March 21, 2010 world of men's style / fashion / grooming RSS
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A blog dedicated to the interesting, scandalous, useful and cutting edge in the world of men’s style, fashion and grooming.

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“Agent Provocateur”
11/07/07 ·

Goddess

Sleeper Hit

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The lingerie mavens at Brit brand Agent Provocateur have made a good thing out of showing just enough skin to leave us always wanting more. Their narrative ad campaigns, far too racy for prime time, are released in snippets online; for their last one they commissioned Leaving Las Vegas director Mike Figgis to make Kate Moss’ erotic dreams into a series of short films, aired in bits over the past several months. Now they’ve finally compiled the footage along with stills and extras into a limited edition book and DVD package, The 4 Dreams of Miss X…

04/03/08 ·

Ad Rock

Secret Agent

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The same lingerie line that brought you Kate Moss’ magnum opus has come back with another provocative ad concept: the interactive peep show.

Agent Provocateur’s “Peep in Paris” is the game in question. Sadly, it’s all drawings, but they still manage to fit in some pretty exciting material. The game itself is essentially Strip Simon, with windows in place of colored lights. You do your best to copy the order the windows opened, and the Provocateurs do their best to reward you when you get it right.

Luckily we’ve always had a good memory for those things»

05/06/08 ·

Bad Idea

Mossed Up

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We’ve always enjoyed Kate Moss, even in her current post-marital phase. And the last time she got together with Agent Provocateur, we had nothing but good things to say.

Unfortunately, Moss’s latest collaboration with the lingerie brand seems to have gone off the rails at some point. But as train wrecks go, it’s pretty spectacular»

05/19/08 ·

Scene

Our Man in Vienna

corre_crop.jpgNEIL RASMUS/PatrickMcMullan.com

Agent Provocateur founder Joe Corre is nothing if not a consummate showman—but then what else would you expect from the son of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren?

An explanation for this puzzling image»

05/21/08 ·

Scene

Rosebud

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Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.

First of all, this will be our final photographic dispatch from Vienna’s louche Life Ball, so it’s no use begging or appealing to our better nature—which so far as we know is non-existent anyway.

While Agent Provocateur founder Joe Corre’s shenanigans were certainly entertaining, it was molten media heiress Lydia Hearst who really stole the show.

More on the heiress»

05/23/08 ·

LinkOut

Kurt's Kicks, Men's Strappies and Indie's Hat

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“A Naked Girl Wearing Lots of Gold”: For once, Vice Magazine eschews all irony and delivers on their promises. [Vice]

All Apologies: Something still smells wrong about the Kurt Cobain Chucks—even if they are more tasteful than previously advertised. [Trashbag Aesthetics]

Who Says Size Matters?: Agent Provocateur plus the Cooper Mini equals a crowded back seat. [Hypebeast]

Playing Footsie: Amy Odell introduces the men of Union Square to the latest in designer “Mandals” with completely unsurprising results. [NYMag]

Will Indiana Jones Bring Back the Hat?: These guys say, “yes. We say, “hahahahaha”. [Too Spoiled Models]

09/09/08 ·

Ad Rock

Equity and Iniquity

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Agent Provocateur has been pushing the envelope with interactive promotion (with good and bad results), but they’ve finally outdone themselves. Their latest temptation is a video choose-your-own-adventure, guiding you through a mansion of decadence inhabited by a coven of scantily clad witches, a bleeding tomato, a virgin in peril, a half-nude albino and a conquistador. The goal is to save the virgin without succumbing to sexy enslavement but the real point is just to admire the scenery. As you can imagine, there’s a lot to take in.

Look a little closer»

10/09/08 ·

Scene

His & Hers

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Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.

We’ve expounded before on the extreme appeal of La Perla lingerie, which while eschewing the erotic theatrics of Agent Provocateur nonetheless manages to push all the right buttons. Their underthings, such as the flapper-esque concoction shown here snapped by our fearless lensman at a recent display of La Perla wares in NYC, seem calculated to appeal to sex-starved socialites and other such admirable creatures.

We were not aware however that the company also made the alarmingly snug swim trunks Daniel Craig sported in his debut as James Bond. Apparently he has refused to ever put them on again. Wise choice, old boy; some things are just not meant to have crossover appeal.

01/08/09 ·

LinkOut

Windows, Mustaches and the Dear Departed

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Window Shopping: You can always count on Agent Provocateur for a good window display. [Racked]

Raiding the ‘Stache: Kempt favorite David Colman takes up the cause of the mustache. Fair warning: the first sentence may include the word “manscaping.” [NYTimes]

Seeing Red: Song or no, red shoes are still pretty fantastic. [A Suitable Wardrobe]

Sons and Daughters: Sad News: the impeccable tailors at Obedient Sons are shuttering. They have a new label in the works, but we’re sad to see this one go. [Men.Style]

01/26/09 ·

LinkOut

Bondage, Hartmarx, and Dov’s Love

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Agent of Change: Agent Provocateur still makes steamy web videos, but this time around they swap the gothic castle for a Valentine’s Day bondage theme. Ok, maybe it’s not that big a change. [My Fashion Life]

Marxists: Hartmarx is on shaky ground…which is bad news for anyone who wants a suit made in America. [A Continuous Lean]

Free Dov: American Apparel is just making pornography at this point. But we have no complaints. [TrendHunter]

Science!: A new female sexuality study gets the feminist blogosphere riled up. To be fair, it was already riled up. [Jezebel]

04/13/09 ·

LinkOut

Swimsuits, New Suits, and a Suitable Carafe

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Provoked: Agent Provocateur has basically never let us down. [FashionIndie]

The Surge: Menswear leads the economic charge. Does that mean we can start declaring short-lived trends again? [FT]

Hitting the Bottle: Evian brings in Jean-Paul Gaultier to revamp their classic bottle design. Hopefully, Coke is paying attention. [Selectism]

Can We Have Our Ball Back?: Jean Touitou of A.P.C. continues to be surprisingly crotchety about music. [Dazed Digital]