Tragedy of the would-be Victoria’s Secret lingerie king

Sexy lingerie was regarded as an occasional treat – something to be splashed out upon, perhaps only on a wedding night or other special event.

Victoria’s Secret made it more ubiquitous, put the fun into functional, and sales soared, especially as Raymond had the idea of producing lavish catalogues that could take the goods directly into people’s homes to be perused at their leisure (this was of course long before the internet).

For the first year turnover was more than £300,000.

Within five years there were three more stores in San Francisco and by 1982 there were annual sales of more than £2.5million.

But although customers loved the brand they were still mainly men and the company was soon facing bankruptcy as it was not shifting enough stock.

It was then Leslie Wexner stumbled across one of the appealing branches of the small, family-run chain.

At the age of 40 Wexner was a self-made man worth £25million following his realisation in his 20s that women were ready to dump their dresses and start buying casual wear.

In 1963 he had opened a shop for women that sold only sportswear under the name the Limited.

By 1977 he had nearly 200 stores, his fortune was assured and he was on the hunt.

In 2010 he recalled the moment he discovered Victoria’s Secret. “It was a small store and it was brothel Victorian with red velvet sofas.

“But there was very sexy lingerie and I hadn’t seen anything like it in the US.”

However there were flaws keeping women away, not least the advertising which looked a little red light district for middle-class tastes.

In short the shop was a turnoff to women.

Wexner realised repositioning the brand would bring in a whole new audience and change the company’s fortunes.

It was then Raymond made his fatal mistake.

Rather than selling a percentage of his company to Wexner he sold the entire operation for £600,000 in a desperate attempt to pay off creditors (it was incorrectly reported as £2.6million at the time).

“My husband Roy had spoken to Les Wexner a few times about working together but ultimately Roy felt he couldn’t share the decision- making and was happier getting out completely,” explained Gaye.