Victoria Secret lingerie Models with Names - Part one

Victoria's Secret was founded by Roy Raymond, and his wife, Gaye Raymond,[6][7][2] on June 12, 1977.[19][8] The first store was opened in the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California.[8] Years earlier, Raymond was embarrassed when purchasing lingerie for his wife at a department store. Newsweek reported Roy Raymond stating: "When I tried to buy lingerie for my wife, I was faced with racks of terry-cloth robes and ugly floral-print nylon nightgowns, and I always had the feeling the department store saleswomen thought I was an unwelcome intruder."[20] Raymond reportedly spent the next eight years studying the lingerie market.[21][2]

At the time when the Raymonds founded Victoria's Secret, the undergarments market in America was dominated by pragmatic items from Fruit of the Loom, Hanes, and Jockey, often sold in packs of three at department stores, while lingerie was reserved for special occasions such as one's honeymoon.[22] Considered niche products, lingerie items (such as lacy thongs and padded push-up bras) were only found in specialty shops like Frederick's of Hollywood, located “alongside feathered boas and provocative pirate costumes“.[22] In 1977, Raymond borrowed $40,000 from family and $40,000 from a bank to establish Victoria's Secret: a store in which men could feel comfortable buying lingerie.[8][23] The store was named in reference to Queen Victoria and the associated refinement of the Victorian era, while the "secret" was hidden underneath the clothes.[23]

Victoria's Secret grossed $500,000 in its first year of business,[8] enough to finance the expansion from a headquarters and warehouse to four new store locations[24] and a mail-order operation.[8] The fourth store, added in 1982 at 395 Sutter Street in San Francisco,[25] operated at that location until 1990, when it was moved to the larger Powell Street frontage of the Westin St. Francis.[26]

In April 1982, Raymond sent out his 12th catalog at a cost to customers of $3 (equivalent to $8.42 in 2021); catalog sales accounted for 55% of the company's $7 million annual sales that year.[25] Victoria's Secret was a minor player in the underwear market at this time, with the business described as "more burlesque than Main Street."[27]