Ann Summers

The Rampant Rabbit is the product Ann Summers is most associated with, and it remains its best-known item by some distance. The brand sells two million of them a year, a kind of vibrator developed by Jacqueline Gold, which speaks to its enduring popularity. As with any personal product, individual preferences vary, but it is firmly the signature piece of the range.

Ann Summers built its high-street reputation on lingerie as much as toys, so it is a natural place to start if that is what you are after. Its shops carry lingerie, underwear, swimwear and cosmetics alongside the more erotic products. Whether it is worth it comes down to fit and style, so it is worth using the in-store fitting service to get the size right.

Ann Summers is a British multinational retailer specialising in sex toys and lingerie, with a long-established presence on the UK high street. Its shops offer lingerie, underwear, cosmetics, swimwear and sex toys under one roof. The brand is also closely tied to the Rampant Rabbit, its signature vibrator.

The first Ann Summers shop opened in 1970 in Marble Arch, London, and from there it grew to six shops in its early days. The company has since become an established high street brand and lingerie boutique. Those London beginnings mark the start of a long retail history.

The company was named after Annice Summers, the secretary of the founder, Michael Caborn-Waterfield. She was born Annice Goodwin in 1941 but later took her stepfather's surname. Interestingly, she left the company soon after it opened following a row with the founder, and she later moved to Umbria, Italy.

Ann Summers was purchased in 1971 by brothers Ralph and David Gold, who turned it from a standard sex shop into an established high street brand and lingerie boutique. In 1981 David Gold installed his daughter Jacqueline Gold, who became Executive Chair and shaped much of the modern business. The Gold family is therefore central to the brand's story.

The Ann Summers parties came from the Party Plan concept that Jacqueline Gold initiated in 1981. They were conceived partly as a way to get around regulations restricting the display of sex toys, and partly as a marketing tactic, with hostesses selling products in people's homes. They became hugely popular, with around 4,000 parties a week in the UK in 2003 before the Party Plan concept ended in October 2025.

Ann Summers operates dozens of high street stores across the UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands, alongside its online shop. Its retail operations are managed from its head office in Whyteleafe, Surrey. Shopping through the brand's own stores or website is the most reliable route.

In 2000, Ann Summers acquired the Knickerbox brand, a label with an emphasis on more comfortable and feminine underwear. This sat alongside the Ann Summers-labelled products, which tend to be more erotic in style. The acquisition broadened the range, though the company later announced plans to sell Knickerbox in 2014.

Because of the adult nature of the business, Ann Summers has frequently faced both legal and social opposition over the years. Its advertising in particular has drawn complaints, with several campaigns banned or withdrawn, and the brand has fought a number of public battles around how and where it can promote itself. That friction has been part of its high-profile identity.