Lingerie & underwear.

Soiree is Agent Provocateur‘s premium line. Not that there’s anything less than luxurious about their main line, but when it comes to Soiree your kimono robe is suddenly made from the most delicate French lace and costing you close to £2,000. The quality is visually apparent in the collection’s campaign, though probably not nearly as much as if you could touch the pieces in person.…

Spanish label Blanco make the kind of lingerie that fits with the same philosophy and target market as their clothing: on-trend pieces that are affordable and suitable for every day. That means you shouldn’t expect the kind of lingerie that’s ultra-seductive, strappy, fetishist, boundary-pushing or ornate, but rather pieces that neatly border the lines of practical and visually pleasing. The cropped corset shapes should prove…

Victoria’s Secret’s annual ‘fantasy bra’ is either brilliantly luxurious or preposterously extravagant, depending on who you ask. But the thing it always is, without fail, is a successful marketing tactic. Who can resist having a peek at what a 2.5 million dollar bra could possibly look like?

Wildfox view the ’90s as a kind of magic decade – or at least they pull the magic out of the best parts of it when they design their collections. Romeo + Juliet, the DiCaprio + Danes version of ’96, regularly tops the list of the brand’s inspirations (the Wildfox fall 2012 campaign included). So what does their modern-day Juliet wear underneath her Wildfox fall…

Ice Queen. Warrior Princess. Tudor Encounters. Even the themes of Myla’s latest lingerie collection know exactly what they want to be, as if by some obstinate determination. Their autumn / winter 2012 woman is not to be questioned or messed with; she’s strong and confident and reveals only as much of herself as she choses. The campaign stars Australian brunette Sarah Stephens, a new face…

Sam Roddick, founder of Coco De Mer, says the brand is “unashamedly about sex”. And indeed it has been since bringing designer lingerie and other erotic goods to Covent Garden over a decade ago. Plenty of brands and boutiques have since caught up to Roddick’s liberated way of thinking about lingerie but that hasn’t stopped Coco De Mer from doing what it does best: presenting…

Ritratti is a Milanese lingerie brand run by Delmar, a company founded in 1928. Perhaps that goes some of the way to explaining the classically elegant aesthetic which permeates their fall 2012 collection. Like much of the season’s lingerie, Ritratti’s offering leans to an autumnal palette of deep maroons, black, and aubergine. Silk camisoles and slips, as well as one particularly elegant white figure-hugger, compliment…

While Les Jupons de Tess’ fall 2012 campaign was styled with exotic twists of Orientalism, the campaign of the brand’s secondary line – LJT by Les Jupons de Tess – trades the sense of danger for one of classic femininity. With plenty of sheer fabrics, feathers and frills, it’s the kind of frou-frou styling that sticks more intimately to the brand’s French heritage.

Between lingerie that’s overtly feminine and lacy and underwear that’s ultra-basic and plain is a space where brightly coloured cotton is luxurious – sexy even. It’s a space that newly launched Australian brand Light Years aims to fill with their pared back bras, tanks and tees. Pieces that have enough detail to be interesting, and enough sturdiness to double as outerwear.

If lingerie does its job right, it goes far beyond the functional. It’s tactile, sensual, confidence-boosting. For the past few weeks we’ve been partaking in an Olympic sized (well, not quite) celebration of all things lingerie, spurred on by the release of new collections from the world’s leading lingerie brands. It’s one of the few categories of clothing where seasons have little to do with…