Lingerie retailer and brand Victoria’s Secret is commonplace in the US but in the UK, in spite of the fact that it punches above its weight in terms of column inches, it still has just five stores and two of them are in London.

The London branches have established the tone and design template for what is also to be found in the out-of-London stores.

Except visitors to the Trafford Centre, Meadowhall and Trinity Leeds will notice that, as well as the usual ‘angels’ wearing bras that fill the windows of Victoria’s Secret branches, there is an emporium next door called Pink.

Look closely at the Pink store in Trinity Leeds and there is a strapline above the door and window that reads ‘Life is Pink is life’. This brand is part of Victoria’s Secret and there is an entrance inside Pink that leads into the main store, but for those not in the know it looks like a similar but separate enterprise.

Pink is a mildly less in-your-face and more affordable version of Juicy Couture, which takes fleece and tracksuit bottoms as its starting point and goes from there. What is interesting is the way Victoria’s Secret has opted to create almost standalone stores from an in-house brand. This is an extension of an existing private-label that allows the range real breathing space. Given the multiple in-house, private-label brands that so many retailers pour money into, it is curious that Victoria’s Secret is unusual in following this strategy.

On the continent, C&A and Tesco have done something similar with their Clockhouse and F&F clothing brands, but that is a much-underplayed way of using space to promote in-house brands and instil them with additional value.