Frederick's of Hollywood is an innovative lingerie company established by Frederick N. Mellinger on New York's Fifth Avenue in 1946. A year later he moved his business to the West Coast. Originally a mail-order house, by 1998 it had expanded to include 205 retail outlets and an on-line presence at its web site at www.fredericks.com. For many years, corporate headquarters were located at 6608 Hollywood Boulevard and housed in an art deco building, which was informally known as the Purple Palace for its garish lavender facade.

During World War II, Mellinger was stationed in Europe, where he noticed the French preference for black undergarments at a time when Americans preferred white. Mellinger formulated a theory of female pulchritude centered on proportional perfection. When he returned to the United States, he studied anatomy so as to be better prepared to contend with such...