{"id":12762,"date":"2012-12-19T07:48:27","date_gmt":"2012-12-19T07:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.badreputation.org.uk\/?p=12762"},"modified":"2012-12-19T11:56:34","modified_gmt":"2012-12-19T11:56:34","slug":"found-feminism-agent-provocateur-the-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/19\/found-feminism-agent-provocateur-the-chase\/","title":{"rendered":"Found
Feminism: Agent Provocateur, The Chase"},"content":{"rendered":"
<p>
  I was reading about the rivalry between Victoria&#8217;s Secret and Agent
  Provocateur the other day (as is my wont of a Thursday evening) and in the
  course of doing so I discovered this classic Agent Provocateur advert:<\/p>\n
</p>
<p>
  <iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oXsdtrNlMMs\" frameborder=\"0\"
  width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n
</p>
<p>
  I quite like Agent Provocateur in general &#8211; while it&#8217;s a bit
  ridiculous in places (<a
  href=\"http:\/\/www.agentprovocateur.com\/gentlemens-guide\/the-adventurer\/info\/birthday-suit-playsuit~red\"
  target=\"_blank\">this<\/a> may be many things, but it is
  <strong
    >not <\/strong>a &#8216;playsuit&#8217;), I do feel like it&#8217;s
    positively targeted at strong, empowered women who like luxury lingerie, and
    their partners (the <a
    href=\"http:\/\/www.agentprovocateur.com\/gentlemens-guide\/the-expert.html\"
    target=\"_blank\">Gentleman&#8217;s Guide<\/a> for boyfriends on their
    website is quite amusing).<\/p>\n
    <p>
      This may be because their creative director is herself a female force to
      be reckoned with: Sarah Shotton, who worked her way up the company from an
      &#8216;apprenticeship&#8217; when it had just started up. Now at the top,
      Shotton states that she tries every design she looks at on a size 8 model
      and a size 16, to ensure that it works on a range of shapes. No more than
      she should do, perhaps, but probably still more than many other lingerie
      designers. So I&#8217;m on side from the get-go, really.<\/p>\n
    </p>
    <p>
      But to the ad!<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_12816\" style=\"width: 298px\"
      class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a
      href=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.badreputation.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/HM-Winter-2012-2013-Lingerie-Campaign-5.jpg\"><img
      aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12816\" data-attachment-id=\"12816\"
      data-permalink=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/19\/found-feminism-agent-provocateur-the-chase\/hm-winter-2012-2013-lingerie-campaign-5\/\"
      data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/HM-Winter-2012-2013-Lingerie-Campaign-5.jpg?fit=800%2C936&amp;ssl=1\"
      data-orig-size=\"800,936\" data-comments-opened=\"1\"
      data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\"
      data-image-title=\"H&#038;M Winter 2012 campaign\"
      data-image-description=\"\"
      data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/HM-Winter-2012-2013-Lingerie-Campaign-5.jpg?fit=256%2C300&amp;ssl=1\"
      data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/HM-Winter-2012-2013-Lingerie-Campaign-5.jpg?fit=800%2C936&amp;ssl=1\"
      loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-12816 \" title=\"H&amp;M Winter 2012
      campaign\"
      src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.badreputation.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/HM-Winter-2012-2013-Lingerie-Campaign-5.jpg?resize=288%2C337\"
      alt=\"H&amp;M's Winter 2012 lingerie campaign\" width=\"288\"
      height=\"337\"
      srcset=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/HM-Winter-2012-2013-Lingerie-Campaign-5.jpg?w=800&amp;ssl=1
      800w,
      https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/HM-Winter-2012-2013-Lingerie-Campaign-5.jpg?w=256&amp;ssl=1
      256w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 288px) 100vw, 288px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"
      \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-12816\"
      class=\"wp-caption-text\">H&amp;M&#8217;s Winter 2012
      campaign<\/p><\/div>\n
    </p>
    <p>
      First things first, this has got to be in the minority among lingerie
      campaigns in that the female protagonist is active and capable.
      She&#8217;s not in a boudoir and she&#8217;s not being sexy for an
      imagined (male) viewer. I present <a
      href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KToRNZbG9W0&amp;feature=related\"
      target=\"_blank\">this from La Senza<\/a> and <a
      href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-YbBbLrKM-Q\"
      target=\"_blank\">this from the M&amp;S &#8216;Autograph&#8217;
      lingerie<\/a> range for comparison.<\/p>\n
    </p>
    <p>
      For a more current spin, to my right is H&amp;M&#8217;s Winter 2012 print
      campaign. Oh look, it&#8217;s another woman in lingerie on a bed (\/ weird
      sheepskin shebang), lit so you can&#8217;t actually see her face. For a
      more avant garde take on these same ideas, check out <a
      href=\"http:\/\/film.damaris.co.uk\/filmchore-movie.html\"
      target=\"_blank\">this bizarre mini-film masterwork<\/a> from Damaris.
      Damaris, I love you dearly, but seriously, what is this?<\/p>\n
    </p>
    <p>
      Conversely, in the Agent Provocateur advert our heroine is out and about,
      and about to get on a bus. She&#8217;s wearing a wrap dress and plimsoles
      &#8211; well-dressed, but clearly not on any kind of Special Sexy Trip
      &#8211; and she also just happens to be wearing matching Agent Provocateur
      lingerie.<\/p>\n
    </p>
    <p>
      One effect of this decision is to make the underwear look practical. This
      is not true of most of Agent Provocateur&#8217;s range (or price tag).
      They&#8217;ve always been really into the idea of lingerie as a
      &#8216;special secret&#8217; (not Victoria&#8217;s).<\/p>\n
    </p>
    <p>
      The photography on their website is lit as if by searchlight to reinforce
      this, and this advert refines that a little, pushing lingerie as a secret
      just for you, the wearer. But, they&#8217;re arguing here, it&#8217;s also
      something viable for every day. Our protagonist is just hangin&#8217; out
      in her designer lingerie, because she wants to wear it &#8211; for
      herself.<\/p>\n
    </p>
    <p>
      Personally, I commend her: good underwear is the skeleton of an outfit,
      and I don&#8217;t see why, if you&#8217;re lucky enough to be able to buy
      luxury lingerie, it should have to languish at the bottom of a drawer
      until some performative Special Occasion.<\/p>\n
    </p>
    <p>
      But I think this ad &#8211; and its slogan, &#8216;sexy never takes a day
      off&#8217; &#8211; is also saying that there&#8217;s something almost
      intrinsic about &#8216;sexy&#8217;. In this advert, the Agent Provocateur
      underwear, and the choice to wear it out and about, is just an extension
      of the heroine&#8217;s natural confidence and, well, sexiness.<\/p>\n
    </p>
    <p>
      It&#8217;s this confidence that makes her actually embark on the chase in
      the first place. The underwear&#8217;s not making her sexy; she&#8217;s
      chosen the underwear because she already
      <em
        >is<\/em> sexy. Typical advertising, of course, but isn&#8217;t it
        better to see someone being sexy in their day to day life than backlit
        in a studio, lounging on a bed?<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy
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                              <p>
                                I was reading about the rivalry between
                                Victoria&#8217;s Secret and Agent Provocateur
                                the other day (as is my wont of a Thursday
                                evening) and in the course of doing so I
                                discovered this classic Agent Provocateur
                                advert.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy
                                sd-sharing-enabled\"><div
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