We’ve also witnessed a general stylistic cross-fertilisation in the past decade or so, with latex fashion influencing the use of colour and decorativeness in HR, and HR manifesting on the fashion scene through the adoption of hoods, gasmasks, posture collars, inflatable tit-suits and all manner of other traditionally ‘bizarre’ elements.
‘I have always thought fetish needs to be fashionable too. Women want to look good, be attractive, otherwise they will not be happy to wear latex’
What does The Ultimate Heavy Rubber Book’s author think about this phenomenon, and to what extent does he think his own work has contributed to the blurring of lines that we now seen between pure fashion and HR?
“I have always thought that fetish needs to be fashionable, too,” Peter says. Women want to look good, be attractive, otherwise they will not be happy to wear anything latex.
“When I started out, fetish clothes were badly made and looked ugly. Women felt that way, and refused to wear them. The photos were bad, the models didn’t look good. I have tried to improve on all of that. Coming from graphic design, I wanted things to be stylish and good looking.
“The cross-influence of fetish fashion and heavy rubber have made both more interesting and wearable. Nowadays, women are not afraid of wearing heavy stuff, masks etc, because they look fantastic. Just wait till you see Psylocke in our next issue!”
Because its 256 pages are arranged in more or less the chronological order of the original photo shoots, The Ultimate Heavy Rubber Book provides a useful guide to the evolution of the genre.
The book is a great showcase for the fertile imaginations of numerous producers (though sadly they’re not credited) as well as for Czernich, who has styled their creations on a seemingly endless procession of often larger-than-life fetish models.
As with his last photo book, he has endeavoured to include as many models as possible out of the 300-plus who have collaborated on this side of his work. The 65 or so he has managed to squeeze in — from vintage-period Dita Von Teese to current hottie Psylocke — should bring plenty of pleasure to the genre’s fans.
So what have Peter’s stylistic influences been? I tell him that for me, one significant early contact point with the genre was the 8mm film Under Three Layers (Sealed In Latex) made by AtomAge’s John Sutcliffe and shown at the opening night of the original Skin Two Club in London in January 1983.
Another was the Gummi Klinik imagery I encountered by chance while on an early-’80s visit to Hamburg — although it was only later that I found out who had created it, since photographer credits in underground fetish publications were rarer than hen’s teeth at that time.
So I’m pleased to discover that he and I share quite a few influences.
“I have often admitted that Hammar/Natalia have influenced me a lot, especially when it comes to clear latex,” says Peter. “At the time (late ’80s) what they did was absolutely unparalleled.
“AtomAge and TantaFash from England were also important sources of inspiration. Other important ‘roots’ have been the German fetish artist Tom, and classic fetish artists like John Willie (Bizarre magazine) and Eric Stanton (Bound In Latex).
‘I have often admitted that Jo Hammar and Natalia have influenced me a lot. In the late ’80s, what they did was absolutely unparalleled’
“Other than that, I have tried to create my own fetish fantasy worlds, like the Rubber Monastery, Fetish Academy and White Room, which I would think have now become classics themselves.”
I propose to Mr Czernich that Germany, his home country, is generally accepted as the ‘natural home’ of
The Ultimate Heavy Rubber book is available now from the Marquis online shop, price €49.95
the clinical rubber fetishishism that’s a big component of Heavy Rubber culture. So, I wonder, does he have any thoughts on why that might be?
“I don’t think it has to do with any genetic defects we Germans may have,” he says (with a smile, I hope!), “but with our methodical and thorough approach. We seem to go further and be more serious even about fetishes.
“But in the UK,” he points out, “you have Rubber Eva with her Rubber Clinic. Their stuff is extremely bizarre and ‘heavy’.”
Indeed we do, and indeed it is. We also have, in London, what is probably the world’s highest-profile rubber-only fetish club in the form of Rubber Cult — an event that provides regular real-life evidence of the crossover between latex fashion aesthetics and bizarre fetish style.
And we also have labels like last month’s Fetishistas cover star Lacing Lilith, regarded as one of London’s coolest latex fashion brands, yet run by a designer (Paul Miller) who readily admits that heavy rubber is his first love.
So I suppose the UK isn’t fairing too badly in the HR stakes, even if we don’t always approach it from the same angle as our German chums.
Finally, a slightly awkward question that I feel obliged to ask Mr Czernich. A proportion of the imagery in his new heavy rubber book is considerably more explicit than is found in the standard latex fashion/glamour genre — to the extent that some people might describe it as fetish porn.
Does that bother him, and how would he react to someone calling him a pornographer?
“I refuse to be called a porn photographer,” he says emphatically. “I think there is still a difference between an outfit that features a rubber vagina or latex nipples, and full-frontal sexual imagery from a gynaecologist’s perspective.
“I hardly ever show intercourse, or spanking or bondage scenes involving more than one protagonist. I think of what I do as ‘bizarre art’. I always try to show even the most bizarre outfit or situation in an artistic photographic way.
“Of course, we must never forget that what we do is all about sex — magazines like Marquis and Heavy Rubber are not ‘lifestyle’ or ‘alternative culture’ magazines, but centre on special and unusual erotic fantasies.
“We claim, however, that there is nothing to be ashamed of about them. Fetishists should feel privileged to have more diverse erotic options than normals.”
Privileged or not, fetishists who want to discover just how diverse their erotic options are could save a lot of time by acquiring a copy of The Ultimate Heavy Rubber Book.
‘We must never forget that what we do is all about sex. Marquis and Heavy Rubber are not lifestyle or alternative culture magazines’
Sunday, 5 October 2014
Tags: Clothing, Latex, Models
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