“Certainly in the London scene, there’s hardly anyone working in fetish fashion today who hasn’t had a show at TG,” he reckons.
“They’re always on the lookout for new talent and are very supportive of young and innovative designs. They understand that it’s part of the creativity and economics that keep the scene healthy.
“It was a huge thing for me to do my first show at TG — something I couldn’t have conceived of when I first attended as a clubber 12 years ago!”
Miller is also participating in the new Le Boutique Bazaar pop-up fetish/alternative fashion fair being curated by Charlotte TG in mid-September.
“I’m looking forward to being a part of that,” he says. “It’s something I think London is still missing after the death of the Barbican Xpo.”
But Lacing Lilith’s public appearances are not restricted to London events. Earlier this summer, Paul was invited to Stockholm Fetish Weekend, both as a vendor at the Fetish Fair and to put on a fashion show at Dekadance, where many of Sweden’s highly-regarded fetish models walked for him.
“Stockholm was amazing!” he enthuses. “What a beautiful city. The Swedish scene is like a dream — it’s really youthful, vibrant, confidently perverted and very rubbery. My kind of place! There’s a very real sense of community too, very supportive and friendly.
“With a growing base of Swedish designers and models, it’s a surprise really that there aren’t more events and visitors from overseas. Dekadance was a great club night and the supporting events and Fetish Fair were very well attended.
“It was great to do a trade event again as I haven’t for several years. It’s so important to meet customers and for them to have the opportunity to talk to me and to try the garments on.”
And what does he think of the strong Swedish model presence on the international fetish scene?
“All of the models I’ve worked with from Sweden are such passionate, friendly and hard-working individuals.
“I think it’s great that so many of the top fetish models in the world at the moment are from Sweden. Why wouldn’t you do a show there?! What a coup!”
Does Paul have ambitions to take Lacing Lilith to more European shows? “I’d like to do Berlin next year — either the GFB or Fetish Guerilla,” he says.
“It’s such a great town and I’ve missed the last two now. Dominatrix in Holland is another well-regarded event and it’s tempting to do a show there. I think it’ll have to wait until March now though.”
‘Stockholm was amazing, a beautiful city. The Swedish scene is like a dream – youthful, vibrant, confidently perverted and very rubbery’
Apart from Lacing Lilith’s imminent London appearance at Le Boutique Bizarre on September 13, the label is also lined up for rubber fashion shows at the next Rubber Cult on September 27, Torture Garden (London) on October 3 and TG Edinburgh on October 15.
There will, Paul promises, be some new designs in the upcoming shows and new additions to the website. Also in the pipeline, he hopes, is some video work and some experimentation with “new but complementary” materials. The pipe, he assures me, is busy.
For Miller, 2014 has already been something of a milestone year, with the creation of a 2014 collection and improved website both suggestive of efforts to replace what at times has seemed a rather laidback approach to business with a more organised and professional style befitting the label’s standing in the latex world.
His 2014 collection embraces a variety of looks, ranging from classic Lilith designs like the corset and bolero, through relatively straightforward items such as a lingerie set and biker jacket, to a couple of pieces that represent cool LL twists on the familiar, such as the biker jacket playsuit and a blazer.
Lacing Lilith designer Paul Miller
Explaining the thinking behind this choice of styles, Paul says: “It’s an intention to ‘flesh out’ the range and expand the website to offer customers more choice and to make it a more efficient and exciting business.
“I’ve largely existed on custom work and word of mouth so the aim is to provide a one-stop shop for anyone to easily order some Lacing Lilith.”
Asked how he sees the current rubber fashion scene, the designer confesses amazement at the way it has “just exploded” in the last five years.
“There are so many different designers in London alone! I think it’s great and very diverse. The more people it touches, the bigger it gets.”
At the same time, he observes, “It always pulls in two different directions, towards classic fetish and heavy rubber clothing, or towards fetish clothing as fashion.
“It’s great that you get 20-year-olds at college doing latex collections — not something I think really happened before. It adds diversity and a new angle to things.
“Not sure how many of them are perverts, mind,” he adds with a note of caution. For a lot of them, he thinks, “it’s coming from a different place”.
Where, then, does he see the Lacing Lilith brand fitting into the scene as it is today?
“I’ve always tried to give classic and heavy rubber a unique twist,” he says, “to create sophisticated and edgy latex clothing that still remains true to and appeals to the latex fetishists and rubberists out there.
“My heart is in heavy rubber rather than ‘latex fashion’ and for me LL bridges the gap between these two worlds in a way that I feel is lacking in the scene generally.”
Which brings us (in my mind at least) to the subject of girlfriends. Paul’s partners — such as current belle Missy Macabre, and previously, Am Statik designer Amy Day and Jules of Ghoulia’s Peculiars — seem to make a significant contribution to the Lacing Lilith brand image, as well as being creative forces in their own right.
I tell the designer that it looks to me like having the kind of woman in his life who can be both involved in Lacing Lilith and also independently creative might be quite important to him.
“Haha, yes. I agree, it does seem important doesn’t it?” he responds. “I’ve always been attracted to strong creative women with whom I can share myself. I think I also need the support and encouragement to do what I do.
“I think it’s only natural they would also become involved in some way too, since its such a large part of me. I think I’d struggle without a muse.
“As Jim Carey once said,” he reminds us, “behind every great man is a great woman, rolling her eyes!”
‘I’ve always been attracted to strong creative women with whom I can share myself. I think I also need their support and encouragement’
Sunday, 31 August 2014
QUICK NAMECHECK TIME
Q: Paul, would you like to namecheck any particular projects that you’ve done for film, TV or media clients?
A: My first TV project was for ITV’s Belle de Jour starring Billie Piper. I’d never had a high profile commission before. I designed and made her a latex dress and a leather corset and went for fittings in very nice Hotel room in Soho, as you do! That was my introduction to the often bizarre world of the latex designer.
Q: Tell us about one photographer and model you’ve worked with that you particularly admire. And one ’tog and model you would love to collaborate with on a shoot — if you could pick anyone inside or outside the scene.
A: It’s been superb to work with photographer Belinda Bärtzner recently in Stockholm, and my ongoing collaborations with Psylocke continue to inspire me.
A dream collaboration would be to work with Michael Jackson and Floria Sigismondi. I guess that would be more than a little difficult to do now so I’ll say Kato instead.
FINAL WORD… ON BEING COPIED
Q: Have you noticed that some of your designs have been copied, and what do you think about people doing that?
A: I’m a little naïve when it comes to seeing what everyone else is up to. People have been upset on my behalf before and pointed out examples of ‘borrowing’, but it largely doesn’t bother me. I wouldn’t say I’ve been ripped off — just had an influence on people as others have influenced me.
Which is great. It’s easy to forget as a professional or public entity that you have previously been influenced by or inspired by other people’s work and are therefore subject to the same process.
However I do believe in an unwritten etiquette regarding the application of these influences, and that there should be a line between copying and inspiration. Unfortunately this line is often blurred!
Tags: Clothing, Latex, Models
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