Selling Sexy with Fashion Journalist Lauren Sherman

In this episode, Pauline sits down with fashion journalist and author Lauren Sherman to unpack one of culture’s most enduring and complicated topics: sex. Specifically, what does it mean to be sexy in today's consumer marketplace? Using Sherman’s book ⁠Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon⁠ (co-authored with Chantal Fernandez) as a jumping-off point, they trace the rise and fall of Victoria’s Secret from its 1970s roots to its hyper-polished “angel” era and eventual cultural backlash. They explore how internal power dynamics, the male gaze, the #MeToo movement, and the shadow of Jeffrey Epstein all collided with Gen Z’s changing relationship to sex and identity, alongside new marketing playbooks and social media.Along the way, they compare old standards of sexiness to new ones across industries (from fashion to autos), celebrities (from Rihanna to Kim Kardashian), and brands (from Calvin Klein to Byredo). Finally, they explore how certain 'unsexy' brands (like Talbot's and Eileen Fisher) might be revived by embracing modern ideals of beauty, aspiration, and consumer desire.

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.