The Muse and I

Growing up during the 70s, the lethally glamorous Bond girls in their glitter dresses and killer bikinis were hard to avoid. Yes, they had the hottest outfits and the naughtiest names - remember Pussy Galore and Honey Ryder? - but I never aspired to be them. I wanted to be James Bond himself. I wanted the multi-purpose spy gadgets like the dagger shoes and X-ray specs that tickled my future inner designer. I wanted to experience the thrill of going undercover. And I promised myself: I was going to infiltrate forbidden worlds. 

And did I? Well, I never officially became a secret agent. (And if I did, I wouldn't tell you, of course!). But from early on, I was committed to my motto: 'dare to dream, dare to grow, dare to be'. Making my way up in the world, from a girl destined to be a housewife to a female founder, I had to pass through many worlds that were no-go zones to me. How? By channeling the female spy in me. To give you one 'fishy' example: to infiltrate the impenetrable bastion of businessmen, I stalked the captains of industry at their secret lunch place - a local fishmonger's. 

Going undercover by toning down my usual flamboyant style, I spent many lunch hours observing and eavesdropping from the shadows (and eating enough fish for a lifetime). How did these men of power walk, talk, dress? All this precious intel I wrote down in a little notebook: the power stances, the jovial lingo, the fake nonchalance. Years later, receiving my Businesswoman of the Year Award, I gleefully wore a bowler hat: my cheeky, private nod to the men whose world I had conquered after managing to crack their secret code. 

In this way, I would unlock many more levels on my journey to fulfill my potential. And with each transformation and infiltration, I felt more complete. As Anais Nin's wrote in her novel 'A Spy in the House of Love': 'I take pleasure in my transformations, few know how many women there are in me.' We don't have to be secret agents to experience the joy of transformation. And we don't always have to infiltrate worlds outside ourselves. Sometimes, we need to sneak into the hiding place of our deepest desires. Crack the code of our sensuality. Turn it into our superpower. 

I didn't exactly design the 007-style killer stilettoes or bullet bra I dreamed of when I was growing up, but I did create my own version of multi-purpose 'spyware': perfect-fitting lingerie that doubles as a woman's secret tool for transformation. Forget Bond girls; I still get the biggest thrill when I watch women walk into my dressing rooms, weighed down by their grocery bags and daily drudgery, to emerge as undercover boss bitches, bombshells or bestselling authors. My own Sisterhood of Spies.