Agent Provocateur split reveals all

SPICY lingerie brand Agent Provocateur is to sell a majority
stake to investment 3i following its founders' split.

Joseph Corre – the son of fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and
Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren – will stay on as creative
director following the £60m deal.

Serena Rees has confirmed she is to leave the firm, but both are
to retain a reduced equity stake of 5 to 10 per cent.

The entrepreneurs, who launched the business 1994 from a shop in
Soho, said they had being experiencing difficulties on a
“personal level” making it difficult to continue working
together.

“One of us, or both of us had to leave,” explained Mr
Corre.

Company accounts show that the lingerie specialist made a
pre-tax loss of £207,831 for the year to March 2006 on
turnover of £8.9m.

3i plans to expand the 32-store business into the Middle East
and Asia. The company already has two concessions in Bloomingdales
– the famous New York department store.

Agent Provocateur boasts an enviable and successful marketing
legacy, including the campaign “Less M&S, more
S&M” and Kylie Minogue on a bucking bronco, which was seen
in cinemas and online for a limited period on limited release.

Kate Moss has also taken part in a campaign made up of four
short ads where the audience is privy to her
“dreams”.