10 Years After Selling Agent Provocateur Serena Rees Is Back In Business

Serena Rees was just 26 when she cofounded the provocative lingerie label Agent Provocateur with her then-husband Joseph Corré, son of designer Vivienne Westwood and Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, in 1994. Rees, the adopted daughter of Cambridge-educated Indian parents, shocked the fashion world when she left Corré — for The Clash’s Paul Simonon — and sold the intimates empire she helped build. Ten years later, she’s back with a dramatically different take on lingerie by way of the gender-fluid “bed-to-street” brand, Les Girls Les Boys. Here, she explains why.

Claire Coghlan: Why come back with lingerie — and risk failing to achieve the same success?

Serena Rees: I didn't ever think I would be doing this again, that there was any reason to do it again. I don't do anything without reason. I wouldn’t be starting a new brand for the sake of it. I'm doing it because it's real and it's needed and it's going to make a difference.

Coghlan: Why is it needed?

Rees: I’ve watched how children from as young as eight years old suffer with this sort of idealized, over-sexualized, over-retouched, over-perfected imagery that’s everywhere, and that makes them feel uncomfortable with who they are. This is wrong. It’s gone too far. People need to see that being yourself is far sexier than having false eyelashes and big pouty lips and your boobs shoved up right underneath your chin and having a six pack and big beefy muscles and no hair on your body .

Rees: I'm still saying the same thing, but in a very different way for this day and age. What I was doing in the 90's was empowering women and saying, "it's okay, be in charge of your own sexuality, celebrate it." But that got out of hand to where we're seeing the kind of imagery we're seeing today. You know, a quarter of a century, that was a long time ago, and it hasn't changed at all? Life has moved on. People's sexual preferences are very varied and you can't account for everybody and you just have to let people be how they are. I’m still saying celebrate yourself — but be in charge of who you are, be down with who you are. And it's up to you how you portray that.

Rees: I've been surrounded by teenagers, and their friends and girlfriends and boyfriends and friends of friends, and my friends' kids, and I’ve been observing how children are living, how they're interacting — the new sexuality, the new friendships, the new connections. The way they hang out isn't always necessarily a sexual thing. It's about a connection and a friendship and a family or a tribe. What’s out there — the over-sexualized imagery — is just not relevant to this generation. So it inspired me to bring it back to a level of realness and allowing people to celebrate themselves, as they are.

Coghlan: Any advice for other women contemplating a comeback but lacking confidence?

Rees: Look, this brand is proof of how much we're shifting culturally — how we want to live, how we want to think about ourselves, our gender, our way of life, the way we work. Age is another thing that’s changing. We’re becoming age fluid — young people are wearing what older people are wearing and vice versa. This brand is for the younger generation, but I know every single one of my friends will be wearing all of this. I’m classed as a middle-aged woman. I don’t feel like a middle-aged woman. I don't feel any different from when I was younger, except I have experience and knowledge and a very different way of working. Age has become less relevant. Of course it's scary. You're putting your neck on the line. You've done something incredible before; people will be watching. But nothing comes without taking a risk.

Coghlan: Where do you get your youthful energy? Has your ex-mother-in-law, Vivienne Westwood, been a big influence, being she’s 76 and still super relevant?

Rees: I’m surrounded by influential older women. Once you have a love for life, you don't think of yourself as any age. When I was 15, there's no way I’d be hanging out with 50-year-olds at a party, but nowadays generations are quite happy to mix. I love sitting and chatting to younger kids, and older people. I can learn so much from their enthusiasm. Whether you’re 25 or 85, you're still the same person inside — in your mind, in your spirit, in your energy — unless you tell yourself you're not.

Coghlan: Is there a cost to trying to have it all, or is it about choosing what “all” means?

Rees: It's definitely about choosing what's important to you. Was I a perfect mother? Probably not, but it worked for me. I hope it worked for Cora. I worked so hard through her childhood, but I had her with me most of the time because I always worked from home. I’d still socialize, because the people I was working with were my friends, so I didn't miss out. I mean, my work is my life and my life is my work. Most of my friends work in the creative industry, whether it's music or art or fashion. They've been my peer group for most of my career. We’re all following a passion and we're all doing things we enjoy and surrounding ourselves with the things that make us click, coming up with ideas, creating. I think it's about what’s right for each individual.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

My parents allowed me to be who I wanted to be. They both went to Cambridge University, and I left home very early, left school early, and most parents wouldn't allow that. But they believed in me, and that was an amazing freedom. And that's what I'm trying to say with this brand — be who you are. You don't have to follow the normal route dictated by society.

Coghlan: What's your proudest achievement to date?

Rees: My daughter Cora. And, I suppose, when I received my MBE from the Queen. I realized I'd actually made a difference, and it was recognized by the Queen of England.

Coghlan: Your personal motto?

Rees: Well, it's kind of stealing somebody else's, but it's just so good. I can’t bear talking about things. When I decide I'm going to do something, I just do it.