Selling Sexy: Victoria's Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon

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Product Details
Price
$29.99  $27.89
Publisher
Henry Holt & Company
Publish Date
Pages
320
Dimensions
6.41 X 9.65 X 1.11 inches | 1.13 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9781250850966

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About the Author

Lauren Sherman has been reporting from inside the fashion industry for more than fifteen years. Now a special correspondent at Puck, she was the Business of Fashion's chief correspondent, and before that a staff reporter at Forbes. She has contributed to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, as well as Fast Company, Women's Health, and the Gentlewoman. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.

Chantal Fernandez is a writer covering fashion, retail, luxury, and beauty with a focus on business and culture. She is currently a features writer for The Cut at New York magazine. A former senior reporter at the Business of Fashion, her work has appeared in the Financial Times, the New York Times, Elle, and Harper's Bazaar. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband.
Reviews

Named one of Amazon's Best Business and Leadership Books of 2024

"[A] lively chronicle of the global retail empire built on sweet-nothing bits of lace and rayon....in chatty but precise prose, Sherman and Fernandez unfurl the kind of forensic, thoroughly sourced narrative more often found in the business pages of a newspaper, albeit one that makes clear the ongoing role that sexism, racism and sizeism played in the company's undoing."
--The New York Times

"An enthralling deep dive... a sharp assessment, this pulls no punches."
--Publishers Weekly

"Sex, lies and measuring tape: Selling Sexy by two veteran fashion journalists is a rollicking romp that reveals in intimate detail the ascent and collapse of the world's most famous lingerie brand. Simply delectable."
--Dana Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster

"In elegant, tasteful prose, Selling Sexy tells the incredible story of the rise and fall of Les Wexner's retail juggernaut. Thanks to Sherman and Fernandez's encyclopedic knowledge of the business of fashion, it's placed in highly readable and essential context. You won't be able to put the book down."
--William D. Cohan, New York Times bestselling author of House of Cards

"A must-read for anyone who has ever been fascinated and disturbed by the rise of a company that promised women so much--and sold us so little. Sherman and Fernandez reveal all of Victoria's secrets in riveting detail."
--Amy Odell, New York Times bestselling author of Anna: The Biography

"No fashion mogul comes close to the visionary Les Wexner, whose mighty Limited Brands, starring the sultry Victoria's Secret, ruled shopping malls for decades. Selling Sexy unpacks Wexner's brilliant--and ultimately off-base--business maneuvers with authority and style."
--Teri Agins, author of The End of Fashion

"This is the rare business book that examines the cultural impact of one of the most important brands of our time--and reads like a thriller."
--Marisa Meltzer, New York Times bestselling author of Glossy

"A fully engrossing history that reveals how business and commerce shape our aesthetics, norms, and libido."
--W. David Marx, author of Ametora

"Selling Sexy peels back the layers on the brand that brought 'sexy' out of the boudoir and into the fluorescent-lit American mainstream. Bravo to Lauren Sherman and Chantel Fernandez, who expertly weave together sharp business insight, tantalizing cultural history, and juicy insider anecdotes to get at why Victoria's Secret's bombshell babes and their 'Jello-mold cleavage' still live rent-free in all of our brains--even years into a decline that was all but inevitable."
--Maggie Bullock, author of The Kingdom of Prep

"One of the great cautionary tales of modern retail, Selling Sexy packs an MBA's worth of lessons into a riveting page-turner punctuated by personal tragedy and corporate excess."
--Jason Del Rey, author of Winner Sells All