American lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret has announced it plans to downsize its bralette offering despite its status as one of the biggest trends within the industry.
Bralettes will now make up less than 5% of Victoria’s Secret’s product line, according to the Consumerist, an American consumer news outlet.
The move away from bralettes has been put in place to focus the business on constructed bras.
“Bralettes trend up and down and we’ll have them,” Victoria’s Secret Chief Executive Jan Singer told analysts on a conference call. “But we make constructed bras best and anyone can make bralettes. We get paid for construction.”
The product offering reshuffle comes in the wake of L Brands, the owner of Victoria’s Secret, issuing disappointing sales results for the second quarter.
Sales in the second quarter of 2017 were hit by the exit of swimwear and apparel categories.
L Brands said the exit of the swim and apparel categories had a negative impact of about 6 percentage points and 9 percentage points to total company and Victoria’s Secret comparable sales, respectively.
The exit of bralettes, which was announced last week, has already caused knock-on financial impact. Shares of Victoria’s Secret parent, L Brands, lost 3.6% on Thursday following the statement.
