Our editors curate highly rated brands that are first assessed by our rigorous ratings system. Buying through our links may earn us a commission—supporting the work we do. Learn more.
Victoria’s Secret is a fast fashion brand that doesn’t appear to pay living wages to its workers. Those are just two of the reasons we recommend seeking out alternatives to the lingerie brand. Read on to find out more and meet the underwear brands we rate highest, including Eco Intimates, Anekdot, and Underprotection.
Why you should consider alternatives to fast fashion brand Victoria’s Secret
Victoria’s Secret is a massive, global underwear empire known for its lacy lingerie, logo-detailed straps, pyjamas, and of course, its annual fashion show featuring some of the world’s most popular models, known as “Angels”. The catwalk show usually makes headlines but not always for good reasons, with criticism of its lack of diversity and controversy surrounding its former organiser Ed Razek in recent years.
In our most recent rating review, Victoria’s Secret scored “Not Good Enough”: our experts assessed the public evidence and found disappointing disclosures over the brand’s efforts across its environmental impact, labour rights, and animal welfare. Victoria’s Secret does not appear to pay its workers a living wage, for instance, nor does it share evidence of the progress towards its science-based target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And it doesn’t even appear to have a target to manage water usage in its supply chain. What’s more, the brand is using few lower-impact materials; that’s really important for a brand making underwear, since the category often uses virgin synthetics including polyester and nylon, and requires lots of elastane to add stretch qualities to garments. One more key issue with Victoria’s Secret? It functions as a fast fashion brand, producing huge volumes of clothes with regular product drops and frequent discounting. We know this business model is unsustainable and is only driving the increase in textile waste and overconsumption.
Victoria’s Secret does, at least, partly trace its supply chain including the final and some of the second production stages, and it has initiatives to empower vulnerable women and girls in its supply chain. But having some initiatives doesn’t go far enough, because without a living wage, the garment workers in the supply chain (the majority of whom are women) cannot live a dignified life. The brand has to be more transparent and do more in its sustainability efforts across planet, people, and animals.
So if you like lingerie, what more ethical and sustainable alternatives to the underwear giant are there? Let’s take a look.
