Frederick's of Hollywood
{{short description|Retailer of women's lingerie in the United States}}
{{redirect|Frederick of Hollywood|the professional wrestler|Fred Sampson}}
{{redirect-distinguish|Frederick's|Fredericks (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Frederick's of Hollywood
| logo = Fredericks hollywood logo.png
| logo_size =200
| image = Fredericks03.jpg
| image_size =
| image_caption = Frederick's of Hollywood store
on Hollywood Blvd
| type = Subsidiary
| genre =
| fate =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| foundation = {{start date and age|1947}}
| founder = Frederick Mellinger
| defunct =
| location_city =
| location_country =
| location = United States
| locations =
| area_served =
| key_people =
| industry = Clothing
| products = Lingerie
| services =
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| aum =
| assets =
| equity =
| owner =
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| parent = Authentic Brands Group
| divisions =
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| homepage = {{URL|https://www.fredericks.com|fredericks.com}}
| footnotes =
| intl =
}}
Frederick's of Hollywood is an American lingerie brand formerly with stores in shopping malls across the United States. In 2015, all 111 retail stores were closed before a bankruptcy filing. The brand was acquired by Authentic Brands Group and was relaunched as an online-only store, FOH Online Corp. In 2018, Naked Brand Group, Inc. acquired FOH Online Corp.
History and operations
The business began in 1946 in a Fifth Avenue loft in New York City, moved to the West Coast in 1947, and by 1996 had 200 stores across the country.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=1996-02-12 |title=FREDERICK'S TURNS 50, BUT UNDERNEATH IT ALL, THE OLD SPIRIT LIVES ON |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1996/02/12/fredericks-turns-50-but-underneath-it-all-the-old-spirit-lives-on/ |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}
The business was started by Frederick Mellinger{{cite web |url=http://www.lingerie-uncovered.com/labels/fredericks-of-hollywood.htm |title=Fredericks of Hollywood Lingerie |website=www.lingerie-uncovered.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303182145/http://www.lingerie-uncovered.com/labels/fredericks-of-hollywood.htm |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead}} ("inventor of the Rising Star{{Cite web |date=2013-10-11 |title=The rise and rise of the brassiere |url=https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/the-rise-and-rise-of-the-brassiere-20131010-2vb0c.html |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}} push-up bra, the edible panty, and myriad garments whose chief attributes were that one could see through them and remove them quickly"{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=1996-02-12 |title=FREDERICK'S TURNS 50, BUT UNDERNEATH IT ALL, THE OLD SPIRIT LIVES ON |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1996/02/12/fredericks-turns-50-but-underneath-it-all-the-old-spirit-lives-on/ |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}).{{cite book|author=John Baxter|title=Carnal Knowledge: Baxter's Concise Encyclopedia of Modern Sex|url=https://archive.org/details/carnalknowledgeb00baxt|url-access=registration|access-date=October 20, 2012|date=February 10, 2009|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-087434-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/carnalknowledgeb00baxt/page/118 118]}} Frederick's sold bras, panties, corsets, bedroom slippers, a vast array of hosiery, bridal lingerie, special occasion lingerie, and more. The original flagship store, in the S. H. Kress and Co. Building on Hollywood Boulevard, was a landmark in Hollywood, California.{{Cite web |title=S.H. Kress Department Store – Hollywood Historic Site |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=235262 |website=The Historical Marker Database|access-date=June 20, 2024 |language=en-US}}
The store previously housed The Lingerie Museum featuring The Celebrity Lingerie Hall of Fame (that replaced its Bra Museum), which exhibited a collection of underwear worn by Hollywood movie stars, such as one of Madonna's black pointy-breasted bustiers, the black lace bra and panties that Zsa Zsa Gabor wore in the 1953 film, Lili, a petticoat that Ava Gardner wore in Show Boat, a white peignoir that Mae West wore for Life magazine in 1952, the Milton Berle in-drag costume,{{Cite web |title=PeopleSEE ZSA ZSA'S UNDERWEAR - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/11/05/PeopleSEE-ZSA-ZSAS-UNDERWEAR/3510626245200/ |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=UPI |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2012-11-06 |title=AFTER THE RIOTS - Confessions of a Star-Struck Looter - NYTimes.com |website=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/06/us/after-the-riots-confessions-of-a-star-struck-looter.html |access-date=2024-04-19 |archive-date=November 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106030456/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/06/us/after-the-riots-confessions-of-a-star-struck-looter.html |url-status=bot: unknown }} and those worn by Cher, Judy Garland, Cybill Shepherd, Belinda Carlisle, Phyllis Diller, Lana Turner, Shirley MacLaine, Tony Curtis, Mary Wilson, Mamie van Doren, the Pointer Sisters, Ethel Merman, Amanda Blake, and Isabel Sanford.{{Cite web |date=1989-11-09 |title=ATTENTION UNDERWEAR WATCHERS |url=https://www.dailypress.com/1989/11/09/attention-underwear-watchers/ |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=Daily Press |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Harvey |first=Steve |date=1992-02-06 |title=More recognition for L.A.'s most famous cultural... |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-02-06-me-1690-story.html |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}
Frederick's of Hollywood was the market leader{{cite web | url=https://www.yellowpages.com/los-angeles-ca/fredericks-of-hollywood | title=Fredericks of Hollywood Locations & Hours Near Los Angeles, CA }} in lingerie until the 1980s when it was overtaken by Victoria's Secret.
{{seealso|Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, Hollywood#Repentant lingerie looter}}
In 1992, Frederick's lingerie museum drew national media attention when looted during the Los Angeles riots. Madonna’s black bustier, which was worn in her music video for Open Your Heart, was stolen and has never been returned despite a $1,000 reward from Frederick’s. Madonna gave the museum a replacement in exchange for a $10,000 donation to an organization that supplied free mammograms to people experiencing poverty. Other lingeries stolen in the store were "a petticoat Ava Gardner wore in Show Boat{{Cite web |title=PeopleSEE ZSA ZSA'S UNDERWEAR - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/11/05/PeopleSEE-ZSA-ZSAS-UNDERWEAR/3510626245200/ |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=UPI |language=en}}{{cite news|author=Steve Harvey|title=Los Angeles; ONLY IN L.A.; Bird? Bone? Front Window? Maybe the Perpetrator Suffered a Vertigo Attack|website=Los Angeles Times|date=2002-05-02|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-may-02-me-only2-story.html}} and a push-up bra worn by actress Katey Sagal in Married... with Children. One repentant looter delivered a bag of Gardner's and Sagal's lingeries to the pastor at nearby Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, Hollywood.{{cite news|author=Seth Mydans|title=After the riots; Confessions of a Star-Struck Looter|work=The New York Times |date=May 6, 2002 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/06/us/after-the-riots-confessions-of-a-star-struck-looter.html}}{{cite news|author=Connie Cass|title=LA Police take more heat; Unrest declared at an end|work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram|date=May 6, 1992|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=ST&p_text_direct-0=0EAF8E7DB5E28940&p_field_direct-0=document_id}}{{cite news|title=An odd haul finds its way to L.A. police out of remorse and fear, people are returning what was taken |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=May 6, 2002}} An Austin newspaper noted that Blessed Sacrament's pastor "may be the only priest in America to ever comfort a man who felt guilty about stealing celebrity bloomers."{{cite news|author=John Kelso|title=Famous lingerie part of the job for priest at Hollywood church|work=Austin American-Statesmen|date=May 9, 1992|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=ST&p_text_direct-0=0EAD900693CA33F5&p_field_direct-0=document_id}} In an article titled "Support Is Generous for Bra Museum", the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted that such an "uplifting story could only happen in Hollywood."{{cite news|author=Elaine Viets|title=Support Is Generous For Bra Museum|work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|date=May 20, 1992|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=ST&p_text_direct-0=0EB04DA9FA828158&p_field_direct-0=document_id}}
In 2001, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
In 2003, it emerged from bankruptcy and was headquartered in Los Angeles.
In 2006, it merged with New York City sleepwear manufacturer Movie Star, and the headquarters was moved to New York.{{Cite web|url=http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20061219/FREE/61219008|title=Frederick's of Hollywood going public | Crain's New York Business}}
In September 2005, after 59 years, the store moved to the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue.
In 2008, the company changed its name to Frederick's of Hollywood Group Inc.{{Cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?symbol=FOH.A&rpc=66 |title=Frederick's of Hollywood Group Inc. – Reuters.com – Retrieved August 5, 2009 |website=Reuters |access-date=October 24, 2017 |archive-date=November 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114054130/http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?symbol=FOH.A&rpc=66 |url-status=dead }} The company was traded on the American Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FOHL.
In May 2014, the company was taken private by Harbinger Group and other investors.{{cite web|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fredericks-of-hollywood-group-completes-going-private-transaction-261291571.html|title=Frederick's of Hollywood Group Completes 'Going Private' Transaction|work=PR Newswire|date=May 30, 2014|access-date=April 11, 2015}} Its headquarters remain in New York City.
In 2015, the company closed its stores and again filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.{{cite web |last1=Brickley |first1=Peg |title=Frederick's of Hollywood Files for Bankruptcy Protection |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/fredericks-of-hollywood-files-for-bankruptcy-protection-1429526313 |publisher=Wall Street Journal |access-date=5 August 2021 |date=20 April 2015}}{{cite web |last1=Reed |first1=Sam |title=Frederick's of Hollywood Is Closing All Stores |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/fredericks-hollywood-is-closing-all-789260/#! |publisher=Hollywood Reporter |access-date=5 August 2021|date=16 April 2015}} Its brand and online operations were acquired by Authentic Brands Group. The company announced it would be online only, with possible plans to create products for sale in department stores and other retail outlets.[https://www.internetretailer.com/2015/06/16/authentic-brands-wants-expand-fredericks-hollywood Authentic Brands wants to expand Frederick’s of Hollywood products to new channels]
In 2018, the company's online operations were acquired by the Naked Brand Group Inc.{{Cite web|url=https://us.fashionnetwork.com/news/naked-brand-gives-promising-update-on-frederick-s-of-hollywood,1001718.html|title=Naked Brand gives promising update on Frederick's of Hollywood|first=FashionNetwork com|last=US|website=FashionNetwork.com}}{{cite web |title=Naked Brand Group Limited Completes Acquisition of Fredericks of Hollywood Global E-Commerce Licensee, FOH Online Corp. |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/naked-brand-group-limited-completes-133100872.html |publisher=Yahoo Finance |access-date=5 August 2021 |date=18 November 2018}}
Some of the lingerie worn by the 1950s pin-up Bettie Page was from Frederick's of Hollywood.
Notes
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- {{official website}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20030828185910/http://www.lingerie-uncovered.com/labels/fredericks-of-hollywood.htm Frederick's of Hollywood Lingerie: A History]—Internet Archive
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20061207000425/http://www.lileks.com/institute/dorcusella/ 1977 Frederick's of Hollywood catalog]—Internet Archive
{{Authentic Brands Group}}
{{corsetry}}
{{hosiery}}
{{lingerie}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick's Of Hollywood}}
Category:1947 establishments in California
Category:Clothing retailers of the United States
Category:Companies based in New York City
Category:Defunct organizations based in Hollywood, Los Angeles
Category:Clothing companies established in 1947
Category:Retail companies established in 1947
Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001
Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015