We slept in store, fit lingerie on businessmen & had global raunchy ads banned, says Agent Provocateur Creative Director
WHEN we think Agent Provocateur, we think sex, scandal and rock and roll.
The brand was launched in 1994 by a married couple who felt dejected by the drab knickers being flogged in London’s high streets.
Now, 30 years since its launch, it has been at the eye of countless media storms, controversies and sensational rumours.
Sarah Shotton, the raunchy brand’s Creative Director, has confirmed exactly what was going on behind the scenes in the roaring Nineties.
And yes, businessmen really were going into stores to buy size 10 stockings for themselves.
Agent Provocateur was launched in 1994 by Joseph Corre and then-wife Serena Rees.
They set up their first boudoir-style shop in the heart of Soho, London – an area with a reputation for sex and scandal.
Soho was the perfect backdrop for their daring designs – and it’s where the brand cemented its sensational image.
But it’s no surprise that it was a success, considering Joseph’s mum is fashion royalty Vivienne Westwood.
Sarah began working on the shop floor with Joseph and Serena back in the Nineties, when she was in her early twenties.
“About two weeks after joining, I went into the store to get some underwear,” she recalls.
“It transformed me… I felt amazing.”
By the mid-Noughties, Agent Provocateur cemented its position as the risqué retailer for high-end lingerie and sexy products, such as masks, massage oils, whips and nipple tassels.
Over the years, Sarah has been the creative vision behind AP’s racy shoots and jaw-dropping campaigns.
They have featured the likes of supermodels Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Abbey Clancy.
A number of said campaigns stirred up immense controversy.
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“The rules were that you had to have your bra and suspenders visible at all times,” she told.
“Agent Provocateur attracts all kinds of clientele – and celebs love it, too. David Beckham was a regular visitor, picking up gifts for his wife Victoria.
“In my time, I served stars including Claudia Schiffer, Gwen Stefani, Noel Gallagher and his wife Sara.
“David Walliams, too, who got so excited he fell for one of the boutique’s manageresses, a 6ft model called India.
“Many celebs don’t have to pay at all. Inside every Agent Provocateur Boutique is a list of names who get their clobber for free. Whips, blindfolds and nipple tassels were also dished out gratis to randy stars.
“Surrounded by lingerie all day, the main topic of conversation was usually sex, and we even amused each other in the quiet hours by reading erotic literature aloud and taking snaps of each other in different outfits.
“Two of the girls even had a secret romance, mainly conducted in the stock room.
“Always up for a party, many of the girls boasted of bedding famous names, partly because being an Agent Provocateur girl made it easy to get into any nightclub.
“What promoter doesn’t want a group of gorgeous lingerie-flashing exhibitionists on their guest list?”
In 2001, a saucy ad featuring Kylie Minogue was deemed too sexual for telly and banned.
In the X-rated video, the pop star rides a red velvet mechanical bull in lacy stockings and suspenders while screaming.
“In the Nineties it was particularly fun because it was a wild time,” Sarah recalls on Abbey Clancy’s podcast, Exhibit A.
“It was hilarious and it was just a mad mix of customers.”
“Everyone was coming in, everyone wanted to be a part of it – and our doors were open for everybody,” creative mastermind Sarah continues.
“We were all taught to fit lingerie to anyone.
“We’d have men in suits coming in asking for size 10 stockings.”
Sarah would sell and fit lingerie for everyone from housewives and taxi drivers, to rock stars and MPs.
We were all taught to fit lingerie to anyone. We’d have men in suits coming in asking for size 10 stockings
Sarah Shotton
“Everyone has a bit of Agent Provocateur in them – I do believe that – and it’s just about unlocking it,” she adds.
Sarah, who has spent her entire adult career climbing the ladder at the brand, describes its stores as “Willy Wonka for adults”.
And it turns out, the boutique staff – known for their pink uniforms designed by the late Vivienne Westwood – were just as naughty as the customers.
“In the Nineties, there were lots of shenanigans,” Sarah reveals.
“You know, the store being opened in the middle of the night because no-one could get home and so we’d sleep in the store.”
In the Nineties, there were lots of shenanigans
Sarah Shotton
AP found itself in trouble again in 2012 with an advert that showed models in peephole bras and suspenders “kidnapping” a woman.
With pounding music, the woman runs in a desperate bid to escape the intruders, before being converted by the models and emerging in a sexy ivory underwear set.
The two-minute video to promote the brand’s Soiree Gold collection was deemed “misogynistic and disturbing” by one complainant.
But the Advertising Standards Authority cleared it to be aired.
“There’s been a few [campaigns] that have been quite controversial,” Sarah comments.
“But brilliant and iconic – definitely iconic.”