Peter Stringfellow launches lingerie range
Lapdance king Peter Stringfellow is to take his exploits in making money from scantily clad women down a new avenue — with a lingerie range.
The tycoon will reveal his Stringfellows Collection in time for Christmas, as he closes his biggest club and focuses on new ventures.
He will sell the underwear online and is considering opening a store in central London which will bring together garments by different designers.
Stringfellow, 75, said: “People have seen the value of branding. Up until now, I haven’t really used Stringfellows as a brand name, so now I’m going to do that.”
As part of the strategy, the flamboyant nightclub boss also plans to open a nationwide chain of “glamour bars” and a casino.
Next week, he will shut his largest venue Angels, the sprawling leopard-print-adorned gentlemen’s club in Soho. It has been open a decade, hosting names such as Steve Coogan, Sven Göran-Eriksson, Lemmy, Clean Bandit’s Grace Chatto and Jonathan Ross, as well as Russell Brand’s stag do.
Stringfellow has sold the Soho club for an undisclosed sum to its landlord Freshwater, which hopes to redevelop Wardour Street to take advantage of Crossrail. He plans to take some staff to his eponymous club in Covent Garden but will make about 25 redundant.
“Going back into one club is ideal. Stringfellows is the best-known club in the world,” he said. “I have a plan to franchise small glamour bars, with no stripping, where people can dress up.
“I’ve spoken to a couple of companies but they’re frightened of the economy right now [following the Brexit vote].”
Stringfellow built a career in music venues — putting on The Beatles and The Who — before bringing US-style lapdancing clubs to Britain in 1997.
The Yorkshireman, who describes himself as a feminist but has drawn criticism for his clubs, said Theresa May and Angela Merkel’s positions running the UK and Germany were a huge victory for feminism. “The debate is over. There’s no more, ‘You can’t do this,’” he said.
He said the weak pound had yet to boost business, but more US bankers had been spotted at his clubs.
Stringfellow is married to former ballerina Bella, 32, with whom he has two children.
