It is well known that the founder of the famous lingerie line was Gaye Raymond.  Raymond founded the stores and sold the company before it reached it’s full potential and before it became the empire that it is now.  Since he sold it too early he lost out on a lot of money and watched it grow to its potential in someone else’s hands. After trying several things to make money he found himself losing money and depressed.  He took his life. Hit the jump for details on why.

Steph Bassanini

‘The Victoria’s Secret we founded was an upscale sophisticated lingerie store that I designed to look like a Victorian drawing room, complete with Oriental rugs and antique armoires displaying the wares.
‘I remember making the velvet curtains for the first changing rooms. We used a lot of silk and natural fibres in our lingerie, and it was very high quality.’
They had five successful shops by 1982, when they sold the operation for £2.6 million to Leslie Wexner, the billionaire founder of The Limited clothing chain. ‘My husband Roy had spoken to Les Wexner a few times about working together, but ultimately Roy felt he couldn’t share decision-making, and was happier getting out completely,’ says Gaye.
He began a new business called My Child’s Destiny, a shop selling children’s products, but in 1986 it went bankrupt. He invested more than £650,000 of his own money into the business and never incorporated it, which meant that when it went under he was personally liable for its debts. The couple lost two homes and their cars
Anguished but determined to recapture his initial success, he poured his energy into one idea after another, starting with a children’s book shop.
Roy and Gaye divorced in 1993, by which time Victoria’s Secret had become the biggest US lingerie retailer. Roy tried another venture: a mail-order home-repair hardware business. It failed in a year. He also began working for a company that made wigs for women who had lost their hair due to cancer treatment.
‘He went through a couple of business failures and I think he suffered depression,’ says Gaye. ‘He borrowed a lot of money from his mother. He was trying to start another company but things didn’t go well, and he saw only one way out.
‘It’s so sad, because he was young, creative, really a brilliant businessman, but he suffered setbacks and couldn’t seem to bounce back from them. He felt he couldn’t go on.’
Mr Raymond threw himself off San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge in August 1993. He was 46 years old.
The brand has changed dramatically since it was created by the Raymonds. ‘It’s no longer high-end fashion focused on fit, quality and fibre, but it’s now more popular, with a lower price and aimed at a far younger crowd,’ says Gaye.
‘Roy and I used to have our regrets about how much it had changed from our original vision. Yet they’ve done a great job making it a commercial success.’
The launch of the catwalk shows in 1995 made the brand iconic. Originally, the ‘Runway Angels’ were established supermodels, including Helena Christensen and Tyra Banks, but today Angel status is a career-maker. More recent Angels include Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Adriana Lima, Marisa Miller and Alessandra Ambrosio.

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