Yes, Agent Provocateur is a fast fashion brand.
Agent Provocateur is a British lingerie retailer. It operates in over 30 markets around the world, with over 600 employees. In 2021, Agent Provocateur made £33 million in revenue.
The business is partially owned by Frasers Group, whose flagship brand is Sports Direct. The group is owned by white British businessman Mike Ashley (worth £2.71 billion).
Agent Provocateur’s sister brands include 18Montrose, Campri, Cruise, Everlast, Firetrap, Flannels, Gelert, Gul, House of Fraser, I Saw It First, Jack Wills, Kangol, Karrimor, LA Gear, Lillywhites, Lonsdale, Lovell Sports, Miss Fiori, Missguided, No Fear, Slazenger, Sondico, SoulCal, Sports Direct, USA Pro, USC and Van Mildert. As a group, it operates 670 stores with over 26,000 employees around the world. It made £3.62 billion in revenue in 2021.
Agent Provocateur is a fast fashion brand due to the speed of production and sheer number of clothes that they sell.
Fashion Revolution Transparency Rating: N/A
Good On You Sustainability Rating: 1/5
Remake Fashion Accountability Report Rating: N/A
Additional Reasons Why Agent Provocateur Is A Fast Fashion Brand
- Despite being a ‘sexually empowered and punk heritage brand‘, Agent Provocateur shares very little about how it empowers women and LGBTQ+ workers in its employment or within its supply chain.
- When looking at Agent Provocateur’s lingerie, I was disappointed to find that almost all of the products I looked at were made from oil-based materials: polyester, polyamide, and even PU for its faux leather garments. One playsuit I looked at retailed for £495, despite being made with 100% polyamide body, 100% polyester embroidery, 100% polyester applique, with just the crotch lining being 100% cotton. For this price, I believe they could be using more luxurious and sustainable textiles.
- Good On You rates Agent Provocateur as ‘very poor’ for its environment rating and its labour rating. It notes that the brand ‘does not publish sufficient relevant information about its environmental policies’ and that there is no evidence that garment workers are paid a living wage, nor that they have collective bargaining or rights to make a complaint.
- On its Ethical Trading page, Agent Provocateur notes that ‘our manufacturing operations comprise suppliers in the UK, Asia, Europe and North Africa’ but does not give any further transparency than this. Ideally, it would provide a map of its Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, so we can find out who makes their clothes.
- The brand does not share any of its policies, Code of Conduct, or safeguarding to protect workers from the impacts of Covid-19.
- Agent Provocateur does not publicly state the minimum age of its garment workers.
Sustainable Alternatives To Agent Provocateur
If you’re looking to stop shopping at Agent Provocateur, I recommend checking out brands such as ColieCo*, Crease*, JulieMay Lingerie, La Perla, Studio Pia, and more listed in my guide to ethical underwear and lingerie. You could also check out my more general guide to 150+ sustainable fashion brands and my favourite second-hand fashion sites.
This post is part of a larger guide to UK fast fashion brands, which goes into more detail about the issues with fast fashion, why it will never be sustainable, and how to make your wardrobe more sustainable.
Data for this review is taken from the brand’s website, corporate website, Wikipedia, and sites linked throughout. All information is assumed correct at date of publication. Last updated: September 2022.