Agent Provocateur unveils its AW26 campaign starring Irina Shayk, photographed by world-renowned photographer Steven Klein, styled by Patti Wilson.

Irina walks in front of the car and puts down the chair she has carried with her. Effortless.

Lacquered metal, silk and fine stockings. Light pools across the bodywork. A woman creates her own light by reveling in her shadow.

She is centered and calm. Stillness. Silence.

Eyes fix on her and she neither minds nor seeks it. Nobody moves.

She is the center of attention. Not a drama queen. A presence. And it isn’t an act.

Her cool gaze asks for nothing and brings her everything. In that stillness is her authority.

The diva evolved. The neo-diva lives in her light and plays with her shadow.

She can sit comfortably with mystery and vulnerability. Multiple truths under one skin. It’s a superpower.

And when she’s gone… all that’s left is the lingerie.

Nobody remembered the license plate. Everyone remembered her.

The mood for AW26 is dark and ambiguous. There is an undeniable glamour in darkness, and a desirability in the unknown, and Agent Provocateur has never been afraid to embrace either.

Poise and rebellion. Supernatural glamour in the shadows. Irina’s stillness and confidence were breathtaking. She understood instinctively what Agent Provocateur is and, more importantly, who the AP woman is. She would never do anything that felt even slightly coy. She stayed seated, moving very little. The energy she brought was intense, subtle, possibly even a little terrifying.

“Irina has an extraordinary presence and confidence. There was something incredibly powerful about watching her become the Agent Provocateur Woman during the making of this campaign. It was a very special moment, and one that felt entirely right," says Sarah Shotton, Creative Director, Agent Provocateur.

But the neo-diva is more than a character in a campaign. She represents a new generation of Agent Provocateur women.

“We’ve got something happening now. A generation who are AP natives, who grew up with mothers who wore us. That new generation is incredible. They’ve learned from their mothers’ mistakes and triumphs.

“Their AP is a little different. She inherits the attitude but owns it with a more deeply embodied confidence. She feels entitled to her femininity, her sexuality, her freedom and her vulnerability. She doesn’t need to play it up.

“No demands, no cruelty, no display, no cosseting. She simply knows herself.”

After four decades, Agent Provocateur remains in the vanguard of lingerie, while a new generation comes to the brand for a piece of its history and heritage — and makes it their own.

Underwear as outerwear. Underwear as a foundational part of meeting the day. Underwear as seduction. It can be all of these things at once.

Because multiple truths can be held in one woman all at once. 

That is the neo-diva.

And ultimately, it’s all about the lingerie.

Image credit: Steven Klein, courtesy of Agent Provocateur