Victoria's Secret in decline: Time for more sensible undies?

Is Victoria's Secret lingerie going out of fashion? Photo/ Getty Images

Victoria's Secret parent company is expected to report yet another quarterly decline in sales next week as the sexy lingerie brand continues to lose market share.

L Brands, the Columbus,Ohio-based company which owns Victoria's Secret, is likely to report a 5 per cent decline in U.S. sales at its brick-and-mortar locations, the DailyMail reports.

That would be the eighth consecutive quarter in which the company reports sagging sales, according to the New York Post.

The ongoing decline is a staggering fall from grace for the once-dominant brand, whose top celebrity endorsers include big-names like Gisele Bundchen, Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Karlie Kloss, Gigi Hadid, and Kendall Jenner.

The company's decline can be attributed to a number of factors, including the American consumer's abandonment of the mall in favor of online shopping, and the changing taste in women's fashion to include more full-bodied options.

Victoria's Secret competitors like Adore Me and Third Love have eaten into the company's market share.

Those firms offer products that many feel are marketed toward a bigger demographic of women who are not stick-figure thin like Victoria's Secret models.

Aerie, another Victoria's Secret rival, has seen a surge in demand for its products.

That's because the company has appealed to women by using unretouched photos in their ads - a marketing concept known by the hashtag #AerieREAL.

Last month, Aerie unveiled a marketing campaign featuring women with medical ailments.

One ad showed a woman with an insulin pump attached to her stomach - a message consistent with the company's mission of female empowerment.

The trend away from super-thin models and toward fully figured frames is embodied in the newfound rise of plus-sized celebrities Ashley Graham and Iskra Lawrence.

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The explosion of the #MeToo movement has also fueled a backlash against the objectification of women as sex objects - a trend that has also contributed to Victoria's Secret's shrinking bottom line.

These changes are reflected in the performance of company stock.

Last Christmas, L Brands was selling on Wall Street for more than $60 a share.

This past Friday, the company was selling at just $32.55 per share.

Aerie, meanwhile, is rolling. Its parent company, American Eagle Outfitters, was trading at around $10 a share a year ago.

As of Friday, AEO was being traded on Wall Street for around $28 a share.