The fetish webzine project that I’ve been working on since my departure from Skin Two at the end of May last year is about to go live. Launch of the webzine The Fetishistas will happen during the first Los Angeles Kink Ball Weekend in mid-February. The site will officially go live on Friday February 16 at Slave2Fashion, the opening event of the weekend, at Knitting Factory, 7021 Hollywood Boulevard.
I was very pleased when I heard last summer that LA was going to get a proper European-style fetish weekend in early 2007, and I happily made a commitment on behalf of my as-yet-to-be launched ’zine to support it. Why? My last four years editing of Skin Two magazine had seen me forging a strong relationship with Los Angeles’ growing community of fetish creatives. Looking back on LA’s emergence as a fetish force, it seems almost as if someone must have thrown a switch to produce the surge in the quality and quantity of work that I observed coming out of the area over that period. But I think the truth is more that this great mass of fetish talent had been simmering quietly away for quite some time, and what it needed was for publications like mine to take notice.
I’m the first to say that London can teach the rest of the world a few tricks when it comes to playing home to more top-drawer designers and international-standard events than anywhere else. But I can’t help also feeling great affection for this new West Coast scene — a scene I’ve witnessed blossoming rather as I watched the London scene grow from its roots in a single Soho club in 1983.
I had originally thought that by the time the LA Kink Ball came around in mid February, The Fetishistas would have been online for two or three months. But getting this big project off the ground has turned out to be more complex than predicted (quelle surprise) and so we find ourselves in January 2007 still working on getting everything just as we want it. Though delays are never desirable, in this case they have at least had the positive effect of enabling me to tie The Fetishistas launch date in with the other very significant launch of early 2007. Both these ventures — webzine and weekend — are, I would suggest, important milestones for the international fetish community. Los Angeles finally gets a full-scale perv-fest that befits its importance as a centre of kinky excellence, and the world gets its first truly world-class online fetish magazine.
I know Los Angeleans will turn out in force to support their own weekend, but I’m expecting also to see a lot of old friends from further afield, not to mention some of my many new MySpace and ModelMayhem mates from near and far. I’m sure a lot of people are disappointed that there’s no San Francisco Fetish Ball this year, but in its absence, the LA weekend this February could be just the way to get your first fix of West Coast fetish fun in 2007.
As for the launch party itself, well, reflecting the London-based but shamelessly internationalist outlook of The Fetishistas, Friday night’s Slave2Fashion brings strict dresscode European pervy partying style to Los Angeles, with latex fashion shows from UK labels House of Harlot, Torture Garden Clothing and Pretty Pervy, plus distinctive pvc designs from Germany’s Tatjana Warnecke. With its ambient/chill-out/trip-hop musical backdrop, the night aims to provide the perfect vibe for socialising and networking. It promises to be a particularly good promotional opportunity for models, with the chance to show off their hottest outfits and be photographed for the world’s Fetish Press. And of course there’ll be the bonus of seeing, in the flesh, famous fetish fashion labels never before brought to the Los Angeles stage.
In case my presence alone is not enough, The Fetishistas’ team at Slave2Fashion will also include several of the webzine’s much better-looking contributors, who’ll be participating in the fashion performances. Look out for such launch edition luminaries as Los Angeles’ very own Ms Marina, Chicago’s VonLivid and Miami’s Jolie Vaughn among the fashionistas strutting their stuff for your entertainment.
It promises to be quite a night — and quite a weekend. I hope as many of you as possible will turn out to support it. See you there!
www.lakinkball.com
www.thefetishistas.com (goes live Feb 16)
Break a leg Tone - or should I say Heel!!!
Michelle x x x xx x x x x
Posted by: michelle | 31 January 2007 at 06:16 PM
More of a question than a comment...
I notice that events with strict fetish dress code also permit/accept "formal" attire for gentlemen... which I assume is a tuxedo.
Can anyone explain this to me? Why permit this exception to allow vanilla clothing at dress code enforced fetish events?
What would happen if all the men showed up in Tuxedos?
Posted by: Dark | 30 January 2007 at 02:23 AM