Target taking aim at Victoria’s Secret with new lingerie brands
Target Corp. is making a big push into the high-margin market for lingerie and sleepwear, launching three house brands that expressly avoid in its marketing the airbrushed, emaciated and busty models that have long defined the segment.
In creating its new line of bras, panties, sleepwear and loungeware, the retailer said Monday it wants to “speak to all women in the market and not just a particular size range or a particular aesthetic range.”
Target’s three new brands will replace its Gilligan & O’Malley line, which didn’t offer many choices for plus-sized women.
The lingerie market in the U.S. is a small but lucrative slice of women’s retail. It accounts for 4 percent of overall sales but is worth $12 billion, according to Edited, an industry retail research firm.
Target’s play to create splashy in-store displays takes direct aim at market stalwart Victoria’s Secret, whose fortunes have been sagging in part because consumer tastes have moved away from the push-up bras that made it famous. All of Target’s bras will be priced under $22.
Sales of lingerie have been growing for the past four years.
American Eagle’s Aerie, which sells lingerie aimed at teens and millennials, is on a path to become a $1 billion brand in the next few years, with a more on-trend assortment of items as well as a strong social media strategy appealing to regular women. And online-only retailers such as Third Love and Amazon.com’s private label, Mae, have focused on comfort, ease of shopping and strong online communities.
Target’s full assortment of the three brands will be available in stores and online starting Sunday.
The Auden lingerie brand is aimed at women 16 to 54 with bra sizes ranging from 32AA to 46G, with a focus on comfort. The line will have more than 40 styles.
The Colsie line, marketed as “trendy, stylish lounge wear,” is aimed at young teens and adults. Stars Above sleepwear is going for those who want “comfortable and cozy,” according to the retailer.
In preparing for the launch, Target hosted fit tests and talked with hundreds of women “of all ages, shapes and sizes,” a spokeswoman said.
The brands used Target’s in-house team of technicians, engineers and trim and fabric specialists, who created the prints and patterns on the lingerie.
The movement to show women of various body types, races and cultures has been growing since Dove launched its “Real Beauty” campaign in 2004.
Target is calling its marketing campaign for its lingerie, “No Body Like You,” and claims that all of the images showcase “unretouched” images of women.
Younger customers are pushing the body positive movement, say the researchers at Edited, because they “demand greater inclusivity and diversity and a reassessment of the traditionally sexualized imagery of the industry.”