SKIN TWO MEMORIES: KRYSTINA KITSIS

Sadly the original Skin Two club was shortlived due to the tabloid exposure of Claridge, whose talents included puppetry and who had become renowned for creating the breakfast television character Roland Rat.

Unfortunately the twin interests of kids’ entertainer and fetish scene operator were deemed incompatible in the public eye. The former was more lucrative so the club had to go. It, however, segued seamlessly into a new club called Maitresse run by another couple but otherwise largely unchanged.

After Tim Woodward launched Skin Two magazine in 1984, he and I partnered up to relaunch Skin Two club events. We started with a ball held at the Embassy Club in Old Bond Street in July 1985, and followed with club nights at Heaven’s Soundshaft annex and then Zeetas in Putney.

Our concept incorporated fashion shows, a live band and entertainment such as ponygirl racing staged by the legendary Master Keith.

It was at this first event at the Embassy that I launched my EctoMorph latex label on the catwalk. The scene had started to expand and change direction, venturing into new definitions and a more openly expressive culture.

One started to see celebrities attend. Prince came to our first event in Old Bond Street. At this time his onstage look reflected the colourful dandyism seen in the Purple Rain movie released the previous year, but his Embassy outfit evoked more his Dirty Mind-era style of tight briefs and dancer’s legwarmers.

The latter was a daring image for the time considering the attitudes of tabloids, which were anti-gay and desperate to ‘out’ people. Not that Prince was gay, but his image was risqué and ahead of its time. He was alone in the club, quietly observing.

PRINCE attended the Skin Two Embassy party in an outfit reminiscent of his Dirty Mind-era look, as in this onstage shot from his 1981 Amsterdam show (photo: Virginia Turbett)

Marc Almond of Soft Cell attended regularly and had also been seen at the original Skin Two nights. I photographed Dexys’ Kevin Rowland, and also Siouxsie of the Banshees. I later designed a black PU dress for her, for the video and song Face To Face, which was composed for the Batman Returns soundtrack but was released after the film because of licensing issues.

Jean Paul Gaultier became a regular attendee who, as well as enjoying the vibe of the club, came in search of inspiration for his catwalk collections.

An unfortunate encounter transpired when the club relocated to the annex of Heaven called Soundshaft. A very engaging Italian guy would come regularly and we got to know him, or so we thought.

Grace Lau took photos of him naked and dressed in his fetish gear outside the Bank Of England, for an exhibition of hers. He had taken a shine to Tim Woodward, who asked me to pretend I was his girlfriend because he was being pestered by this guy.

It transpired not long after that this guy was Michael Lupo, a serial killer of gay men who used sadomasochism to lure and then trap and kill his unsuspecting victims!

It is hard to imagine just how small and underground the beginnings of the fetish scene were 40+ years ago when one is so familiar with the ubiquitous scene that exists today.

Definitions and interpretations of fetish are so vast, much like the gender rules that have been expanded from a dual to a multi-diverse system. There is no putting that genie back in the bottle.

But it is with fondness that I look back on the beginnings of that scene in the narrow definition it then had  — beginnings that led me to where I am today.

PERFORMANCES at Stallions were staged to a soundtrack of Gregorian chants, and typically involved dominas demonstrating their skills with willing collaborators (photo: Krystina Kitsis)