Joseph Corré
| Joseph Corré | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Joseph Ferdinand Corré 30 November 1967 (age 49) Clapham, England, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Known for | Founder of Agent Provocateur |
| Spouse(s) | Serena Rees (divorced) |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent(s) |
Malcolm McLaren (father) (deceased) Dame Vivienne Westwood (mother) |
Joseph Ferdinand Corré (born 30 November 1967) is a British businessman, who co-founded Agent Provocateur in 1994, and social militant.
Corré was born in Clapham, south London, the son of British fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood and fashion and music business maverick – as one time manager of Sex Pistols – Malcolm McLaren.
Corré's surname, which was not adopted but given at birth, derives from his father's maternal grandmother, a Sephardic Jew from Portugal. As a child, he wore his mother's designs and regards the Sex Pistols as his favourite band, despite a poor relationship with frontman/singer John Lydon.
He met Serena Rees, now his ex-wife and former business partner, in 1992 at a night club. The couple has one child, a daughter. They divorced in 2007.
Agent Provocateur was established in 1994 after Rees grew tired of seeing drab undergarments, and the couple opened a shop in which they originally sold other designers' pieces. Corré had no desire to design lingerie but, after not finding enough of the type they wished to sell, decided to create their own lingerie line. Since then, the company has expanded to 30 stores in 14 countries.
After Rees left Corré for ex-Clash bassist Paul Simonon in 2007, in the same year the to-be divorced couple agreed to sell Agent Provocateur to private equity house 3i for £60m.
In June 2007, Corré was awarded the MBE for his services to the fashion industry in the Queen's Birthday Honours list. He rejected the honour in protest of outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair's actions regarding Iraq.
In 2008 Corré funded the opening of the independent boutique "A Child of the Jago", named after the 19th century novel by Arthur Morrison. The venture was a partnership with British street-wear fashion entrepreneur Simon "Barnzley" Armitage, modelled on the retail outlets run by Corré's parents in the 1970s/80s. Armitage left the business in 2013 and is no longer referenced in the company's history.
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