Paris is known for its gourmet food, its landmarks and its innate sense of style. The latter is surely embodied by latex clothing label HMSlatex — designed by Sophie Richardoz, currently making a huge impression on the international fetish scene.

Originally part of the goth scene and influenced by France’s cult electronic band Die Form (in which photographer/musician Philippe Fichot plays videos while his rubber-clad partner sings), Sophie was immediately seduced by latex.

“It seemed otherworldly,” she recalls, “with a unique way of hugging and enhancing the human body.”But, she adds: “While there is a fetish scene in France, fetish fashion here has not really moved on from the ’80s. Outfits tend to be black, with buckles and rivets. Customers now demand something new.”

Something new came. A far cry from the hoods, black catsuits and moulded rubber dresses that have become fetish club clichés, HMSlatex brings a sense of high-fashion, combining colours like soft translucent pink and cream as well as more vibrant shades to make cocktail dresses, bolero jackets and lingerie.

Sophie launched her label in 2006 and started her online shop a year later, but it was at the London Xpo 2008 that she caught our eye (and the eyes of many international visitors).

Taking to the Xpo catwalk with a lavender bolero with matching skirt, bra and heart-shaped nipple tassels trimmed in white, a smoke and silver coloured skirt with straps and matching long-sleeved bolero, and the now trademark Cage Dress (a transparent latex dress with black lines emulating a cage), HMSlatex certainly stood out.

Sophie says she found visiting London as a relative newcomer and having her designs in the Xpo shows very exciting.

“I felt really lucky to be next to all those well-known latex brands. I also met a lot of models and had a lot of fun. The Xpo is definitely a fantastic event where designers have the opportunity to meet a lot of people from the media and from the scene.

“I truly hope that things will get better next year and that we will have a fantastic Xpo happening!”

Since the label’s international debut at the Xpo, several more fashion shows, a new Arabian-inspired collection and high-profile collaborations with photographers such as Christine Kessler and Phantom Orchid (see galleries, right) have made HMSlatex a fetishwear household name.

So who is the typical HMSlatex customer? Sophie has a wide range of clientèle, from latex-loving fetish models to people who have never worn rubber before.

The typical HMSlatex customer? Everyone from latex-loving fetish models to people who have never worn rubber before, says Sophie

“Customers come to HMSlatex because they want something different, colourful and to separate them from the crowd,” she says.

She is proud to appeal to customers of all shapes — there is no extra charge at HMSlatex for larger sizes — and has also been commended for booking models who are not the ubiquitous size zero beloved of mainstream fashion.

“Lots of people are still convinced that latex only suits ‘flawless’ women,” she thinks. “It’s probably what many of us have experienced: the cheap moulded latex that will make anybody look terrible because of how badly shaped it is.

“Whereas made-to-measure latex will enhance every body type, sucking in certain parts while lusciously shaping the breasts.”

As a former make-up artist, Sophie knows how to combine colours well, and loves to experiment. When she told me her new collection would be Arabian-inspired, I couldn’t wait to see what she had come up with!

The collection made its public debut in a fashion show at the Bal Des Supplices in Lyon at the end of September, and was then shown in London at Torture Garden’s LFW special at the start of October.

As you can see in the galleries here, the outfits are in sensual shades of bronze, chocolate and pink, with henna-inspired details — yet still with an elegant Parisian flair. Where did the inspiration for this collection come from?

“Arabia was inspired primarily by the work of my favourite artist, Serge Lutens. He's a photographer, perfumier and make-up artist who now lives in Morocco.

“Arabia is a celebration of femininity. I wanted it to stay clear of the cliché of Arabian Nights and be a vision of a modern woman, proud of her origins and her sensuality — a woman who enjoys life. I worked for months on the henna-inspired hand painting!”

Relative newcomers to the latex fashion scene often run up against the charge that there are no new ideas left in latex design and that new labels are just cherry-picking ideas from more established designers. 

But that’s a view Sophie Richardoz disagrees with most emphatically. She thinks there’s plenty of creativity left in latex design, especially since the launch by Libidex of sheet latex supplier Radical Rubber with its many new colours and finishes.

“Radical Rubber has offered designers so many new possibilities with their new colour palette that I think it's only the beginning,” she says. “There are so many shapes, ideas and associations to be imagined!”

And as Sophie is already working on a new collection for Spring 2010, we won’t have to wait too long to see where her own imagination takes her next.

Arabia is a celebration of femininity: ‘a vision of a modern woman, proud of her origins and her sensuality — a woman who enjoys life’