Syren/Stockroom Gear Fetish Fashion Show

Kicking things off was the new VIP Meat and Greet and Gear Show. The event took over the industrial space next to Syren/Stockroom, who were Platinum sponsors for the rubber weekend. The weekend VIPs nibbled on noshies, enjoyed an open bar and perused kinky artwork from Antebellum Gallery and graphic artist Axel.

The centerpiece of the evening was the Gear Show, presented by Syren/Stockroom. Over 10 sexy models were engaged to present the gear. The theme for round 1 was all about play and included wrestlers, bunnies, straightjackets and pony with handler.

Round 2 dove deep in to uniforms with all of the models clad in various types of rubber uniforms. They stormed the stage and event space with a trooper mentality and moments later surrounded a mysterious neoprene-encased object that they hoisted to the main stage. When the reveal came, the new Mr West Coast Rubber for 2010 performed his own titleholder chrysalis and emerged to the cheering throng.

Mr WCR 2010 is RJ Dalgleish from Vancouver BC who will represent WCR throughout his year and will go on to compete at Mr International Rubber in Chicago in November 2010. First runner up was Chris McFaul, Eagle LA Mr Rubber 2009.

The gear fun continued the next day with a Slime Pit at the Eagle LA. A slime pit, for the uninitiated, is a giant rubber tarp laid over foam pads. Apply a judicial amount of Gun Oil silicone lube plus some water and you have instant slipperiness perfect for some sexy wrestling. One warning though….it will wear your butt out!

After a clean up and some dinner it was time to head off to the Gear Up dungeon party sponsored by M-S-Leathers and Square Peg Dildos. The event, held in a private dungeon space, is the kinky play heart of the weekend. The main room of the dungeon is converted to a dark and sexy bar space with videos and demos featuring Mr-S-Leather and Square Peg products. Hot! The back area was all about dark room action and the boyz kept the place rocking all night.

Sunday was spent chilling under a hot sun at the Rubber Perv Pool Party at a private estate high in the hills overlooking LA. Things got pretty frisky and everyone left happy and full of BBQ burgers and dogs…or some kind of dogs anyway. Later that night the crew met up for the Full Rubber dinner at Casita del Campo restaurant in Silver Lake.

Monday was wrap up day with a nice low key beer bust at the Bullet Bar in North Hollywood and a few goodbyes to the unlucky ones who had to travel for work on Monday.

2010 was another successful West Coast Rubber! Next up is the Winter Warm Up in February 2011 in Palm Springs. Keep checking www.westcoastrubber.com for updates to the event schedule plus some exciting changes to the WCR event format in 2011!

(excerpts of this entry attributed to L8xdad, co-owner of West Coast Rubber as written on www.leatherati.com site)

Here is a quick Q&A:

Q. Is your shop included in the sale?
A. Our shop is owned by us and can be included in the sale or sold separately.

Q. What’s included in the sale?
A. Everything! Cocoon will be sold as a profitable going concern, everything we use in our normal day to day business is included you could even get us to show you how to run Cocoon for the first 3 months.
You get all our patterns, website, established over 10 years, customer database, specialist knowledge in gluing latex, latex moulding plant complete with tanks, oven, moulds and formers + the dipping formula. Stock as valued. Plus our goodwill and great reputation.

Q. Do you have staff?
A. Yes but if you want to move location that’s not a problem, our staff will be our problem.

Q. I’m not from the UK, but I’m still interested.
A. You don’t have to be from the UK to buy Cocoon, if you have access to somewhere to manufacture you can run Cocoon from anywhere in the world.

Persons genuinely interested in discussing the possibilities of ownership should contact Cocoon directly.

Steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne.

Vex Clothing has been on the scene for several years by now, and has made quite a name with their custom designs worn by everyone like KumiMonster, RubberDoll, Emily Marilyn, Masumi Max and our own 3XL. The lines are a creative mix of fetish and fashion, using uncommon to fetish color combinations and techniques. They’ve recently moved into larger quarters. Visitors to Chicago can now find Laura and company (by appointment only!) at 6053 W. Montrose Ave. Chicago, IL 60634.

If you haven’t already signed up for Vex’s newsletter, now’s the time to do it so you won’t miss the official launch of their new menswear line, which promises to be a very exciting for fetish guys.

Betty La Bamba is a talented designer working out of New York City. For several years now she’s had an eBay store where you can purchase her well made latex separates and accessories. You can also buy Betty La Bamba latex at her spiffy new Etsy store.

Be sure and check out Betty’s latex, fetish and fashion blog too, where you’ll find scans of older fetish/BDSM magazines and lots of other shiny stuff of interest.

Lots of great things are coming Renee Masoomian’s way since we last visited her. Renee was recently nominated for best newcomer at the 2008 European Fetish Awards, and she’ll be presenting a selection of her designs at Torture Garden’s Skin Two Night in September.

There are two ranges–Baby Love’s Latex, a vintage-inspired pin-up line, and Soliloquy, her higher end range of custom made pieces. The custom made line really impressed me! Here Jade Vixen is wearing a transparent pink latex suit with ruffles.

You may remember Maggie Delena Designs from an earlier post. Recently I checked out their eBay store, where there were several lovely womens pieces. It also looks like a menswear line is to be launched in the very near future!

So, there you have it: 4 great labels destined to dispel that tired old notion that nothing exciting comes out of America anymore.

Until next week!

Brighton photographer and filmmaker Mark Bennet of Alchemical Shadows has posted an exciting video he filmed of HW Design‘s catwalk show at Torture Garden‘s 2008 birthday blowout.

The video which features a stunning array of printed transparent leopard print corsets, coats, capes, catsuits, hoods and more on an all-star fetish model cast may help console those of us who were not lucky enough to be at the actual event.

Take a look at more fetish fashion videos on Mark’s YouTube channel here.

Today we’ll introduce you to three relative newcomers: Trés Bonjour Luxury Couture Latex from Berlin, HMS Latex of Paris, and Lickorish Latex from the UK.

Trés Bonjour Couture Latex is the young designer Viola Jaeger of Berlin’s ultra feminine new line. Her black and white creations are reminiscent of Absolute Danny’s sophisticated separates and Atsuko Kudo’s feminine classics. The site is one of the prettiest latex clothing sites I’ve encountered, with its lovely lace details and pink ribbon touches. It’s also highly functional, which is not always the case with latex clothes sites!

Standouts for me included her feminine bodies and pencil skirt variations. I also appreciate the use of elegant non-fetish shoes to showcase her timeless styles, and the obvious care that’s gone into creating durable and well made fashion.

It seems like the handcraft site, Etsy.com has become a preferred venue for start-up latex designers now that eBay has upped their selling costs and implemented rather puritanical listing policies. I like Etsy, it just looks more polished and it feels much more like the nice shopping experience we all like to have online.

There are 2 designers on Etsy to check out, especially for their clever accessories and fair prices, for those times when you don’t have an unlimited budget or room on the Visa card. The first, Lickorish Latex, is a line designed by a nice English couple up north in Huddersfield, which focuses primarily on exquisite accessories.

Often old latex separates just need a couple of standout accessories to give new life to old favorites. Why not add some bow hair clips and a pair of corset suspenders/braces? At these prices, you’ll have money left over for a couple of long stemmed roses for your sweetheart! What has also impressed me about Lickorish Latex is their classy packaging and very attentive customer service. (Note to retail boutiques: they do wholesale!)

HMS Latex, also on Etsy was founded in 2006 by Sophie, a young model and makeup artist living in Paris. In just two short years, she’s really come into her own as a talented latex designer.

I especially like her latex Delicacy Mittens, which have an enormous amount of detail for such a miniscule price ($35!). Her menswear featured in her Etsy store also looks very well made, and keep an eye out for new additions to her line, such as high fashion boleros and stunning dresses which I’ve sneak previewed at her Live Journal.

Look out for more of our fashion updates in the weeks to come!

While visiting this site, I stumbled across a few more sites from Mother Russia that might be of interest to Russian speaking latex fetishists, namely Mask Woman, a site devoted to rubber female masks (the sort often worn by crossdressers and male doll fetishists) and Rubber Droid, a forum devoted to Russian speaking rubberists. So until next time, dasvedanya and keep that latex love coming from the eastern front!

Libidex has been using Radical Rubber now for over a year and they’ve had a great response from customers – but now they’re giving more customers the opportunity to try out some of the new Radical Rubber colors at great prices.

Until 31st May, Libidex is giving a whole 30% off any garments you order in any of the following Radical Rubber colors (or any combination of them): Translucent Smoky Black, Electric Blue, Metallic Green, Sand, Metallic Fuchsia & Claret.

The offer applies to any garments advertised on the Libidex website where you can also see pics of outfits in the new colours. To qualify for the discount just quote: ‘Multi-Colour Sale’ in your order.

Germany Fetish Ball weekend

The program is as colorful as in the previous years with fashion shows by Bondinage, Libidex, Pressure Corsets, Burlesque Couture, Spitz Massdesign, Tatjana Warnecke, Favor and Crazy Outfits, live music from FAQ vs. RubberDoll, a special Torture Garden room with the DJs and performers of the famous London parties and many other show-acts. The Mistress of Ceremonies will be the lovely RubberDoll from Florida

The popular German Fetish Fair will stay in the huge “Arena” and opens its gates on May, 10th & 11th. The German Fetish Ball itself is on Whitsunday, May 11th again at the “Matrix”. Furthermore there is a couples only bdsm PlayNight on Saturday at the “Residenz Avalon” as well as the Revolution at the “Sage Club”. The weekend kicks off as usual with the Kinky Cocktails and Friday’s Finest Fetish at the “Insomnia”.

Official website: www.german-fetish-ball.com

SALO is the title of the first Japaneses latex fetish designer to offer latex catsuits designed and manufactured in japan based on the body shapes of Japanese men and women (Asian body types). I’m sure I speak for all Japanese latex lovers when I say: Domo arigato SALO-san!