COLE BLACK: LATEXFASHIONTV

Treating TV requests with caution

Another way LatexFashionTV footage gets used from time to time is as content for mainstream TV programmes.

Anyone who’s worked in fetish media for a while tends to be instinctively cautious about requests from television, owing to the medium’s reputation for mocking fetish people and interests. So I’m glad to hear that Cole is very careful about what he agrees to.

“My licensing footage to TV has always been at the request of the people the show is featuring, so totally with their blessing,” he assures me. “Each time, I’ve been paid the princely sum of £1.

“I feel protective of the fetish scene and want it respected in the same way I would treat it. It’s my extended family.

“There’s always going to be a temptation on TV to make it more salacious to grab viewers.

“However, many documentaries I’ve seen this year, following cam girls and sex workers and such, have been pretty respectful. So maybe we’ve turned a corner.”

I’ve seen evidence of this too, even on Channel 5. I suspect vocal campaigning over media treatment of LGBT+ issues might have had some taming effect on those historically more salacious instincts.

“In general I’m wary of production companies looking to make a quick buck from the shock factor. Once you sign a release they can turn it into anything,” he warns.

“I’ve also turned down plenty of requests. Including some from big newspapers who wanted to license footage for articles. As soon as I ask about the intended tone of the piece they tend to go quiet.”

Yup, I recognise that scenario too. But don’t worry: Cole Black has got your back.

Collaborators who helped build brand

I ask Cole if he’d like to to namecheck some of the scene folk whose collaborations he considers significant in the development of LFTV so far.

Unsurprisingly, he starts with the aforementioned Rebecca of Yummy Gummy.

“Rebecca has always been super supportive and eager to throw on a catsuit and present a video even as her own fame grew. She’s the best.

“Filming with Ulorin Vex, Emily Marilyn and Ancilla Tilia. The late January Seraph, who I fanboyed-out meeting, and spent a wonderful time working with.

“My collaborations with Kataxenna Kova and Dutch Dame were both highlights for me too.

“Designer Ph Urc has been a great friend and made my latex jacket with working pockets, always handy for filming in clubs. Helen from Amentium is amazing.

“More recently, Psycatt, who I have great adventures with, and Zoe Page, who you’ll be seeing more of soon. Everyone I’m forgetting, I’ll be kicking myself for not mentioning.”

Thanks to Cole’s generosity, one of LatexFashionTV’s most recent collaborations actually makes its exclusive debut in this very article, before going live on general release in a couple of weeks’ time.

It is a report on the Parisian latex scene. Yes, I know. I can already hear some of you asking: what Parisian latex scene?

“Answering that very question is why we made it,” says Cole Black. “I teamed up with Lady Bellatrix, who is known for her love of rubber and resides in Paris.

“We toured some amazing fetish shops, spoke to a well-known French designer at her showroom and visited a weekly fetish party that held a rubber themed event in our honour.”

Exclusive peek inside Paris latex scene

This Paris showcase (at top of this page) features stores Boutique Demonia and Métamorph’Ose (which houses DeMask Paris in its basement), designer Mademoiselle Ilo and long-running weekly fetish ‘n’ food club Les Gouters du Divin Marquis (Tasters of the Divine Marquis).

Zooming out from this tight focus on latex in Paris, it seems reasonable to suppose that the man behind LatexFashionTV would have some views on the general state of latex fashion, doesn’t it?

For example, does he feel that the mainstream media coverage of celebs in latex has benefited the ‘regular’ latex scene — and indeed LFTV?

“I think anything you have to lube up to get into is always going to be a speciality outfit,” he says. “That said, I love that it’s becoming widely accepted and seen more in the high street and celebrity culture.

“I know some in the community feel it takes something away from their fetish. But for me it’s the more, the merrier. If more people discover latex it makes the world a shinier place.”

Fetishistas fans may remember that back in the early days of the UK’s coronavirus pandemic restrictions, Cole Black was featured in our interview series Fetish Performers in Lockdown.

At that time (April) the LatexFashionTV supremo was none too optimistic about things getting better this year. Several months further down the line, how does he feel about everything now?