Long gone are the days of the prudish sex shop consumer – it seems the lingerie market is fast turning away from luxury to everyday, and more and more women are looking to buy “nice” underwear.
If the nineties were all about the G-string, or “thong” as some may know it, then the millennium is all about the nice knickers.
It now doesn’t seem cool to see someone’s bright orange g-string anymore. It’s rather about matching bras to pants – or more over, what style you’re wearing.
Agent Provocateur, the saucy British lingerie brand and retailer, is cashing in on the trend.
It has come a long way since its first boutique opened in London in 1996 and is now a global “luxury” underwear brand.
Known for its sexy ad campaigns featuring Kate Moss, Agent Provocateur is expanding rapidly following its $120 million (£110m) acquisition by a private equity firm last year. 
The label, designed by Vivienne Westwood’s son Joe Corre, already has 40 boutiques worldwide including eight in the US, with new locations planned for Boston and Chicago this fall, in addition to others around the globe.
A boutique has just opened in Bahrain as well as Geneva and Puerto Barres in Spain. There also are more openings planned for Madrid, St. Petersburg and Germany.
Agent Provocateur is doing something that appeals to everyone – after all, everyone wears underwear.
As Jacqueline Gold, chief executive of adult retailer Ann Summers, said in our last issue about the rise of “the sex shop”, women want to feel empowered and take control.
Long gone are the days where we would feel shy or perhaps perverted about the underwear we wear.
Our knickers, believe it or not, say a lot about us as a person. It’s a form of expression and that’s what makes Agent Provocateur so relevant in a variety of different markets. It’s simply giving us a fundamental need – underwear – but turning it into an experience.
It’s cheeky and naughty and very different, but most of all, it’s letting women know that it’s ok to be that way without telling them that’s what they should be – don’t you think?
