We welcome noted retail journalists Chantal Fernandez and Lauren Sherman to the podcast to discuss their fabulous new book Selling Sexy: Victoria's Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon. And we had so much to talk about we are releasing our interview in two parts. We kick things off by digging into a very busy week of retail news, all brought to you by SCAYLE. Up first, we try to make sense of the Trump's planned tariffs and just what the heck is going on at Macy's. We also explore earnings new from Kohl's (terrible) and Abercrombie & Fitch (remarkable), and wonder what this all portends for JC Penney and Target. We close with Amazon's doubling down on investment in Anthropic and an interesting announcement from Perplexity.
We welcome noted retail journalists Chantal Fernandez and Lauren Sherman to the podcast to discuss their fabulous new book Selling Sexy: Victoria's Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon. And we had so much to talk about we are releasing our interview in two parts.
In the first part of our conversation we explore Victoria's Secret's origin and growth in the broader context of retail's evolution and from the perspective of Lex Wexner's creation of L2 Brands. We delve into how the brand became a cultural phenomenon with stores in just about every major mall and what set the stage for the emergence of the Angels, their iconic fashion shows, and the troubles that would soon befall the company.
We'll be back with Part 2 on Friday, digging into the rise and the fall of the brand and leadership lessons from Les Wexner's reign. We also get Chantal and Lauren's take on whether the company has a chance to mount a turnaround.
But we kick things off by digging into a very busy week of retail news, all brought to you by Scayle. Up first, we try to make sense of the Trump's planned tariffs and just what the heck is going on at Macy's. We also explore earnings new from Kohl's (terrible) and Abercrombie & Fitch (remarkable), and wonder what this all portends for JC Penney and Target. We close with Amazon's doubling down on investment in Anthropic and an interesting announcement from Perplexity.