The 30-year-old occasionwear brand Lulus has been beefing up its wholesale strategy in the last month. After expanding into all 350 Nordstrom stores last month and expanding its product assortment in retailers including Urban Outfitters, it is now introducing two new places for customers to buy its dresses.
The first, Amazon, is somewhat expected. Lulus joins formerly DTC brands like Everlane and Charlotte Tilbury in selling on Amazon in recent months. The second partnership is less expected. Starting this week, Lulus is now selling a selection of dresses on the online store of fellow brand Victoria’s Secret.
For Lulus, which sells dresses for around $100, the appeal of selling on Victoria’s Secret is the same as working with any of its other wholesale partners, like Dillard’s or Nuuly: customer acquisition.
“It’s an opportunity for us to grow the audience,” said Lulus svp of marketing Patrick Buchanan. “When we look at accounts like Nordstrom, Amazon or Victoria’s Secret, they’re all destinations where we know the customer we want is shopping. They’re all important partners for driving the next phase of our growth.”
In November, for the three months ending September 28, Lulus reported a 9% year-over-year decrease in net revenue and an 11% drop in active customers. But gross profits were up 2%, and net losses improved by nearly $5 million.
The company has also made some costs cuts in the last year and a half, including closing distribution centers and downsizing its board of directors.
For Victoria’s Secret, this isn’t the first outside brand it has launched on its online store. It also sells products by fashion brands including Good American, Beach Riot and Aves Les Filles, plus footwear brands like Ugg, Puma, Steve Madden and Crocs.
These brands represent categories that don’t compete with any of Victoria’s Secret’s brands, and they’re steadily making up a healthier part of the business. During the company’s most recent earnings call in early March, Victoria’s Secret CEO Hillary Super said that the company is “hitting our stride,” when it comes to collaborating with other brands.
“It is really feeling great that the business is about 30% intimates, 30% core icons and then 30% collaborations,” Super said. “So lots of runway here, lots of experimentation.”
Victoria’s Secret doesn’t break out its wholesale sales in its earnings data, but it groups wholesale into an earnings category called “international” that also includes joint venture sales in China and royalties from franchise partners. That category grew from $760 million in revenue in 2024 to $967 million in 2025 for the company.
Buchanan said he thinks wholesale partnerships between brands work best when they’re in complementary categories. Lulus wholesale business has grown by over 140% in sales in the last year.
“We share a similar audience already,” he said, referring to women in their 20s and 30s. “It’s about completing the look. We’re trying to tie the dress she’s wearing to what she’s wearing under the dress.”
