FETISH FASHION IN LOCKDOWN: Kelly Kilmore in Figure of A harness (photo: Leon Sokoletski)
Fetish fashion in lockdown/3: how designer brands are coping
This final quartet of designer interviews for our Fetish Fashion in Lockdown series features high-end latex fashion label Pandora Deluxe, shibari-inspired accessory brand Figure of A, latex couture designer and author Catasta Charisma, and corsetry label Hebi Corsets, whose Anglo-Italian roots provide some telling comparisons between the situations in the UK and Italy. As with Parts 1 and 2 of this series, all the brand owners talk frankly about the impact of the Covid crisis, their coping strategies, and their hopes and fears for the future. Banner image by Anouk Dyonne features Dani Divine wearing Pandora Deluxe Valentine lingerie
FETISH FASHION IN LOCKDOWN: FINAL 4 INTERVIEWS
PANDORA DELUXE designer Magdalena (left) with pal Klaudia at KitKat in 2019 (photo: Tony Mitchell)
FETISH FASHION IN LOCKDOWN:
PANDORA DELUXE London
High-end latex fashion design and manufacture
Designer Magdalena has been running Pandora Deluxe fulltime for almost a decade now, since relinquishing her studies for a cosmology PhD. Her latex fetish fashion brand specialises in innovative, high-end designs and is in great demand for the latex lace garments she makes from patterns using own-design geometric algorithms executed on her studio laser cutter
Q&A with owner Magdalena
Effect on my work: Business has changed very little, in fact. My UK and international orders are at the level I would expect them to be at for this time of the year. This surprised me a bit, at first.
I figure that even if purse strings are somewhat tighter for some of our customers, they are also unable to spend their disposable income on clubs and travelling to events as much as they normally would. So many of them take this opportunity to treat themselves or their partners by updating their wardrobes in preparation for when we can all get together with our friends again!
We’ve not really had any problems with suppliers — delivery times for sheet latex can be a bit longer right now, but nothing you cannot plan around.
Our premises share a building with two other great latex brands, so to keep going, we had to make sure we heeded social distancing advice, and we also put in place a very frequent cleaning and disinfection rota for shared areas.
We introduced home working for part of our production so only one person is in our studio at any given time. It took a bit of adjusting to, but is working smoothly now.
PSYCATT in Pandora Deluxe Sonya lingerie set and Luna O-ring belt. Photo: Blurred Edge
Effect of event cancellations: This is of course very frustrating for us. We were booked for a number of fashion shows across Europe this spring and summer, with travel arrangements already made. And we had also been looking forward to meeting our customers in person at our German Fetish Fair stand during GFB Weekend in Berlin.
We love attending events not only because we enjoy showing our new designs to existing and potential fans up close, but also because it’s really fun to meet your customers in person.
And of course we enjoy the club nights and parties too — our scene has the most vibrant, creative and sexy celebrations in the world, and going without them for the duration of the lockdown is quite hard!
Effect on life beyond fetish: It has made me appreciate things I used to take for granted, like always having easy access to shops and supermarket supplies. Beyond this, I am of course missing my friends and generally being able to go outside or travel without restrictions. But overall, I have settled into the new reality OK, I think.
I’ve been interacting with people online more, including way more video chats! Apart from that, my fur-babies keep me happy and grounded.
Crisis-inspired projects/opportunities: You are asking about nurses’ uniforms and other medical designs, aren’t you? We haven’t really ventured into this area (yet), and we’re in the middle of finalising an exciting new collection, so we are moving ahead full steam with that!
One thing I would say is that I have taken this as an opportunity to work from home sometimes, and focus more on new, fresh designs — so I guess you could say Covid has focused my creativity to a certain degree.
Financial support from government/ elsewhere: Not necessary: fortunately Pandora Deluxe is in a good place as a business right now.
One thing to make life better: Sunny weather and a steady supply of quality bourbon!
The outlook for me: It’s hard to say. If the lockdown, rising unemployment and furloughing etc continue for a long period of time, we fully expect this to affect our business eventually. So we are hoping that the gradual loosening of restrictions that we see now across Europe will be successful, and will be repeated in the UK eventually.
In the shorter term, I hope I can work in the same room with my team again sometime soon as I really miss that, and that I can have customers visiting again in the near future. Longer term, I cannot wait to be able to take Pandora Deluxe on the road again to club nights and fairs, and meet all of our friends again.
Hopes and fears for our fetish community: I worry about our friends all across the globe who put together the unique club nights and events at the heart of our scene. The lockdown and travel restrictions have been hardest on them, and a lot of them are struggling.
I hope they all make it through this as unscathed as possible under the circumstances, and carry on putting on their celebrations of all things fetish after this all blows over.
Hopes and fears for society and humanity: At this point we don’t know how long and deep an economic crisis this might cause; a lot of it depends on the pace the lockdown can be safely be lifted at, and how long it takes to develop a vaccine.
I hope this will be a comparatively short, if painful, recession, but we will see. On the plus side, we have seen that many of us can commute less, work from home more, and spend more quality time with their nearest and dearest while easing up on the environment.
So that could be a positive take-away from all this that might be here to stay!
Pandoradeluxe.com
etsy.com/pandora_deluxe
instagram.com/pandoradeluxe
ANNA KII IN THE UK: Figure of A designer Anna wearing her Gote harness (photo: Yo Yoshi)
FETISH FASHION IN LOCKDOWN:
FIGURE OF A London
Wearable shibari accessories
After practising rope bondage for four years, rope artist and fashion designer Anna got the idea of tying together her two passions by creating wearable shibari. Figure of A translates traditional body-binding rope patterns to clothes and accessories in which rope has both functional and decorative purpose. Anna also does Shibari performances and installations at various fetish and non-fetish events
Q&A with owner Anna Kii
Effect on my work: The first weeks of the lockdown were absolutely dead and I shut my studio and stayed at home. No sales online due to absolute panic and desperation everywhere. And every order from suppliers took triple the time to arrive — it is very hard to get hold of people.
My studio is part of a large business centre where I have access without having any human contact, and the centre has been open throughout the lockdown. I have three part time freelance assistants and they all have to stay at home, for their own safety!
Effect of event cancellations: 2020 was the year when I planned to grow my business, upscale production and do as many international fairs as possible. I already booked up and paid the fees for two trade fairs in the UK and one in Germany, plus hotel and travel, and so many more would have been lined up.
So far they have all been cancelled or rescheduled till next year. No refunds are given out, so we have to sit tight and wait for updates.
Effect on life beyond fetish: Personally, I must say I don’t mind the lockdown. I am an introvert anyway and enjoy some ‘me time’. There is always something to do! Like reading, watching classic movies, and organising my bookshelves and my kink drawers.
I have been active with keeping in touch with my family and friends via video calling. My
SHIBARI suspension by Figure of A’s Anna Kii (model: Stefanie Nieuw; photo: Nick Delaney)
family lives in Germany so it is needed to stay ‘close’. Otherwise I have followed the advice to stay at home.
Repurposing skills to replace lost income: After two weeks of not working I started seeing lots of masks being made, so I started sampling my own design, taking an inspiration from shibari bondage, of course!
Figure of A’s new (non-medical) cotton mask
It turned out pretty sleek and very comfy, so I put it up in my online shop and have had a few sales already! Part of the profits go to NHS charities.
Crisis-inspired projects/opportunities:
See above!
Financial support from government/ elsewhere: I have looked into it, but unfortunately I don’t fit in any categories so it looks like I am not getting any funds. I was already told by my accountant that a micro business like mine has very little chance. I am trying to save money by hibernating and spending way less than normal in my day-to-day studio needs. But the rent is still due in full — I got no reductions there!
One thing to make life better: A rent reduction for my studio would have helped me out a lot.
The outlook for me: I do need my assistants back soon, as there is a limited amount I can produce on my own and I need helping hands. I have my own large enough studio space, so it is totally do-able for two of us to be in the room. But getting to and from the studio on public transport is an issue — how to keep distance there?
Hopes and fears for our fetish community: There will be lot less kink events, and since my accessories are made for these events, I fear a decline in sales. However there are ways to adjust, for example making more products that can be used at home, and creating more educational content — on shibari in my case. Or maybe my masks will get super popular?
Hopes and fears for society and humanity: There will be a general decline in the economy but I am positive that we will recover soon. I fear that people will be socially awkward and seclude themselves more, even when the lockdown is lifted.
figureofa.com
figureofa.com/collections/masks
instagram.com/figureofa
CATASTA CHARISMA: latex manual author, couture costume creator and fabric retailer/haberdasher
FETISH FASHION IN LOCKDOWN:
CATASTA CHARISMA Ollerton
Technical writer and
latex couture designer
Nottinghamshire-based Catasta is as famous for his ‘wearable latex art’ one-offs (including high-profile collaborations with ExxEss Latex) as for the massive technical guides and manuals he produces to enable others to replicate his skills. Outside fetish, he runs a fabric retail business
Q&A with owner Cristina
Effect on my work: Any creative, any artisan, at the end of the day will generally work alone, so the impact of social distancing on me has been minimal. One could say I even live for it and have appreciated the greater peace and quite. I’m getting more work done but I use the term work in its original sense: not as the labour we do to earn a wage but rather the wisest way we can spend our time.
There has been an actual increase in sales from all around the world of the technical manuals I write about working with latex and drafting of patterns , as well as a greater volume of correspondence with home crafters seeking clarity in what they are making.
As my own work in this area is all digital, everything from design to writing can be done at home. However, my own workshop, where I make up my own designs, is restricted not only for visitors but also for me, despite being situated in our garden.
I share my home with my partner and my dad who is in his ’70s. My partner is an essential key worker and is in substantial contact with the public. So she is limiting her contact with everybody at home by living in the workshop.
Effect of event cancellations: This isn’t too bad for me as I had already decided a year ago to concentrate less on producing designs and garments for shows over the next few years, so I could concentrate on my writing.
Effect on life beyond fetish: The greatest stresses come from my partner’s work where not enough is being done to provide adequate safety.
She has possibly already had Covid-19, and had to go into self-isolation under NHS recommendations. So, trying to live safely with that has been difficult; being supportive without being able to be close has been hard too.
SHIMMER QUEEN: A fine example of Catasta Charisma’s supreme latex costume-making skills
In all likelihood my dad has also had it. Just before lockdown he had to be rushed to hospital with shortness of breath and lack of oxygen that developed into pneumonia.
There is considerable misinformation, agenda propaganda and conflicting information that has left us all in states of limbo and anxiety as to what is actually going on.
To stay sane and cheerful I’ve been doing a great deal of home improvement, getting around to all those jobs one puts off. The garden has never looked so immaculate and we now have so many vegetables growing!
My partner has even set up a business selling vegetable plugs, and we have also been making masks for people.
Repurposing skills to replace lost income: I have had to put off certain plans for my writing which required access to my workshop. I was going to make a series of video demonstrations of pattern-making and garment construction to go inside a rewrite of the Compendium of Rubber Garment Making.
Crisis-inspired projects/opportunities: In writing about the history of rubber and fetishism in general I have noticed patterns in how preferences and practices change according to changes in circumstances, economic pressures, war, political stability, conservative and liberal idealism, increases in STDs, introduction of new technologies and materials etc.
SM/fetishistic practices diminish or become more clandestine, or move to places where more alternative lifestyle practices are not so repressed.
MEISTERWERK: The cover of Catasta Charisma’s 530pp PDF manual Working With Latex (£45)
So it’s interesting to watch the current situation the fetish community finds itself in, to see how it might actually affect us specifically.
Financial support from government/ elsewhere: Before lockdown my time was split 50/50 between the work I do for the fetish community — writing, designing, making, and modelling — and my other business in a rented retail space where I sell fabrics and haberdashery for dressmaking, home furnishing and crafting, and hold classes.
Those premises have been closed for over two months now. The landlord has agreed not to charge rent and other general overheads during this time but the drop in sales has caused a shortfall in my personal wages.
So I’ve had to sign on temporarily for Universal Credit, but hopefully the increase in sales of my writing will mean I don’t have to take full advantage of this.
I have always lived on a small budget, and my partner is an essential worker, so is still being paid a wage. I consider myself very fortunate compared to so many other businesses and families who are really suffering.
One thing to make life better: Beyond a complete change to our current political/ economic system, and thorough research into exactly what Covid-19 is and how it truly spreads? Recognising that the internet is a vital part of the infrastructure for our current way of life and should be free to everybody, particularly in a time of social distancing.
The outlook for me: Currently I am comfortable with the slight increase in sales from my manuals, helping folk with their projects and spending my extra time working on projects that I might have otherwise felt more pressured to complete or drop.
How this will pan out into the future is anyone’s guess, depending on how long the lockdown continues. Purely selfishly I am loving it. I think many of us may be secretly dreading returning back to the hectic jobs, the pursuit of money and the paying of bills.
Hopes and fears for our fetish community: My biggest hope for the fetish community is that this crisis will provide fresh opportunities. People will see new possibilities in how certain sectors can exploit the virus, how they can adapt to new social behaviours and how the result will be totally new types of fetishes.
I don’t actually have any fears for it at all. While in the short term there will be losses, particularly in the commercial sectors, this will soon bounce back. The fetish community should not lament what it might lose but be excited at what it might gain. The future is of our own making.
Hopes and fears for society and humanity: My hope for humanity is that we learn from this. We open our eyes and realise that this entire mess has been one of our own making, but collectively we can come together to create a better world in which we can live in harmony with nature.
My fear is that we will quickly fall back on our short term survival and annihilate our species. Again, the decisions we make today will determine the future we have tomorrow.
catastacharisma.weebly.com
facebook.com/catastasecrets
facebook.com/catastacreation
NIGHT ATTIRE: Nandi in Hebi Corsets’ Nocturne bodysuit at LBB (model: @nandipettite; photo: TM)
FETISH FASHION IN LOCKDOWN:
HEBI CORSETS Genoa/London
Corsetry design & manufacture
Launched in London, Hebi relocated to Italy a while ago, but designer Cristina regards the UK as her primary market and returns frequently, especially to sell at London’s Le Boutique Bazaar. Outside corsetry, she is a professional tailor, working for a master tailor on bespoke men’s suits. She also recently started in a part-time front office position at a medical device company
Q&A with owner Cristina
Effect on my work: Unfortunately, the crisis is hitting hard; people are being much more cautious with their purchases now, not knowing what’s coming, and luxury items are the first things to be cut off.
Luckily, all my suppliers are still operating more or less regularly, and I stitch from home, so we’re open as usual!
Effect of event cancellations: I started showing at fetish markets while living in London a few years ago, and I fly back for Le Boutique Bazaar as often as I can. I always have a great time at fetish fairs, and it’s where I get most of my orders and make most of my creative network connections. A full season without them is going to be very hard.
Effect on life beyond fetish: I will be very honest, it sucks. Here in Italy everybody is scared, and the amount of people facing extreme poverty because of the emergency measures is heartbreaking.
My part-time job is considered ‘essential’, and it’s almost a luxury because I don’t risk unemployment, but it requires commuting daily from home to work, on public transport, while the risk of infection in my region is still very high.
Also this crisis froze my life: we sold our family home in December and because of the lockdown we could not look for a new place for months. But I am lucky enough to have a lot of supportive friends — we’re all trying our best to be there for each other, more than ever.
BELOW: Giulia Biletta models Hebi Ultimate End corset (photo: Yelyzaveta Semenova)
HEBI CORSETS’ Cristina (photo: Alessia Marino)
As the tailoring workload diminished, I started practising digital painting again. Being able to dedicate myself to a hobby in such a hard time is a privilege, and I am well aware and grateful for how lucky I am.
Repurposing skills to replace lost income: That hasn’t been possible, so I cannot be thankful enough to whatevergod, fate etc, for being offered that part-time job in January, otherwise I would have been screwed.
Crisis-inspired projects/opportunities: I may start making underwear as well, as justifying the purchase of such a particular garment as a corset right now might be very difficult, but maybe lingerie sets would feel like a more reasonable self-indulgence.
Financial support from government/elsewhere: My part time job gives me enough stability, so I didn’t apply for any financial support.
One thing to make life better: Finding a house right now would help a lot!
The outlook for me: I am currently ‘operating on auto-pilot’ without thinking much about the future. I fear my corsetry business may remain asleep for as long as this crisis lasts, but if the lockdown restrictions are lifted a bit around Europe, I want to create a Hebi Corsets 2021 calendar!
Hopes and fears for society and humanity: My hopes are mainly directed towards what we as a society can learn from this disaster. The Italian healthcare system has been severely damaged by 30 years of funding cuts.
Many other countries share this issue, and I need to believe that this tragedy will show our governments that it can’t go on this way, and that humanity will understand that individualistic approaches to worldwide disasters just make things worse.
hebicorsets.com
facebook.com/hebicorsets
instagram.com/hebicorsets
LINKS TO THE PHOTOGRAPHERS WITH WORK FEATURED ON THIS PAGE
LINKS TO MORE COVID CRISIS-RELATED ARTICLES ON THE FETISHISTAS
Tags: Accessories, Community, Corsetry, Designers, Latex
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