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General · North America

Victoria’s Secret hires Adam Selman to lead creative makeover after profit slump

Victoria’s Secret & Co. appointed Adam Selman as executive vice president and chief creative officer, with responsibility for creative work spanning the brand. Selman has described the company’s fashion show as expressing its idea of an American fantasy, while Victoria’s Secret forecasts more than US$7.1 billion in sales this year.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 4 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 2 of 4 outlets · 1 article captured only in partHow it's made

View timeline · 5 entries
This story was corrected on Oct 19, 2026 following an editorial review.
4 outlets2 regionsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Too few ratedL 0 · C 2 · R 0 · 2 unrated
Updat3 graphic: North America
Updat3 graphic · Map data: Natural Earth Natural Earth (public domain)

What happened

Key facts

  • Adam Selman, 44, is executive vice president and chief creative officer of Victoria’s Secret & Co.
  • Selman led creative work across product, beauty imagery and campaigns, including the Season of Strapless campaign starring Angel Reese.
  • Victoria’s Secret’s beauty portfolio is roughly $US2 billion and includes scents Bare Nectar and Tease.
  • The company is forecasting upward of $US7.1 billion in sales this year.

The brief

Victoria’s Secret & Co. appointed Adam Selman executive vice president and chief creative officer, placing him in a role that covers creative work across the company’s products, beauty imagery and campaigns. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Selman’s work includes the Season of Strapless campaign, starring WNBA player Angel Reese.

Selman described the scope of the job as broad. The company is forecasting upward of US$7.1 billion in sales this year, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. That forecast sits alongside a prior-year result of about US$6.5 billion in revenue, a 5% increase year over year, reported by Vogue.

The figures describe different periods and measures: one is a forecast for the current year, the other a reported result for the previous year. The Sydney Morning Herald links the creative leadership change to the company’s need for a makeover after profits dropped and Victoria’s Secret faced cultural criticism.

Vogue instead emphasizes the brand’s place in American fashion and its marketing reach. It reports that the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show drew an estimated 2.9 million viewers. Selman has framed the brand’s appeal in terms of fantasy and entertainment.

Vogue quotes him describing Victoria’s Secret as an idea of the American dream and fantasy, and saying he wanted to preserve the brand’s joy while keeping its humor in view. He also characterized the show as part of that identity. The company’s creative remit extends beyond fashion imagery.

Victoria’s Secret’s beauty portfolio is roughly US$2 billion and includes Bare Nectar and Tease, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The same account says Selman’s work encompasses product and beauty imagery as well as campaign development.

The reports give different descriptions of how long Selman has held the titles: the Sydney Morning Herald says he took the role last year, while Vogue says he has held them for around a year and a half. Both place him in the executive creative position, but the accounts do not specify the same tenure.

Victoria’s Secret had 25 million active customers, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The company’s sales forecast, prior-year revenue and fashion-show audience offer measures of the commercial scale at which Selman’s creative work operates; the reporting does not establish that his appointment caused any change in sales or profits.

Why it matters

  • Victoria’s Secret’s 25 million active customers are the audience for product, beauty imagery and campaigns overseen by Selman’s creative remit.
  • The company’s roughly US$2 billion beauty portfolio, including Bare Nectar and Tease, is one concrete commercial area within that remit.
  • The company forecasts more than US$7.1 billion in sales this year, while Vogue reports prior-year revenue of about US$6.5 billion, up 5% year over year.

What to watch next

  • Whether Victoria’s Secret’s forecast of upward of US$7.1 billion in sales is met.
  • How future Victoria’s Secret campaigns develop across product, beauty imagery and marketing.
  • Whether the company continues to use the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show as a major marketing event; Vogue reports an estimated audience of 2.9 million.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
4 source articles · 4 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Too few rated· 2 Center · 2 unrated
Where the outlets are based: Unknown 50% · US/Canada 25% · Other 25%
Outlet political mix
Too few rated
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
2 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 2 unrated outlets are not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
4 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

2 framing differences · 1 uncorroborated claim · 1 information gap
The reports repeat the same account with different emphasis; its central claims are not independently confirmed in the reporting Updat3 read.Compared across 2 reports whose article text Updat3 read; 2 other outlets were checked by headline only.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources emphasise different angles, actors or consequences of the same reporting.
  • The Sydney Morning Herald presents Selman’s appointment as a creative makeover after falling profits and cultural criticism; Vogue focuses on the brand’s fashion identity, show audience and Selman’s creative philosophy.
  • The Sydney Morning Herald says Selman took the role last year, while Vogue describes him as holding the titles for around a year and a half.
Updat3: These are differences of emphasis, not disputes about what is reported. They do not show that the reported claims are true.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • Vogue quotes Selman describing the brand as an idea of the American dream and fantasy, and saying he wanted to keep its joy and humor central.
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • The sources do not give a detailed account of the cultural criticism Victoria’s Secret faced or identify specific critics.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. Victoria’s Secret held its first fashion show in New York.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  2. Victoria’s Secret marketing chief Ed Razek drew criticism for comments rejecting transgender models in the fashion show.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. Victoria’s Secret canceled its annual fashion show.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  4. On Aug. 3, 2021, Victoria’s Secret became a publicly traded standalone company after separating from L Brands.
    Background · from our historical context
  5. In 2023, the company presented “The Victoria’s Secret World Tour,” a streaming special that revisited the fashion-show format with a broader range of designers and models.
    Background · from our historical context

How we got here

On Aug. 3, 2021, Victoria’s Secret became a publicly traded standalone company after separating from L Brands. The shift followed years of criticism of the brand’s narrow beauty ideal and the cancellation of its televised fashion show in 2019.

In 2023, the company presented “The Victoria’s Secret World Tour,” a streaming special that revisited the fashion-show format with a broader range of designers and models. The brand was founded in 1977 by Roy Raymond and acquired in 1982 by Leslie Wexner’s Limited, which expanded it into a national lingerie retailer.

Original sources

4 articles from 4 outlets

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