Vancouver Fetish Weekend: a nice place to get nautical.
Though still in its infancy, Vancouver Fetish Weekend has emerged from an enthusiastic local scene where inclusivity is the byword. Add its beautiful location, wonderful weather and friendly attractive people and, well, what’s not to like? asks Ian Dutton, who also shot all the photographs
This booming city, where mountains come down to meet a lovely harbour with rich forests and comfortable climate, is also home to a vibrant and growing fetish community building around a core group of warm and welcoming — and easy on the eye — pervy players.
The king and queen of the Vancouver party scene are Isaac (aka DJ Pandemonium) and alt model and DJ Evilyn13. Besides producing the Vancouver Fetish Weekend, this couple also bring to life the monthly Sin City fetish events, now ten years running.
Both Isaac and Evilyn are very visible in both straight and gay club circuits. This leads their Fetish Weekend to feel dramatically more inclusive than other cities’ scenes where attitudes might be welcoming but in actuality don’t have such a smooth blend of homo, hetero and all the flavours in between.
As if owning and operating the internationally-known label and the shop weren’t enough, the tattooed beauty behind Deadly Couture, Jenni Won Ton, is herself a fetish model and along with her partner Derek, isn’t too shy to enjoy some kinky fun while out on the town.
Surrounding these pillars of the fetish community is a core group of active kinky party people who of course can be found out at the local scene events in Vancouver and even in Seattle, a two-hour drive away on the US side of the border. Indeed, it’s becoming more common to intimate secondary room with more DJs, plus play equipment spread throughout.
These Western Canadians are often identifiable as among the best-dressed and hardest-playing kinksters at major North American events such as Florida’s Fetish Factory Anniversary Weekend or, on the opposite side of Canada, at the Montreal Fetish Weekend.
After years of growth of the local scene, the full-blown Vancouver Fetish Weekend came into being in 2013, and featured performances from fet-scene celebs Mosh and Perish and a catwalk from local label Hypershine Latex.
Building from the first year’s experiences, Isaac invited LA’s Boulet Brothers to be the second edition’s MCs, featured international fetish star Rubberdoll as the headline performer, and added an anything-goes evening Fetish Cruise limited to the all-weekend VIP pass holders.
Friday was an opportunity to explore Vancouver a bit as so many tourists do: by renting a bicycle. And being as ridiculous as we are, my wife Shea and I opted for a tandem bike.
Friday was an opportunity to explore Vancouver as so many tourists do: by bicycle. And being as ridiculous as we are, my wife Shea and I opted for a tandem
Besides circling famous Stanley Park on the wildly-popular Seawall, our highlight was a shopping excursion to Deadly Couture. We found Jenni and her assistants hard at work and the store as busy as could be expected with everyone making last-minute outfit plans for the big weekend.
Also to be found at the Deadly Couture shop were Canadian fetish superstar couple Lacy Black and Jordan Solaris from Edmonton. In town for the weekend from the far side of the Canadian Rockies, they would be producing the runway show for the Russian label Andromeda Latex on Saturday night.
The kick-off party on Friday July 25 was the Military and Uniform Fetish Ball held at the Imperial Theatre.
This is an attractive and historic venue featuring a high-ceilinged main room with a sizable performance stage and a more intimate secondary room with more DJs, plus play equipment spread throughout.
The Vancouver crowd, particularly the men, did a good job of interpreting the theme with many stepping it up with latex outfits. Performances through the night were evenly spaced with opportunities for dancing and socialising.
The Boulet Brothers, in matching latex catsuits, pink Marie Antoinette wigs and alien-zombie make-up, held the audience’s attention between an alluring diva-dance routine by Mantra, a police officer having the balance of power turned against him courtesy of Burgundy Brixx and The Purrfessor, and a sexually-charged testosterone-and- rubber interrogation scene with the guys from Rubbout.
Saturday 26 was another opportunity to explore the city and visit with local friends, at whose suggestion we took a water taxi to the Olympic Village. This neighbourhood served as the athlete’s village during the 2010 Winter Olympics, an event that has left an indelible mark on this glittering, modern city.
Before long it was time to prepare for the weekend’s event: Saturday night’s Fantasy Fetish Ball at Club 560.
Red carpet interviews hosted by Evilyn13 and a specially-decorated classic police car draped with fetish models greeted arriving guests. Inside, guests found a basement-level dungeon (and lush toilets to boot), a large main floor and a chill-out balcony space.
Red carpet interviews hosted by Evilyn13 and a specially decorated classic police car draped with fetish models greeted guests arriving for the Fantasy Fetish Ball
Though not quite as swanky as the previous night’s theatre venue, Club 560 offered a variety of spaces and a video wall to create an immersive experience.
The Boulet Brothers were once again the evening’s ringmasters, tonight coiffed in towering platinum wigs and shimmering in matching one-leg, one-arm latex catsuits decorated with Rocky Horror-esque fanged lips. They ushered in a modern bellydance routine by the Luciterra quartet as well as another performance by Mantra.
And so it was that Evilyn, our nautical hostess, welcomed guests aboard the friendly vessel whose captain, wearing a bunny suit with nipple clamps, waved from the bridge.
As partygoers emerged from taxis and nearby parking lots, the waterfront passers-by — mostly tourists — got many an eyeful of latex-wrapped or scantily-clad seafarers making their way down the pier.
After the last-second latecomers had made a dash for the departing clipper, Isaac grabbed a microphone to lay down the two rules: no unauthorised photography and no stains on the carpet. With that (and the official safety briefing), Vancouver’s first-ever fetish cruise was underway.
As other vessels passed our mid-sized yacht on the harbour, more than one made a rapid U-turn to get a better look at the action aboard and were no doubt disappointed to find out that our cruise was unquestionably more interesting than theirs!
The success of Vancouver’s fetish cruise cannot be overstated, from the thrill of the fetish parade embarking, to the playful freedom surrounded by the beauty of Vancouver’s waterfront, to the charge of so many friendly and attractive fellow partygoers… even a supportive crew that seemed to enjoy the event as much as anyone.
Upon disembarking, most cruise guests boarded a bus to the Sunday night Wrap-up Party. This was not some
Tags: Fashion Shows