Agent Provocateur (lingerie)
{{Short description|Lingerie company}}
{{Other uses|Agent provocateur (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Agent Provocateur
| logo =
| image = Agent.provocateur.london.arp.jpg
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| image_caption = Agent Provocateur's first store, on Broadwick Street, Soho, London
| type = Privately held company
| industry = Apparel
| hq_location =
| hq_location_city = London
| hq_location_country = England, United Kingdom
| num_locations =
| num_locations_year =
| key_people =
Sarah Shotton (Creative director)
| products = lingerie, sleepwear, hosiery, swimwear, accessories, outerwear, fragrances
| revenue=
| owner =
| num_employees_year = 2017
|caption =
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1994}}
| founders = Joseph Corré
Serena Rees
| website = https://www.agentprovocateur.com
}}
Agent Provocateur is a British lingerie retailer founded in 1994 by Joseph Corré and Serena Rees.{{cite news|last=Cooper|first=Leonie|title=G2: Style: Frilly business: We may demand cheap clothes, but we are prepared to splash out a lot more on what lies beneath. Leonie Cooper on the boom in luxury underwear|newspaper=The Guardian (London)|date=11 January 2008}} The company has stores in 13 countries.{{cite web|last1=Traill-Nash|first1=Glynis|title=Agent Provocateur set for big bash to mark 100th store opening in Sydney|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/executive-living/fashion/agent-provocateur-set-for-big-bash-to-mark-100th-store-opening-in-sydney/news-story/2bbe309ff129475b0ba0da275bbcae03|website=theaustralian.com.au|publisher=The Australian|access-date=11 April 2016}}
History
=1994–2007=
In 1994, Agent Provocateur was founded by Joseph Corré, the son of Vivienne Westwood, and his then-wife Serena Rees. The first store opened in Soho on Broadwick Street.{{cite news|url=http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article1964026.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615190210/http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article1964026.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 June 2011 | work=The Times| location=United Kingdom | title=Lingerie boss rejects MBE because Blair is morally corrupt | date=21 June 2007 | access-date=23 April 2010 | first=Alan | last=Hamilton}}
The company sells colourful and fashionable lingerie{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/joe-correacute-and-serena-rees-sex-and-the-city-649844.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412135859/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/joe-correacute-and-serena-rees-sex-and-the-city-649844.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 April 2010 |work=The Independent|location=United Kingdom |title=Joe Corré and Serena Rees: Sex and the City |date=29 July 2002 |access-date=23 April 2010}} Joseph Corré is the designer for the brand.{{cite news|title=M&S launches underwear boutiques |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/986292.stm |access-date=15 March 2017|agency=BBC|issue=Business|publisher=BBC|date=23 October 2000|location=United Kingdom|language=en}}
=2007–2017=
In 2007, after the divorce of Corré and Rees, 3i, a private equity firm that invests in mid-size companies,{{cite news|title=3i announces restructuring to cut costs|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-18642186|access-date=1 April 2017 |agency=BBC |issue=Business|publisher=BBC|date=29 June 2012|location=United Kingdom|language=en}} purchased 80% of the company for £60 million.{{cite news |last1=Attwood |first1=Karen |title=Agent Provocateur sold to private equity firm 3i for 60m Pounds |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/agent-provocateur-sold-to-private-equity-firm-3i-for-pound60m-400593.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826000739/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/agent-provocateur-sold-to-private-equity-firm-3i-for-pound60m-400593.html |archive-date=2009-08-26 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|access-date=22 March 2017 |agency=ESI Media|issue=Business News|work=The Independent|date=16 November 2007|location=United Kingdom|language=en}}
Between November 2007 and March 2009 the company opened 13 shops, expanding to the US, Russia, Dubai and Hong Kong By March 2008, Agent Provocateur's profits dropped 18% to £2.2 million due to the cost of expansion.{{cite news|last1=Wilson|first1=Amy|title=Agent Provocateur says lingerie sales hold up|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/5035993/Agent-Provocateur-says-lingerie-sales-hold-up.html|access-date=22 March 2017|agency=Telegraph Media Group Limited|issue=Retail and Consumer|work=The Telegraph|date=23 March 2009|location=United Kingdom|language=en}}
In March 2017, the business entered administration. As part of a "pre-pack" deal, it was purchased by Four Holdings, a company one-third owned by British businessman Mike Ashley who reportedly paid around "£25m after seeing off competition from private equity firm Lion Capital."{{cite news|title=Mike Ashley firm buys lingerie firm Agent Provocateur|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-39140771|access-date=2 March 2017 |agency=BBC|issue=Business|publisher=BBC|date=2 March 2017|location=United Kingdom|language=en}}
Marketing
The company is known for its provocative videos. Australian actress Melissa George, English model Chloe Hayward and American model Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann appeared in a John Cameron Mitchell-directed campaign, which urged women to control their own destinies while wearing the company's lingerie.{{cite news |last1=Newbold |first1=Alice |work=The Telegraph |issue=Fashion |location=United Kingdom |title=Melissa George frolics on catwalk for Agent Provocateur's 2012 autumn campaign |url=https://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG10280992/Melissa-George-frolics-on-catwalk-for-Agent-Provocateurs-autumn-campaign.html |access-date=15 March 2017 |date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=5 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405193330/http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG10280992/Melissa-George-frolics-on-catwalk-for-Agent-Provocateurs-autumn-campaign.html |url-status=dead }}
In December 2001, company produced a controversial short film featuring Kylie Minogue riding a velvet bucking bronco while wearing the company's underwear to prove that their lingerie brand is the most erotic according to the male viewers.{{cite news|last1=Wilson |first1=Giles |title=Happy hours with non-stop ads?|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3634934.stm|access-date=15 March 2017 |agency=BBC|issue=AD BREAKDOWN|publisher=BBC|date=7 September 2004|location=United Kingdom |language=en}}{{cite web | url=https://www.askmen.com/top_10/celebrity/top-10-agent-provocateur-models_2.html | title=Top 10: Agent Provocateur Models - First black supermodel Shar Michelle to model Campaign Number 2 | publisher=Askmen.com | access-date=24 January 2014 | archive-date=11 November 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111173835/https://www.askmen.com/top_10/celebrity/top-10-agent-provocateur-models_2.html | url-status=dead }}
In the 2000s, the brand's annual revamp of its website, first by Wax New Media{{cite web |url=https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/lingerie-online-support-serena-rees-explains-agent-provocateur-found-success-internet-amanda-nottage-takes-look-lingerie-retailer-its-rivals-online/158418|title=Serena Rees explains how Agent Provocateur has found success on the internet |newspaper=Campaign|access-date=21 December 2018}} and then Large Design,{{cite web |url=https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/agent-provocateur-site-offers-voyeuristic-experience/225417|title=Agent Provocateur site offers voyeuristic experience|newspaper=Campaign|access-date=21 December 2018}} became an industry benchmark.
In 2006, Mike Figgis directed a short film for Agent Provocateur starring model Kate Moss.{{cite news|last1=Briggs|first1=Caroline|date=27 October 2006|title=Film-maker Figgis frames London |language=en|publisher=BBC|agency=BBC|issue=Entertainment|location=United Kingdom |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/6078664.stm|access-date=15 March 2017}}
Other models have included actress Maggie Gyllenhaal in 2007, British model Daisy Lowe in 2008,{{cite news|title=Daisy Lowe|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/switch/classof2008/daisy-lowe.shtml |access-date=17 March 2017|agency=BBC|issue=Switch|publisher=BBC|date=2008|location=United Kingdom|language=en}}
and model Hailey Clauson in a 2014 ad campaign photographed by Miles Aldridge.{{cite news | url=http://www.wwd.com/media-news/fashion-memopad/stepford-style-7385687?src=nl/mornReport/20140122 | title=Agent Provocateur Takes to the Kitchen | publisher=WWD | date=22 January 2014 | access-date=22 January 2014 | last1=Conti | first1=Samantha}} In January 2019, the brand hired plus-size model Charli Howard to front their Valentine's Day campaign, entitled "A Love Letter To Myself".{{Cite web|url=https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/gallery/charli-howard-agent-provocateur|title='You were perfect already - I was just blind to it': Charli Howard's love letter to her body is so damn empowering|last=Glamour|website=Glamour UK|date=26 January 2019 |access-date=2019-01-26}}
Logo
The original Agent Provocateur logo and wordmark were set from an existing over-the-counter typeface. As Corré’s venture grew, graphic design company House Industries redrew and expanded on the logo. They penned a flowing Spencerian wordmark as well as a racy leg logo for products including tissue paper and fabric monograms.{{cite web |url=https://www.houseind.com/about/houseprojects/agent/|title=House Industries}}
Criticism
Agent Provocateur had some of its advertisements banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (United Kingdom) for "being degrading to women."{{cite book|author=Tony Yeshin|title=Advertising|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sV_fJN4RtJcC&pg=RA1-PA24 |access-date=22 October 2012|date=25 July 2005|publisher=Cengage Learning EMEA|isbn=978-1-84480-160-2|page=24}}{{cite book|author=Jim Blythe|title=Principles & Practice of Marketing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nSyZmgLkWD8C&pg=PA48|access-date=22 October 2012|year=2006|publisher=Cengage Learning EMEA |isbn=978-1-84480-120-6|page=48}}
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many Western companies curtailed their operations in Russia.{{cite web |title=Over 1,000 Companies Have Curtailed Operations in Russia—But Some Remain |url=https://som.yale.edu/story/2022/over-1000-companies-have-curtailed-operations-russia-some-remain |publisher=Yale School of Management |access-date=13 December 2020}} According to Agent Provocateur's Russian website{{cite web |title=Agent Provocateur's Russian website |url=https://www.agentprovocateur.ru |publisher=Agent Provocateur (Russia) |access-date=13 December 2020}} there are 10 Agent Provocateur franchise stores still operating in Moscow, leading to claims that the company is helping to finance Russia's war in Europe.{{cite web |title=Lingerie firm Agent Provocateur under pressure over Moscow franchise stores |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/13/lingerie-firm-agent-provocateur-under-pressure-over-moscow-franchise-stores |work=The Guardian |access-date=13 December 2020}}
Agent Provocateur said that the stores are "operated by franchisees under franchise/license agreements" according to "a system established by the previous owner of the business, many years ago" and that the company itself "does not 'operate' in Russia."{{Cite news |last1=Boffey |first1=Daniel |last2=reporter |first2=Daniel Boffey Chief |date=2022-12-13 |title=Lingerie firm Agent Provocateur under pressure over Moscow franchise stores |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/13/lingerie-firm-agent-provocateur-under-pressure-over-moscow-franchise-stores |access-date=2023-05-19 |issn=0261-3077}}
References
{{Reflist|refs=
{{cite news |url = https://www.elle.com/uk/fashion/news/g14434/node_325158/ |title = Maggie Gyllenhaal Stars in New Agent Provocateur Campaign |work = Elle magazine |date = 2007-03-09 |access-date = 2020-05-26 |quote = Hot on the heels of Kate Moss' starring role in last year's sensational Agent Provocateur campaign (yes the one of Kate in four steamy Mike Figgis films which crashed the AP website!) Today Maggie Gyllenhaal is revelled as the new star of Agent Provocateur's 'The Adventures of Miss A.P' - the lingerie label's sexy new ad {{sic|campai|n}}.}}
{{cite news |url = https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/fashion-news/a19441427/how-agent-provocateur-reinvented-itself-in-a-feminist-world/ |title = Last year, Agent Provocateur entered administration - this year, its future couldn't look brighter |work = Harpers Bazaar |author = Ella Alexander |date = 2018-03-22 |access-date = 2020-05-26 |quote = Agent Provocateur's campaigns were among the sexiest in fashion, featuring Kate Moss, Kylie Minogue and Maggie Gyllenhaal all in various states of empowered déshabillé.}}
}}
{{Frasers Group}}
{{lingerie}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Clothing companies established in 1994
Category:Retail companies established in 1994
Category:Clothing retailers of England
Category:Clothing companies based in London
Category:Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom