Pink pop-up shop swings through Ames

Students pose with the Pink truck at the Pink pop-up store in the driveway of the Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority on Sept. 23.

Brittany Moon

In 2004, Limited Brands launched Victoria’s Secret Pink as a lifestyle brand targeting college women and celebrating campus lifestyle. Four years later, the Pink label was about to hit 1 billion in sales when Victoria’s Secret had another brilliant idea.

Pink decided to appeal to the college-age target market with a specific Collegiate Collection. It featured clothing for 33 universities from all over the country.

ISU students have been waiting for a collegiate collection featuring ISU apparel for a few years now, and this past summer, Pink came out with ISU apparel, including shirts, spirit jerseys and accessories. According to the Victoria’s Secret website, the newly launched fall Collegiate Collection now includes 67 universities.

Sept. 23 marked the first Pink pop-up store to ever sweep through Ames. It was on the front lawn of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. The women from Pink along with two campus representatives set up the shop, complete with clothes from the collegiate line, multiple pairs of Pink yoga pants and a large pink inflatable dog.

College women may think that Victoria’s Secret is a bit pricey for their budget, but that is not the case for some. Many said they look online for coupons and deals that they can use when they want to shop inside the store or online.

Many students at the pop-up shop said what has kept them coming back for years are the comfy yoga pants and all of the cute merchandise. Students also said they shop in multiple of Victoria’s Secrets’ categories of merchandise, including Pink and others.

Becoming a Pink campus representative sounds like a dream for many Pink lovers on campus. For Sophie Wittkamp, junior in event management, that dream is a reality.

“I started shopping with PINK as a middle schooler when it was a very new brand and [I] really got a chance to grow with it” Wittkamp said. 

Wittkamp said she enjoys how varied the Pink label is and how people can be themselves and show their personality through many different aspects of the Pink label.

“What I have enjoyed most since becoming a Pink rep is the events, since I am an event planning major, along with being able to reach out to different people to promote the events on campus,” Wittkamp said.