Supermodel Helena Christensen has helped boost the sales of a Primrose Hill lingerie and erotica brand - in front of the camera and behind it.
Coco de Mer, which moved its headquarters from Covent Garden to Gloucester Avenue earlier this year, has seen a 50 per cent boost in online sales, and a 45 per cent increase in international stockists in the past three years.
CEO and owner Lucy Litwack puts the success of their luxury underwear and designer sex toys down to high profile collaborations with celebrities such as Christensen and Pamela Anderson, and the fact that they focus on female pleasure.
The Danish supermodel first promoted their lingerie in a self-taken image during lockdown, and has now got behind the camera to shoot their latest campaign.
Speaking about the success on Brightpearl's Retales Podcast Litwack said: “We have worked with Helena for three years and she was a customer of ours long before that. We did our first campaign with her in lockdown, called The Ultimate Female Gaze, where she acted as model, photographer and art director, shooting herself at home, because no one could travel.
“We did a post-Covid campaign with her which was much more glamorous because suddenly everyone wanted to dress up after not being able to.
“Helena is a renowned photographer as well as a supermodel and has shot our new campaign with Charli Howard, our current ambassador. I loved the concept of passing the torch between Helena and Charli - it’s a real journey of female empowerment."
Litwack, who grew up in West Hampstead, went to South Hampstead High School, and now lives in St John's Wood added that luxury lingerie and the erotica industry boomed during the pandemic as consumers discovered how sensual pleasure could aid mental well-being.
“The pandemic empowered women to prioritise their pleasure and to focus on self care. Now we are coming out of that period, yet pleasure is becoming a much more regular part of self-care, as you see with sexual wellness sitting within the beauty sector in shops and sites much more.”
Half of Coco de Mer’s sales come through its website, and half through wholesalers such as Selfridges. It also has a private, appointment-only personal shopping space in Primrose Hill which can handle bespoke fittings.
Litwack told the Ham&High at the time: "We have created a pocket of pleasure in Primrose Hill where we can really give that one to one service. I wanted to provide a fittingly tactile experience and a sensory wonderland."
Litwack's background in lingerie ranges from Victoria's Secret to creating David Beckham’s first underwear range. She arrived at Coco de Mer in 2014 as CEO and staged a buy out six years ago.
The brand was originally founded by Sam Roddick - the daughter of The Body Shop's Anita Roddick - who later sold it on, but Litwack admires her revolutionary approach to luxury, female focused products designed to empower rather than please the male gaze. 
She told the Retales podcast: "Lingerie is a way to redefine sexuality on our own terms as women. It’s literally the one item that you wear that no one else has to see."
With an all female team, Coco de Mer relies on fans like Christensen to market their brand because giants such as Meta will not allow them to advertise on Facebook or Instagram.
“Our current customers are our strongest ambassadors when it comes to attracting new customers," adds Litwack.
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