51:20,123 --> 00:51:23,919 from the '20s and the '30s, Busby Berkeley, 862 00:51:25,545 --> 00:51:28,757 Picasso, Seurat, Chagall. 863 00:51:29,674 --> 00:51:32,469 But after a while, the audience doesn't necessarily 864 00:51:32,469 --> 00:51:34,179 want to keep seeing the same thing. 865 00:51:34,179 --> 00:51:35,347 MODEL: Coming! 866 00:51:35,347 --> 00:51:37,349 [indistinct yells, chatter] 867 00:51:38,600 --> 00:51:40,352 - Take it off, take it off. - Take it off. 868 00:51:40,352 --> 00:51:42,395 - Go, go, go, go, go! 869 00:51:42,395 --> 00:51:44,814 - Alessandra! - Alessandra! 870 00:51:47,025 --> 00:51:48,026 - Let's go. 871 00:51:48,777 --> 00:51:50,403 STAGE MANAGER: Girls, we need more energy 872 00:51:50,403 --> 00:51:52,614 and more smiles than that! 873 00:51:52,614 --> 00:51:55,325 - The hat's falling down, guys. The hat is falling down. 874 00:51:55,325 --> 00:51:57,327 No, no, no, she's gotta put it back on. 875 00:51:57,327 --> 00:51:59,162 - Stop by 2:15, the breakdown. 876 00:51:59,162 --> 00:52:01,331 [chatter] 877 00:52:01,331 --> 00:52:05,168 LYNDSEY: Backstage, they did so many adjustments beforehand. 878 00:52:05,168 --> 00:52:06,670 They-- The outfits were ready to go. 879 00:52:06,670 --> 00:52:11,216 I think they faked adjustments on camera for the, uh, for the show. 880 00:52:11,216 --> 00:52:13,009 [laughing] Like, they, they made it seem like 881 00:52:13,009 --> 00:52:15,554 it was more hectic backstage than it actually was. 882 00:52:15,554 --> 00:52:18,557 - Standing by with Behati. - Dangerous music with video. 883 00:52:18,557 --> 00:52:19,474 - Okay! 884 00:52:19,474 --> 00:52:22,769 STAGE MANAGER: In three, two, one. Go! 885 00:52:22,769 --> 00:52:23,770 Go! 886 00:52:25,689 --> 00:52:27,691 DOROTHEA BARTH-JORGENSEN: I thought it was fun to be part of it, 887 00:52:27,691 --> 00:52:30,068 but I... feel like I was playing a game, 888 00:52:30,068 --> 00:52:33,780 or something that wasn't really... real at all, 889 00:52:33,780 --> 00:52:36,032 and wasn't very inspirational. 890 00:52:38,910 --> 00:52:42,622 - We need Candice. - Three, two, one... 891 00:52:42,622 --> 00:52:44,624 ♪ 892 00:53:05,896 --> 00:53:09,482 TODD: The fact that the show made millions of people happy 893 00:53:09,482 --> 00:53:12,694 and tune in is a phenomenon. 894 00:53:14,279 --> 00:53:19,075 And there's another side of that, too, which is that, you know, there were people 895 00:53:19,075 --> 00:53:21,161 that were kinda tortured by it, too, 896 00:53:21,161 --> 00:53:24,456 by, you know, just the desire to participate 897 00:53:24,456 --> 00:53:27,876 and the willingness to... submit 898 00:53:27,876 --> 00:53:30,295 to whatever it took to, like, be a part of it. 899 00:53:30,295 --> 00:53:32,297 ♪ 900 00:53:34,716 --> 00:53:37,969 CINDY: Sometime in the spring or summer of '93, 901 00:53:37,969 --> 00:53:42,098 an executive came into my office quite upset. 902 00:53:42,098 --> 00:53:44,351 She said she had been informed 903 00:53:44,351 --> 00:53:49,022 that a man was in New York portraying himself 904 00:53:49,689 --> 00:53:54,611 as a recruiter for Victoria's Secret catalog models. 905 00:53:55,946 --> 00:53:58,949 And I ask her if she knew his name, 906 00:53:59,699 --> 00:54:02,118 and she said, "Jeffrey Epstein." 907 00:54:03,453 --> 00:54:07,457 It was like, "Oh boy, this is trouble." 908 00:54:10,043 --> 00:54:16,049 So, I asked this executive to call Les directly 909 00:54:16,508 --> 00:54:18,969 and tell him what was happening. 910 00:54:19,344 --> 00:54:23,848 She did... and Les told her 911 00:54:23,848 --> 00:54:26,268 he would put a stop to it. 912 00:54:28,728 --> 00:54:33,400 The point being that inappropriate behavior 913 00:54:33,400 --> 00:54:35,402 was reported to Les 914 00:54:35,402 --> 00:54:39,030 sometime in '93. 915 00:54:39,948 --> 00:54:45,453 - In 1997, I filed a sexual battery report 916 00:54:45,453 --> 00:54:47,080 on Jeffrey Epstein. 917 00:54:49,124 --> 00:54:51,167 He worked for Victoria's Secret. 918 00:54:51,167 --> 00:54:53,295 That's what he told me. 919 00:54:53,295 --> 00:54:55,297 ♪ ominous music playing ♪ 920 00:55:31,666 --> 00:55:33,668 ♪