5 Victoria's Secret Facts You Never Knew

Back in the old days, buying lingerie for your lady meant an embarrassing trip to the department store where derisive stares made you feel like a deviant in the grips of a perverse panty fetish. This humiliation was the impetus for a guy-friendly place where getting your lady something sexy was met with encouragement, not a raised eyebrow. That is the story of how we came to have the place we call Victoria’s Secret.

Although intimately associated with its sexy lingerie, today the retailer actually sells a wide range of women’s wear and beauty supplies. It has 1,017 stores in operation, and each year it puts 400 million copies of its famed catalog through the mail. In 2012, sales reached the $6.12 billion mark, and its parent company, Limited Brands, raked in $12.2 billion, business is clearly going well.

Modeling for any of the company’s collections is considered prestigious, but its Angels are a cut above the rest. Past and present Angels include such well-known names as Tyra Banks, Adriana Lima, Rebecca Romijn, Gisele Bundchen, Helena Christensen, and Stephanie Seymour, and it is without question the most coveted modeling job in the industry.

Here are five things you didn’t know about the only company in the world with the celestial seal of approval: Victoria’s Secret.