I left VS in the late 90s as its head of product development and fashion director. At that time seven women ran the biz w/Les in charge. We had a splendid relationship w/American women, and I pushed the brand hard on issues of model diversity -- I threatened to resign over a weakening of resolve to put Naomi Campbell marketing flying solo in in our pre-holiday windows -- and body sizes.
L Brands did own Cacique at the time, and Les felt that the biz was addressing the needs of larger body types. I was opposed to the Angels as a wedge between our cultivated, direct relationship w/American women that was a pro-sexuality message compared to Les' love of the Angels.
I'm NOT opposed to models. But to tell women that we should now aspire to be Angels not the gorgeous women we already was crazy.
Suddenly two men drowned out the women execs Les had so brilliantly cultivated. One was Ed Razek and the other Jeffrey Epstein. As a headache feminist that Les personally hired for my creative talent, product vision and $$$ ability, Razek and Epstein suddenly took over.
The first pics out of the late 90s Cannes fashion show were so vulgar and trashy that they were replaced on US TV w/prior pics from my shows. I do think Wall Street was a factor as guy analysts suddenly died to get their own face time w/Angels.
Bottom line the VS Girls Club by and for women became the VS Boys Club, thanks to Razek and Epstein. And here we are at such a sad place for a great American brand.
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I suppose everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I have mine regarding Mr. Wexner. To the commenters of Columbus who are castigating him, however, please consider some of the things he has done for the community. Have you or your family ever had to go to the hospital? If you went to OSU, you were in a state-of-the-art facility, with top doctors and leading-edge equipment, thanks to a donation from the Wexners. If you went to Children’s Hospital, maybe your child was treated with a groundbreaking trial that was funded by the Wexners. Are you a Veteran? The Wexners put millions into the new Veterans memorial museum and worked with the government to make that national museum happen. Do you know a child in an underserved community? The Wexners have poured millions into a KIPP school to help children living in a district with a failing school. I could go on and on. None of this will change minds if you think he is guilty of something. Please don’t look down on the good works. Columbus is a better place for the Wexners being in it, and there is no denying that.
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It's no surprise the VS empire crumbled. Their quality began going downhill in the late 90's. They dropped the designers and better made clothing over the decade following that. I stopped buying from them around that time. Now what they have is poor quality junk being marketed to teenagers.
5
Why is he even still working? All those associated with that man will pay the price. He had to be blackmailing them all.
2
A&F went along on its own icky, creepy way — go check out the grotesque Michael Jeffries, he on Wikipedia— but the major change overall was to Columbus. The wave of money and its attendants changed the entire fabric of that city.
2
Wexner is as much an anachronism as Hugh Hefner ultimately became, in the worst sense of that word. Wexner should have called it quits a long time ago. Greed most definitely is *not* good.
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Regardless of his involvement with Epstein and the extent of their relationship, L brands companies thrive on objectification and exclusion of people in non standard bodies. It’s about time we get brands and companies that respect their customers. Victoria’s Secret didn’t want to hire plus size models. A & Fitch wouldn’t manufacture clothing beyond a small size 12 and used discriminating hiring policies. We don’t need half naked models in store to buy overpriced t-shirts. We need affordable, environment conscious, and quality clothing catering to all sizes and colors. Don’t be surprised when companies who keep running divisive brands tank
12
I grew up in Columbus, Ohio in the 80's and early 90's. I shopped at The L Brand stores: The Limited, Express, Abercrombie, Victoria's Secret, Henri Bendel, and Bath and Body Works. Somewhere in the 90's the quality of the merchandise plummeted and become really cheesy. I stopped shopping at those stores.
So far, we really don't have any credible allegations of wrongdoing on Wexner's part. Wexner is 82. Maybe it's time to hand the reins over to a new generation. L brands has run its course. It needs to reinvent itself and get with the times or call it quits.
6
Although I don't live in central Ohio, I have relatives who do. Sometimes when visiting, I drive by Easton, a new town he helped establish to make Columbus a more interesting place. When I visit my old alma mater I can't help but appreciate the buildings he helped fund. Mr. Wexner seems to me to have used his success as a force for good.
He deserves to have peaceful and long retirement.
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@John
I live in Columbus. With respect, "Easton" isn't a "new town." It's a shopping complex. That complex is adjacent to New Albany, which, decades ago, was a sleepy rural community. Now, New Albany is an upscale exurb dominated by Mr. Wexner's various holdings.
Just wanted to clarify.
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@John If you are enamored of Easton, please remember it's a completely commercial development that resembles a town to the same degree that Disney World resembles the world. It's one department store after another, and a growth spurt is occurring this year with trees being demolished for parking garages. There aren't any green spaces. The so-called town center is bordered by a Tiffany store and a wanna-be French bistro. Every store is part of a national chain, as no small independent business could possibly pay the rent and compete.
As for the homogenization of the Ohio State campus area, pretty soon it too will seem like any upper-middle-class shopping center--gone are the little independent Greek restaurant (where your French fries were made on the spot--you could see the pride of the owner working behind the counter) and the independent book store to be replaced by a behemoth Barnes and Noble. Wexner financing has driven out all the small businesses to be replaced by national chains and the area has been"prettified" as is the case with Easton.
Commercial development may be good for developers' pocketbooks and stockholders, but it's helping extinguish diversity and independent business. At least in Columbus.
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I lived in Columbus for a long time and thoroughly enjoyed the Limited brands, and shopped most of them. Thought highly of Lex Wexner at the time, but not sure what to think about this now. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt but am sad that Epstein could have had a hand in anything.
2
Everyone has secrets, open and not so open. There is something beyond strange about this math teacher, Epstein, exercising so much control over this billionaire and his finances. Whatever the secret is, I doubt Mr Wexner ever had improper behavior towards underage girls.
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I'm a long-time resident of Columbus, Ohio, and I see the brand of our corporate overload Les Wexner slapped all over town. Most notably, his sullied name is on the Ohio State campus at the Wexner Medical Center and the Wexner Center for the Arts. Les built his own freeway (I-670) to get to his own suburb (New Albany) and get his low-wage workers to his warehouses. My daughter worked for a month or so as a temp at Victoria's Secret warehouse. The work tables were so low and ill-placed that by the end of a couple of hours of packaging those cheaply-made, tacky padded bras, even the young, healthy workers' backs and legs were pained and weak. It was next-to-impossible to get hired full-time; workers were mainly temps and part-time at Wexner's Sweatshop. This is how all those millions made their way to Jeffrey Epstein's slimy hands.
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I worked for the company back in the 80’s and I can tell you the corporate culture was abysmal. Low pay, employees in fear of losing their jobs often for the most minuscule of infractions, pathetic benefits and I could go on. He’s a little guy with a huge Napoleonic complex. Not surprised to hear about his involvement with Epstein, birds of a feather...you know the rest.
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No wonder Victoria Secret is tanking. An old man (I know I sound agist) is leading a company that caters primarily to women under 40. Time fir younger blood. Even a sex change at the top.
15
How old is Leslie Wexner now? It is now about 60 55 years since I first shopped at the Limited in Columbus -- I had a riancoat from there for at least 50 years...Thought Victoria's Secret overpriced but their underwear do last... better than Vanity Fair.
Too bad Epstein died...So much incriminating evidence on so many powerful men. Women of the wolrd, realy ladies, grow up - it's time.
3
Oh good heavens. I've never understood the concept of a "brand." I don't want to pay to have someone use my body for free advertising. I buy all my clothes at the thrift store. Although I do buy new underwear!
Adios L Brands and all the others. The "fashion" industry is awash in corruption, exploitation, sexism, and other shenanigans. Bah humbug to all of it!
17
The business alone was used to entice and to procure young women,the merchandise is supposed to not be that good.
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"Mr. Wexner emphasized that he had no knowledge of the alleged
activities."
That is not a credible statement.
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People do not know enough about his backstory and connection to Jeffrey Epstein, going back to the 1980s.
He's involved up to his neck.
He's the source of Epstein's miracle net worth.
Read about Arthur Shapiro—a prominent local attorney who was slain in a 1985 “mob-style murder” in Columbus. He just happened to be Wexner's tax attorney. The murder was never solved.
Do a little research and you can see how deep Les Wexner's involvement goes into Jeffery Epstein's life.
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@Joe Wexner has an interesting past and could be connected to the death of Shapiro. Not sure there is any evidence of Epstein being involved though: https://freepress.org/article/shapiro-murder-file
5
Hide the creep away and continue on as usual.
Harvard Law School wishes they could do the same thing.
19
One day - with hope, soon - we will learn the full extent of the global underage prostitution ring that Epstein ran and which made him rich.
Given Wexner’s relationship with Epstein - ceding financial control of assets to Epstein - it is highly likely that Wexner participated in the crimes of Epstein’s enterprise.
Law enforcement needs to be unrelenting in its pursuit of justice by investigating Wexner for what appears to be criminal conduct.
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@Space Needle
Given that Epstein's "services" catered to people at the top of both political parties and their wealthiest donors, the chances of a serious investigation -- and a public outing of exactly who was involved and to what extent -- are absolutely zero.
19
I've been waiting for 10 years for Wexner to be connected to Epstein and to have it stick! Rich folks are so slippery when it comes to the law. It's sad that we'll never really know the full extent of Epstein's crimes and Wexner's connection as financier of so much of it. It's disgusting that my hometown is covered head to toe in Wexner's name.
49
Boycotting all L Brands since I learned about this Wexner creep last year. They don't deserve one penny of my hard earned money.
22
If there's any good reason to replace Wexner, it's the poor business performance.
His association with Epstein, absent of any allegation of impropriety, should not be an issue.
This guilt by association has been done before here. McCarthyism comes to mind. The newly empowered women are indiscriminately throwing their weight around. No need for evidence - fire him.
1
@Matt Epstein misappropriated money
Wexners poor decision to hand his entire estate over to Epstein resulted in a sizable chunk of money being misappropriated. This surely must be on the mind of the board, along with poor business performance. Listen to the last episode of the truth and lies podcast.
11
@Matt
It's not just business performance--it's business judgment. Whom you surround yourself with is the face of your company. Wexner chose a pedophile and sexual predator a a key player in his to MARKET WOMEN'S APPAREL TO WOMEN.
Do you really not understand why women are incensed and highly critical? It's pretty obvious why, and pretty reasonable too. Wexner may not be guilty by association but he is guilty of appalling judgment, insensitivity and willful ignorance.
14
It's probably too little too late to save Victoria's secret as a business. It will limp along as the Gap has and J. Crew too, but the pendulum has swung so far past this over sexualized and over idealized (very skinny) very young and mostly white female model that it's probably all over for them in the next 5-10 years. Other brands that are better quality and respect women, and the various shapes and sizes that women come in, as well as the new model of shopping (online, BOPIS etc.) will bypass them.
24
The sexualization that used to characterize the very young models for Abercrombie & Fitch--suddenly it makes sense.
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