Tressa Berman wrote: "The new Orientalism a la mode."

The story was also picked up by Bust, a women's pop culture magazine.

The Bust reporter said she rushed over to the Victoria's Secret website only to discover that the "Sexy Little Geisha," and the "Go East" Collection had vanished.

"Excited by the possibility that all "Go East" merchandise had been collected from Victoria's Secret stores and warehouses under cover of night and burned in a ritualistic fire to banish the racism and exploitation, I looked up their press contact. Of course, the press office didn't confirm my fantasy version of what had happened, and instead suggested that the product had sold out. (I had asked specifically about the "Sexy Little Geisha," the piece in the collection that seemed to piss people off the most.) However, when pressed, they couldn't confirm that the piece had, in fact, sold out. Nor could they explain why an error message comes up on the website even for a general search of the phrase "go east."

Bust pointed out that there wasn't necessarily anything wrong with a clothing company incorporating Japanese patterns.

"That in itself isn't racism, it's globalization," Bust said.

But, "considering the complicated history of geishas, repurposing the 'look' for a major corporation to sell as role-playing lingerie seems a bit tasteless," it said.

The Frisky, another women-centric website, agreed.

"Again, 'Sexy Little Geisha' is part of a 'Go East' line, which, again, is not in-and-of-itself racist. This particular execution just makes me, well, want to execute myself," The Frisky writer said.

Asian women have long been typecast in Western society. Think the Dragon Lady, the China Doll.

Nor is it the first time a retailer has come under fire for stereotyping Asians.

In 2002, an Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt featured two Chinese laundry workers with conical hats and the phrase: "Wong Brothers Laundry Service: Two Wongs Can Make It White." Another shirt image showed a smiling Buddha and read "Buddha Bash: Get Your Buddha on the Floor."

Abercrombie & Fitch said it never intended to offend anyone. They just wanted to add a bit of humor.

Problem was that Asians were not smiling. The retailer yanked the controversial T-shirts off store racks after the Organization of Chinese Americans called them racially insensitive.

Urban Outfitters encountered the same opposition when it issued its line of "Everybody Loves..." shirts. As in "Everyone Loves an Asian Girl." There were Jewish, Catholic, Latin and others, too.

Everyone, however, didn't love Urban Outfitters.

The buzz is greater now, said Wang, because lots of people are using social media and websites to rail against Victoria's Secret.

"I think this has caught fire, especially with Asian American women, who are having to overcome exotic stereotypes."

Asian-American women have had to find their own sexual identities outside of the stereotypes. It did not sit well to see "something that was so overtly Orientalist and exploitational," Wang said.

Victoria's Secret's silence on the matter has probably helped fan the flames. A CNN call to a company publicist was not returned Wednesday.