High end underwear brand’s garments get nicked in £1m lorry raid

One million pounds of stock from a new high end underwear brand established by Agent Provocateur founder Serena Rees has been stolen from a lorry near a South Yorkshire business park.

The new label Les Girls Les Boys is due to launch on Friday. The stock was stolen while being transported to a warehouse in Leeds on August 20, The Guardian reported.

South Yorkshire police have launched an investigation, and the brand has offered a cash reward for any information which leads to a prosecution.

Police said the side curtains of the lorry had been cut open to steal the stock, but the fact that the garments were not yet on the market would make it easier to track them down.

A spokesperson for South Yorkshire police said: “At 7.56am on 19 August, we received a report of a theft from an articulated lorry which had been parked up near the Dodworth business park in Barnsley. The driver of the lorry reported to us that the side curtains on the lorry had been cut open and that a quantity of garments had been stolen from the rear of the vehicle.

“We are now investigating the theft and hope to speak to the driver again to gain more information. We will also try to locate the stolen stock. The fact that the items were not yet on the market will help us to track them down. We are asking anyone who has information to call us on 101.”

Rees founded Agent Provocateur with her then husband, Joseph Corré, the son of designer Vivienne Westwood, in 1994.

Following the couple’s divorce, the company was bought by a private equity firm for £60m in 2007. In March this year it was bought by Four Holdings, which is linked to Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley, after it was placed into administration.