Third Generation’s president explained that they turned to prison labor because “ could not find enough qualified industrial sewers in rural South Carolina, and the prison labor solved a real problem for us in that respect.” Victoria’s Secret has since stopped using Third Generation as a subcontractor to make its’ casual lingerie. A 2015 article in the Washington Post revealed that Third Generation employed 35 inmates in at the Leath Correctional Facility in Greenwood, South Carolina to make casual lingerie and other clothing products. It had been discovered that Victoria’s Secret since 1995 has been purchasing some of their more casual lingerie from a company called Third Generation. Victoria’s Secret is one of the said companies that used prison labor to create their product. In 2004, it was estimated that prison labor produced more than $2 billion dollars worth of commodities, according to a Septemarticle on. (The strike actually began on August 21 and ramped up on Labor Day.) This prison strike highlighted that prison labor is being used to make goods and services that consumers use daily, and that prison labor is paid as little as one dollar a day or less. From the revelation that Victoria’s Secret was employing prison inmates in the US to produce product, to negative comments about plus-size and transgender models, to the lack of people of color working on production crews for their annual runway show, Victoria’s Secret’s decline in retail sales, as well as having major competition from such brands as Kiki de Montparnesse, Yandy, Aerie, ThirdLove, Lively, Journelle, and several others.Ĭoinciding with Labor Day in the US, several US prison communities engaged in a continued national strike by refusing to work or eat.

“ Women don’t want to be viewed as stereotypical sexy supermodels buying lingerie to impress men,” explained retail analyst Paul Lejeuz.Additionally, in the past five years Victoria’s Secret has been the subject of a laundry list of industry scandals.

While viewership of the Victoria’s Fashion has grown from an initial viewership of 1.5 million viewers to 9.7 million viewers at its peak in 2013, in recent years viewership had declined as female consumers have moved from seeing sexy supermodels as aspirational figures. The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show began airing on primetime American television in 1995, streaming the show online in 1999. And by the early 90s, Victoria’s Secret began using supermodels to promote its products, culminating in an annual extravagant runway show. Images courtesy of, , and, respectivelyīy the late 80s, the brand ventured into the fragrance industry.

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