Joe Corre, son of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, on why Liverpool is perfect for his daring make-up brand - Liverpool Echo

Illamasqua make-up image

For Illamasqua, whose celebrity client list includes Courtney Love, Lady Gaga and Lily Allen, it is major step in what they hope will be a far-from-quiet revolution.

We are probably the fastest growing make-up brand on earth, states Corre. Weve got five new stores to open back-to-back within a month.

The colour cosmetic business has been dominated by a few very big leviathan brands, Lauder and LOreal and people like that, and they have a formulaic way of doing things in the market.

Were a tiny fish compared to that, but it has to be said that they dont always get it right.

We cant outspend the competition, so weve got to outthink them and weve got to be creative in what we do and stay true to what the brands all about.

Creativity, of course, runs rife through everything Corre does and always has. He did, after all, grow up at the height of his parents punk pioneering.

Then still pre-school, he recalls their south London flat turning into a small manufacturing place late into the night as Westwood and McLaren stocked their Sex fashion boutique on the Kings Road.

He managed affairs for his mother for nine years before launching Agent Provocateur, a lingerie emporium dedicated to desire. A celebration of female sexuality, as he describes it.

Industry awards flooded in, although Corre proudly rejected an MBE for Services to British Industry in 2007 for political reasons.

He left Agent Provocateur in August 2009, but by then he was already looking at Illamasqua and its possibilities.

The brand had launched a year earlier, with Julian Kynaston as founder and notoriously outrageous make-up artist Alex Box as creative director.

Julian had wanted to talk to me about selling it through AP stores which wasnt particularly of interest, recalls Corre. I saw what they were doing and Id never seen someone do anything quite as brave with make-up, but that road is littered with people whove tried and failed.

When I did get involved it was about 18 months old and it had certainly started to make a few waves, but I felt it was unstructured. From my point of view it wasnt about reining things in, it was about constructing something that was going to work. Theres no point in doing something interesting if you dont really have a solid product that you know is tried and tested. Otherwise youre just being a busy fool.

Illamasquas trademark is its boldness; it encourages its customers to express themselves as not ordinary but extraordinary.