FLAGGED UP: Dress from Westward Bound’s Britannia set as featured on our July cover banner. (Photos: Moritz Maibaum; Model: Ophelia Overdose)
Long-term, we still need to pull our heads out of our Euro-asses and address the unequal competition from the Far East where wages and quality, though questionable, continue to woo Western consumers — well once at least!
We established our business at the beginning of the last recession in 2009, in spite of which we have seen growth beyond our expectations. It seems there are some goods and services which even in times of hardship, people are prepared to dig deep in their pockets for – especially anything that gives the feel-good factor – like liquor, lingerie and … latex!
My personal views on Brexit? From a business point of view, I wanted to remain in the EU for reasons of free trade, stability, security and continuity. Personally, I want to have Britain back home for the British and not see our Social Welfare budget haemorrhaging into the far reaches of Eastern Europe to underpin their 50k mansion-building programme.
CATRIONA STEWART CLOTHING, Leicester
Catriona Stewart, owner
CATRIONA STEWART (pic: TM)
The Brexit effect on my business? I don’t know to be honest because of my lack of true knowledge of the situation. There was a massive drop in the pound because of worry but it has come back up somewhat, now things have started to calm. I voted to remain because of the worry of working within the EU and what leaving the EU could do to this, so I really hope that things can be looked at properly now without all the circus acts of the politicians. It is going to take a long time to wade through all the legalities and it doesn’t help that what’s given out is not clear, honest information but more stories or spins on it all.
I am just going to keep working and trading within the UK and Europe. Prices might have to be changed down the line, but my products aren’t cheap/buy-in-bulk type pieces so there is a bit of leeway if I do have to spend a bit more per item. This means I can accommodate some change without having to pass much, if any, increase on to the end customer. Wholesale might be affected, but again this depends what products businesses are buying from me. Increased costs here might have to be shared between myself, the business buying from me, and its end customers.
Another cost in my business is the cost of travelling to events in the UK and Europe where I promote my brand and sell my products. I don’t know how this will change but it might affect my future pricing of products. At the moment everything is staying in line with my normal costs so there’s no panic buying of latex sheeting for me. I am somewhat glad I didn’t change back the euros from when I had my stall at the German Fetish Fair though — they can go towards my Dominatrix Weekend travel costs in December!
My personal views on Brexit? My main concern more than the value of the pound is the racism that has started to escalate from certain groups within the UK — though I know not all Leave voters are guilty of this.
One thing I get out of the fetish scene personally is that people are open to others’ ways of living and are friendlier in the face of their differences. I found confidence in my own differences when I entered the fetish scene and I hope that others do as well.
I also like that it brings people from all over the world to socialise and work together, and race or nationality doesn’t really come in to it — it’s the people themselves and what they bring to the table that counts. I worry Brexit will put people off coming from Europe to live and work in the UK, or make it harder for them to do so.
ECTOMORPH, London
Krystina Kitsis, owner
ECTOMORPH owner Krystina Kitsis (pic: TM)
The Brexit effect on my business? I don’t think any short-term gains in orders are worth the long-term adverse relationship that we will have with Europe. Exhibiting overseas will, one assumes, be more costly, especially once petrol rockets in price here. But what concerns me most is the perception Europeans must have of us.
I have always considered myself to be European, not only because of my foreign background but because of the empathy I have with Europe. Quite honestly I am ashamed to be British and have considered calling myself a Londoner in view of the result that I was not at all in sympathy with. If the racist reports continue, how can this give British products a positive slant?
How can there be benefits in having an imploding economy? I don’t want an ‘outsider’ status like Switzerland and Norway. Trade with both countries is expensive for them, in terms of receiving goods. We will have to pay more for trimmings as a lot of these come from Europe, and presumably latex sheeting will increase in price. I fail to see the benefits.
LATEX 101, Armadale
Richard Warburton,
co-owner
LATEX 101 co-owner Richard Warburton (pic: TM)
The Brexit effect on our business? I cannot see Brexit as a force for good in fetish or the world. On the
I expect a degree of loyalty from our EU customers in the coming years before Brexit is completed, but I think we will have to find a way to buy that loyalty when and if tariffs, customs and admin kick in.
I also expect it to be harder to win business in Europe. As a large part of our turnover from retail fairs comes when we visit Germany — and we have no idea how hard that will become in the future — I am worried whether we can continue to do that. We previously ruled out the customs and admin costs for a fair in Switzerland, despite the lucrative market and good opportunities there.
I do worry about our future in the UK. As we are based in Scotland now, we may have more of a glimmer of hope. Uncertainty sucks. We like a plan.
How will it affect the wider fetish world? I suspect it will not change much. Businesses and brands come and go. I would be surprised if there were not a few casualties, if a recession hits the UK and maybe Europe too. But folk find a way to express themselves and when one door closes, another opens, right?
That said, if UK consumers get even more conservative with their cash and further slow down their spending at markets and stores, then I do not think the average UK consumer will have many options left for shopping in the flesh. Footfall and spend is down everywhere already this year. This is not what we needed. Designers and makers need orders to live. If the public keeps switching to cheap, mass-produced or dubiously-manufactured imports, in the long run, quality and choice will suffer.
‘As a large part of our turnover from retail fairs comes when we visit Germany, I am worried if we can continue to do that’ – Richard Warburton, Latex 101
My personal views on Brexit? As an English man resident in Scotland and highly dependent on Europe, you could not find a stronger voter against Scottish independence in 2014 or in favour of Remain 2016 than me. But on June 24 I wrote to Nicola Sturgeon backing a second Scottish Independence referendum.
If the people of England have the right to self-determination to go their own way, so should the people of Scotland.
This is a Britain of liars, bullies, thugs, racists, xenophobes and homophobes I wish I did not recognise. The outbreaks are probably fewer than the media would portray, but Brexiteers have legitimised and directly or indirectly caused these outbreaks and I want nothing to do with it any more. The open and inclusive community of Europe is worth the somewhat dysfunctional bureaucracy and imperfect one-size-fits-all rules of free movement.
Sometimes I laugh and think, well, if it all goes to hell and becomes like Albania, I’ll just move to Europe. Oh no. Hang on. Damn.
LIBIDEX, London
Simon Rose, owner
LIBIDEX and Radical Rubber owner Simon Rose
The Brexit effect on my business? It is still very early days and hard to tell. The exchange rate has become worse and because we do import certain products, that has had an immediate effect. How long this will last and how much we can ‘absorb’ this, we’ll just have to wait and see. I think the real effects will only come in the next few years as the economy truly reacts to Brexit, and one of these effects could of course be an even weaker pound as we get closer to and past Brexit.
The pound being weaker may have had an effect on our sales outside the UK already — at glance it seems like it but it is hard to be definite. Brexit also offers a lot of uncertainty to my business as nobody knows yet knows what will happen to EU citizens currently living working in the UK.
I suspect that the ones here already will be able to stay but future talent will find it harder to come to these shores to work, which I believe will be a great loss to all creative businesses in our country, and may actually be one of the worst and most highly damaging symptoms of this turn of events.
How will it affect the wider fetish world? I think that anything that breaks the unity we have enjoyed in Europe for the last 40 or so years will affect a scene like ours that is so truly international. It may or may not make it more difficult to export into the EU to places like Germany, The Netherlands, France, Denmark etc.
It may make it harder for the many and varied UK performers to travel and work at EU events and EU markets/trade shows, and vice versa. It may allow the British Government to pass stricter laws regulating fetish activity — publishing, clubs etc. As we sell to any number of EU countries on a daily basis, it will be interesting to see what barriers, if any, arise.
My personal views on Brexit? I think it is a real shame we are leaving the EU and all that comes with it. Not just the financial security of the single market and the trade deals we can get when acting as a bloc (established by the EU through many years of hard negotiating), but also the cultural mix and the opportunity for easy travel around our wonderful continent.
I consider myself a true European, having been born and brought up on the continent, having worked in many European countries and travelled to nearly all of them, had relationships with people from many of them, employed people from a lot of them and done business with every single of one them!
However, I am a businessman and therefore have learnt to react to whatever comes my way. The exchange rate has been worse than it is at the moment, it has always been hard to find talented staff that want to specifically work in the fetish industry… but I have found them and I now have a great team to show for it.
So come what may (or May), this is just another challenge that will have to be tackled — though rather unnecessarily, and without much improvement if any in our current standing in the world. I think we are sadly throwing the EU baby out with the bathwater!
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