Latex - Fashion vs Fetish

One of the more affordable ways I treat myself is by purchasing high end fashion magazines, like Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. I skip the articles, and rip out the ads to save as references for when I want to paint something that isn’t a penis. Luxury fashion houses have massive advertizing budgets, and their ads reflect this in their beauty and creativity. 

I like to think that I’m the queen of spotting latex clothing in the wild, and by in the wild I mean on celebrities, on the red carpet, in movies, and in music videos, which is why I was so excited to see Beyonce rocking latex in this past month’s issue of British Vogue. I checked to see who she was wearing – one of the many UK or German designers? 

No. 

Beyonce was wearing latex by Yves Saint Laurent. YVES. SAINT. LAURENT. Later, I found out that Saint Laurent’s newest collection features many latex pieces, like bikini tops and leggings. I was overwhelmed with conflicting emotions, so please join me on this journey while I argue with myself. 

First thought: You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. 

Beyonce and Vogue could have purchased a very similar item from a smaller local designer, but they went with a recognizable name and a high price tag. I could make the same outfit for half of what Saint Laurent did, but Raezor Latex as a brand does not hold as much weight. The basics of rubber construction are the same everywhere, and I know that Saint Laurent isn’t doing anything different from what I do. Their latex sheeting supplier is probably the same, as there are few suppliers. 

So why do big fashion magazines refuse to support local, and excellent, talent? 

I’m not even talking about myself here. There are so many fantastic designers of what is currently labelled fetishwear that aren’t getting featured in Vogue, and that’s bullshit. When small designers do it, it’s fetish. When big designers do it, it's runway worthy. 

Second thought: When we label ourselves, do we trap ourselves?

I like to think that my collections are artistic and beautiful, but I noticed that it didn’t matter what I made for my collections, people only ordered catsuits and other fetish items. My Instagram does not look particularly fetishy, and the looks that I post have a large range of aesthetics. Earlier on in my career, I had to make the choice to use certain hashtags to sell to the people who buy the most latex, and the majority of the buyers are not celebrities with unlimited funds, but fetishists. 

Rich celebrities who act as sex symbols get to wear latex and be considered fashionably avant garde, not fetishistic. When your average person wears the same latex pieces in public, many people still associate their look with fetish, sex, and perversion. Sex has always been prevalent in all aspects of society, but somehow, latex is perceived as taking it too far.   This can also be observed in what is considered acceptable on Instagram and Tik Tok. Miley Cyrus can crawl around in rubber and kink wear holding a flogger in her tik toks, but when I wear a red catsuit and show all the different Halloween costumes you can turn it into (like a fairy, or post-apocalypse), my content gets labelled “adult content that violates community standards”.

My one caveat to myself: latex IS a fetish for many. If latex fetishists are going to wear latex in public, there can’t be creepiness about it. When wearing latex in the wild, like Lady Gaga or Kim Kardashian, it still needs to be appropriate for the occasion. Full gimp suits are not appropriate at the grocery store, but latex leggings could be. Full gimp suits are not appropriate at dinner, but a latex dress could be. 

Final thought: This is fucking exciting!

The more we see latex in mainstream media and magazines, the more legitimized it becomes as fashion and art. Leather in certain contexts is fetish, but in others it’s purely fashion, and the material frequently blends the two. 

People will, hopefully, start to perceive latex designers as artists and craftspeople with a niche talent. I look forward to the days when latex is more widely accepted in the same way as leather, and this is one clue that we’re already on the way there. The more celebrities wear latex on and off the red carpet, the easier it will become for us average plebes to wear latex and intermingle it with our regular wardrobes. 

There is nothing wrong with people wearing latex and not having a fetish for it – we don’t need to gatekeep. More acceptance of rubber is more acceptance for kinksters in general, and just like you can now buy an O -ring choker at the cheap accessory store in the mall, one day latex will be widely acknowledged as fashion, despite or because of its fetish roots. 

All-in-all, I’m glad to see latex adopted by more mainstream designers, and on a personal note, I hope this will lead to people no longer automatically labelling everything I do as “inappropriate” if I wear latex, because latex is, clearly, for everyone.