Au Revoir Fruit of the Loom. Your plain cotton briefs and boring training bras are of the past. Welcome to a new generation of tween and teen undergarments. Sorry, faux pas. I meant to say, lingerie. Yes, lingerie geared towards teens and tweens is on your store shelves. It’s a $1.5 billion a year and growing cash cow for Victoria’s Secret’s “Pink” line. And it’s not just Victoria’s Secret. Stores like Justice, Urban Outfitters, and more are getting in on the action.
Now, supposedly this lingerie is targeting college students and should be viewed as “cute” vs. “sexy.” Puh-lease. It’s the tweens and young teens that are also going for the lace-topped bras and skimpy underwear. Why? Because what young girl doesn’t want to look more mature? The sizes are small enough to fit a 10 year old. Why buy a plain pink bra at Target when you can get a lacy, hot pink number where all your friends are shopping?
Which brings me to my next point. I have an 11 year old daughter. I will fight with all my might to keep her away from this lingerie. It’s not only because I don’t want to see her innocence stolen, it’s also because I don’t want to support brands that are cashing in on marketing lingerie to young kids. Justin Bieber performed at last year’s Victoria’s Secret runway show when they were promoting their “Pink” line of lingerie geared towards 18-22 year olds. I don’t know too many college-aged kids with Bieber Fever. Responsible Marketing? I think not.
Image: Victoria’s Secret
