DIY ROPE ART: a self-bondage demo at BoundCon, celebrating 15 years in Munich in May 2018
BOUNDCON XV
MUNICH, MAY 25–28, 2018
Style: Bondage/BDSM convention; bondage fair & shows; some latex; big dresscode fetish party
Inspired by America’s 2003 and ’04 BondCon conventions in Las Vegas, BoundCon is organised by Andreas Vötterl, owner of Munich adult store Erotix.
At BoundCon’s core is its expo space, the Zenith Kulturhalle on Munich’s Lilienthalalee exhibition street, which can house 100 vendors and also accommodates the shows and demos that are another key ingredient of this weekend.
As you might guess from the name, the emphasis is primarily on bondage — performance, workshops and paraphernalia. Among other attractions are custom photo shoot opportunities with some of the attending models and performers, plus a big dresscode party.
Planning of the 2018 programme has only just begun but we can tell you that among the guest performers at BoundCon XV will be legendary rope artist Lew Rubens (who also performed at the very first BoundCon in 2004), and hardcore bondage model Elise Graves, both from the USA.
Even if dressing up in the fetish sense is something of a minority sport at this convention, about 20 percent of the vendors are clothing businesses of one kind or another. Included among them are some German latex labels and even a couple of UK latex brands such as Bondinage.
On the Saturday night of this three-day event, dressing up is a must for the SubRosaDictum party, which takes place at the Kesselhaus venue next door (also now used for SRD’s Avantgardista party).
SubRosaDictum has been collaborating with BoundCon to host its Saturday night parties since the earliest days, and people who know their way around German fetish weekends will tell you this SRD night is one not to be missed.
Official event hotel is the 4-star Feringapark, located 5km from the venue, which offers discounts on its room rates for bookings by phone, e-mail or fax using the code ‘BoundCon’.
Note that you cannot book the Feringapark for the BoundCon dates through online reservation services, since BoundCon block-books the whole hotel and you’ll just get a ‘sold out’ notice.
(PS: BoundCon also recently launched a smaller scale, early-November event called BoundCon Meets FeringaPark, in the convention space of its partner hotel. Don’t confuse this with the main event in May!)
Top tip: old favourite of folk who favour tying-up more than dressing-up, now with some new competition.
AVANTGARDISTA WEEKEND
MUNICH, OCTOBER 19–21, 2018
Style: fetish fashion showcase; high production values; latex aplenty; big dresscode fetish party
LATEX TIME: Chronomatic owner Carina on her stand at Avantgardista’s 2017 debut in Munich
The first of our two brand new German fetish weekends, Avantgardista has moved forward to late October for its second edition in 2018.
The date change means it will no longer clash directly with Dominatrix in Amsterdam, or take place just a week before Passion in Hamburg.
Avantgardista has been launched by SubRosaDictum as a new kind of fetish event aimed in part at the Munich region’s fetish-curious vanillas. SRD reckons the time is right for this market to have a close-up introduction to high-end latex fashion and the like.
Its debut at Munich’s Kohlebunker venue this November was an impressive introduction to the Avantgardista concept.
The Kohlebunker became a ‘showroom’ where participating designers were encouraged to display a few choice items in a spacious, brightly-lit setting — more in the style of artworks at a gallery than stock at a traditional fetish fair.
In the centre of the showroom was a catwalk on which some 14 shows presented the work of 16 designers over the course of two hours (with an interval).
The staging was professional and very telegenic, mirroring the way mainstream brands are showcased at major cities’ Fashion Week events.
The minimal entrace fee (€5) ensured the Kohlebunker was packed by showtime, while SubRosaDictum’s later Space Intruders fetish dresscode party in the adjoining Kesselhaus venue was also packed — this time by people paying €58 a head.
Industry participants in November’s weekend have suggested some organisational tweaks which, if implemented, should make the 2018 event even more attractive to domestic and international designers and models who might like to be involved.
But the public-facing side of Avantgardista’s debut was hard to fault, and it looks set to become a strong addition to established German fetish weekends.
Top tip: stay at partner hotel Leonardo Royal to be in good kinky company and not too far from the event
PASSION
HAMBURG, NOVEMBER 16–18, 2018
Style: self-contained BDSM fair; some fetish/ latex fashion; shows & demos; onsite play party
LASER-SHARP: Amentium latex fashion show at Passion’s Hamburg launch (photo: Busha Bailey)
Passion, the second of two new German fetish weekends to have arrived in November 2017, has broadly taken the BoundCon concept (itself inspired by early noughties BondCon conventions in Las Vegas) and transplanted it from Munich to Hamburg in northern Germany.
And while Hamburg may not match the cultural appeal of Berlin, it is closer than Munich for vast swathes of German pervs, not to mention people from the UK, the Benelux countries and Scandinavia.
The fact that Passion was able to launch with 100 exhibitors shows just how much commercial activity there is in Germany’s domestic perv scene.
It also shows how smart promoters Michael von Enzberg and partner Anne were to recognise the interest these businesses would be likely to have in a pre-Christmas market located somewhere with a large BDSM scene.
Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of vendors at Passion’s debut — more than 80 — were German firms, while out of the total of 100 exhibitors, only around a dozen were recognisable clothing brands.
Given that BDSM fairs in general tend to attract a lot of people who are not looking for expensive fetish outfits, we did wonder whether Passion would be the right kind of sales environment for high-end latex fashion.
And indeed we know of at least one such vendor who didn’t sell a thing during the fair. But interestingly its flyers, handed out during the event, subsequently generated enough online orders to more than cover the firm’s participation costs.
Conversely, we know of an exhibitor offering high-end leather equipment who found that potential customers balked at his prices because they didn’t match those of the cheaper quality items they’d seen on other vendors’ stands.
So preconceptions about what will and won’t work at an event like this should be entertained with great care!
The venue for Passion — MesseHalle Hamburg-Schnelsen, on the north-west outskirts of the city — is the same one used for the German Fetish Fair in the two years GFB Weekend relocated to Hamburg.
This light, airy, modern exhibition centre provides a more professional atmosphere than some of the rather gloomy spaces fetish fairs often occupy.
Passion also offers partner hotels close to the venue — great for anyone attending from out of town who needs to be nearer the venue than the city centre. But this does make a night out on the town pricey when you add in the cost of two expensive cab rides!
Top tip: It’s worth visiting adult superstore Boutique Bizarre and BDSM club Catonium while in town.
GERMAN FETISH WEEKENDS IN 2018
Avantgardista
BoundCon XV
Fetish Evolution XV
German Fetish Ball Weekend XV
Passion
BANNER CREDITS
House of Harlot
Triz Täss
Vipers Doll
OTHER PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEO
Busha Bailey
Latex Fashion TV
BELOW: Check out this video of the Amentium fashion show at Passion, courtesy of LatexFashionTV!
Tags: BDSM Products, BDSM Services, Bondage, Designers, Discounts and Sales, Exhibitions, Fashion Shows, Fetish Fairs, Fetish Weekends, Play Parties
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