Boux Avenue

For a British high-street lingerie brand with a polished, boudoir-inspired look, it offers solid value. Boux Avenue leans into matching lace sets, robes and nightwear, and its in-store experience and drawer-based displays give it a more boutique feel than most chains. If you want a coordinated, feminine set without designer prices, it is an easy place to start.

The two share a clear family resemblance, which is no accident. Boux Avenue uses an unusual UK selling layout, displaying most of its products in drawers rather than on hanging rails and stands, a similar approach to the American brand Victoria's Secret. It positions itself as a British take on that same fun, matching-set aesthetic.

Boux Avenue is owned by entrepreneur Theo Paphitis, best known for his regular appearances on the BBC business programme Dragons' Den and as a former chairman of Millwall FC. So behind the lace is one of British retail's more recognisable business figures.

Boux Avenue launched in the spring of 2011, initially opening six stores across the United Kingdom. With one exception, the stores were sited in shopping centres, including Bluewater in Kent, Lakeside in Essex, St. Davids in Cardiff, the Trafford Centre in Manchester, Meadowhall in Sheffield and Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow.

It has a genuinely personal origin. The name was inspired by a French waitress who served Theo Paphitis while he was holidaying with his family in France. That French flourish suits the brand's romantic, boudoir-leaning identity.

Almost entirely inside UK shopping centres, with one store in Gibraltar as the notable exception. After the original six in 2011, it added a seventh in Birmingham's Bullring in March 2012, an eighth at Merry Hill in Dudley later that year, and a ninth in Brighton's Churchill Square in September 2014.

Model Jacqui Ainsley was recruited to be the face of the brand. Using a single recognisable model helped Boux Avenue establish a consistent, glamorous identity as it expanded across the UK.

The drawers. Rather than the usual hanging rails and stands, Boux Avenue displays the majority of its products in drawers, an unusual selling layout for the UK that echoes Victoria's Secret. It gives the shopping experience a more considered, almost lingerie-counter feel.

Yes. Boux Avenue Ltd is a chain of lingerie stores based in the United Kingdom, owned by British entrepreneur Theo Paphitis. Despite the French-sounding name, its roots and store network are firmly British.

Because the brand is built around coordinated sets, getting the bra size right first makes everything else fall into place. Boux Avenue's physical stores, mostly in shopping centres, are set up for browsing its drawer displays in person, which is the most reliable way to check fit before committing to a matching set.