Victoria's Secret PINK Launches Collegiate collection

Victoria's Secret rolled out its new Pink college collection chainwide this month. NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Victoria's Secret is making college kids blush Pink with its new collection of lingerie, loungewear and sleepwear designed for the dorm-bound crowd. The boudoir behemoth, famous for its sexy, romantic and provocative lines of intimate apparel, this month rolled out its more colorful and playful "Pink" fashion line chain-wide after a limited launch late last year. Victoria's Secret is marketing the new lower-priced collection as "fresh, fun and free-spirited," catering to a younger 18-to-22-year-old clientele. Despite the moniker, it's not all pink. The pajamas, thongs, bras, and T-shirts bear multi-colored polka dots, stripes and girlie slogans such as "I like boys." "We wanted to capture the spirit of the young with Pink," said Anthony Hebron, spokesman for Victoria's Secret parent Limited Brands (LTD: Research, Estimates). According to Hebron, since Pink is the first collection designed exclusively for the college-going customer, the company is devising unique marketing ploys to tout the line. For instance, Victoria's Secret put together "Team Pink" after picking students from different college campuses around the country who would best represent the brand. But Hebron declined to offer more details about the concept and whether or not the students would be featured in advertisements for Pink. '"The Pink collection is an excellent idea because it caters to a different customer than the company's core, slightly older shopper. The college crowd was sort of a white space for Victoria's Secret that it needed to address," said Howard Tubin, analyst with Cathay Financial. "Victoria's Secret strength has been its efforts to strive for constant newness," added Tubin. That factor has fueled its sales at its stores open at least a year, making it one of the star divisions of parent Limited Brands (LTD: Research, Estimates). In June, Limited Brands, whose retail portfolio also includes Bath & Body Works, Express, Limited Stores, and the upscale Henri Bendel, posted robust same-store sales growth of 19 percent, including a 6 percent gain for Victoria's Secret. The lingerie giant is marketing the line as "fresh, fun and free-spirited." "Its comparable sales have been on a tear over the past two year, up 6 percent in 2002 and up 4 percent last year," Tubin said. " Sales in the first-half of this year have continued to be strong, and Pink appears to be contributing to it." Marshal Cohen, analyst with market research firm NPD Group, agreed with Tubin's views. "Victoria's Secret is already very strong with teen shoppers. It's usually the first place they go to buy intimate apparel," said Cohen. "If you think about it, Victoria's Secret finally recognized that if it already has captured the loyalty of the teen market, then it needed to figure out how to maintain that loyalty once this demographic had moved out of home to college. Pink is the right idea."

Behati Prinsloo - A rising star

Behati Prinsloo featured as a rising star in style. com, back in the fall of 2006.

Victoria's Secret PINK Introduces the EXCLUSIVE Collegiate Collection

COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Victoria's Secret PINK has partnered with The Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), an IMG company, to launch an exclusive assortment of collegiate co-branded merchandise. This unique program features VS PINK's highly recognizable brand iconography and the names and logos of the top universities on fashion apparel. This co-branded licensing program will enable VS PINK to maintain its dominance as a fully articulated collegiate lifestyle brand.

VS PINK has initially selected 33 top universities based on their regional appeal and large student and alumni populations. VS PINK worked with existing collegiate licensees to develop the product and to gain access to campus retail channels such as bookstores and event sales, providing a tremendous amount of growth potential for the VS PINK Collegiate Collection.

On July 1, 2008, the assortment will be available through multiple channels including select Victoria's Secret stores, online (www.victoriassecret.com), in the catalogue, as well as the new Victoria's Secret PINK magalog. The Collegiate Collection includes 9 different items, including fleece pants, hoodies, panties, tees, and totes and will be available in approximately 375 stores, many of which are in close proximity to the universities in the program. Starting on June 20, Victoriassecret.com will have a selection of items available for all schools.

Behati Prinsloo is the new face of the VS PINK Collegiate Collection. Behati was born in 1989 in Namibia, Africa and started modeling in 2006.

Launched in 2004, Victoria's Secret PINK is a fully articulated lifestyle collection for young women. To learn more information about the exclusive VS PINK Collegiate Collection, go to www.vspink.com.

Founded in 1981, The Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), an IMG company, is the oldest and largest collegiate licensing agency in the United States. CLC currently represents nearly 200 colleges, universities, bowl games, and athletic conferences including The Heisman Trophy and the NCAA. The mission of CLC is to be the guiding force in collegiate trademark licensing and one of the top sports licensing firms in the country. For more information on CLC, visit: www.clc.com.

The Exclusive VS PINK Collegiate Collection

University of Alabama
Arizona State University
University of Arkansas
Auburn University
UC Berkeley
Boston College
Clemson University
University of Colorado
Florida State University
University of Florida
University of Georgia
Harvard
University of Illinois
University of Kansas
University of Kentucky
UCLA
LSU
University of Maryland
University of Miami
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota
University of Nebraska
University of North Carolina
University of Oklahoma
University of Oregon
Penn State University
USC*
University of South Carolina
University of Tennessee
Texas A&M
University of Texas
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin
*available in select stores only

Who is Behati Prinsloo?

(from WikiPedia)



Behati Prinsloo (born May 16, 1989) is a Namibian model. She has walked fashion shows for Prada, Paul Smith, Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler, Versace, and many others.

Prinsloo is mainly represented by Supreme Models in New York, Storm Models in London, and D Management Group in Milan.

She has appeared on the cover of Italy's Muse magazine and the British Telegraph Magazine. Also, more recently she was on the cover of Russian Vogue in February 2007, and the American Velvet magazine in June 2007.

She has appeared in ad campaigns by Adore, Aquascutum, Chanel, H&M, Hugo Boss, Kurt Geiger, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Max Studio, Victoria's Secret Pink and Nina Ricci.

She is friends with Coco Rocha and Suvi Koponen.

She was in the 2007 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and has been doing print adds for Victoria's Secret Pink also.