For many years, her lacy creations were synonymous with the wedding night - or the extra-marital affair.

Last night Janet Reger, whose name was inextricably linked with big occasion lingerie, died in a London hospital after a long battle with cancer. She was 69.

The news was confirmed by a spokeswoman for the Knightsbridge branch of her shop, in Central London. She said: "It is confirmed that she died at 6.30pm last night."

She was born into a Jewish family in the East End of London in 1935, the eldest of four girls. She grew up in Reading, where her father, a textile manufacturer, experimented in making bras.

After this early introduction to the skill, she naturally studied corsetry and underwear design in Leicester. Soon after finishing her studies she worked for a while on a kibbutz in Israel.

It was there she met Peter Reger, a flamboyant German whom she married in 1961. They moved to Zurich, and their daughter Aliza was born there a year later.

Throughout this period she was working as a freelance designer. The family moved to London, and it was here that the couple established Janet Reger Creations Ltd in 1967. Their first shop was in Knighstsbridge.

She started producing a line of delicate, desirable undergarments that revolutionised the previously sensible market in women's underwear.

Her bras, basques, negligees and nightdresses were eagerly sought out by clients ranging from Britt Ekland to Diana, Princess of Wales.

Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart were often to be found rustling through the rails, hunting for a wisp of chiffon to treat their girlfriends.

In the 1970s they had the ultimate accolade of hearing a line in a Tom Stoppard play: "Don't get your Janet Regers in a twist."

She blazed a trail that has since been taken up by a host of imitators, ranging from the exclusive ranges of Agent Provocateur and Myla to La Senza on the High Street.

In the run up to Christmas and Valentine's Day, her flagship store in Beauchamp Place was besieged by a steady stream of sober-suited businessmen in the market for something special for their wives and girlfriends.

The success of her designs allowed Ms Reger to set up a worldwide empire, but in the mid 1980s her business was in difficulties and went into voluntary liquidation. At the same time she walked out of her passionate but turbulent marriage, unable to bear her husband's serial affairs. He became depressed and killed himself.

Devastated, she set about salvaging what she could of her business, eventually managing to raise £100,000 to buy back her trading name which had been under contract to Berlei.

After a breast cancer scare in 1991, six weeks before her daughter's wedding, she moved to Mauritius in search of a better quality of life. She continued to design her lingerie collections, but in 1998 handed over day to day running of the business to her daughter. Aliza's husband, Andrew Claremont, a former property developer, looks after the production side.

When her illness returned, she chose to come back to London to be with her family. It was reported today that her daughter was by her side when she died.

In an interview last year she said: "I have had what you might call an interesting life.

'Yes, there have been many challenges and difficult times, but I am philosophical about it. There is no point in dwelling on the past because you cannot change it.

'I like to think of myself as a very positive person. It hasn't all been tragedy and misery - there has also been fun and joy."

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