Latex - history and present

(Original text from 2008)

Introduction

We are often asked what latex actually is. How to wear it correctly, maintain it, and store it. Some customers are sometimes upset because it supposedly doesn't look like it does in the picture. True, it doesn't look like it upon unpacking. To make latex clothing look as we know it from photos, a few simple steps are needed. In upcoming articles, we will gradually reveal useful tips and guides on how to properly care for latex or how to choose the right latex model for your maximum satisfaction. We will not forget links to interesting websites, from manufacturers, through news and events, to famous models and a bit of pornography, to bring you closer to this phenomenal material.

History of Latex Clothing

Latex - for some, merely a material for making condoms and surgical gloves, for others an indispensable part of life in the form of clothing that blends with the body and creates the famous "second skin".

More than 100 years have passed since the discovery of latex as we know it today. The first condom saw the light of day in 1912. However, its complete birth goes much further back in history. It was sometime in 1823 when Scottish chemist Charles Macintosh (later corrupted to "Mackintosh") invented a rubberized fabric from which long raincoats began to be made. Thus, the phenomenon known as rubber fetish, or fetish for latex and rubber clothing, was born. Latex and rubber soon found their great admirers. The creation of the first fetish magazine called London Life and the first fetish organization England’s Mackintosh Society dates back to the 1920s.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Bizarre Magazine was published, featuring photographs or illustrations of women fully dressed in latex and engaging in various bizarre activities. At that time, fetishists also discovered the charm of gas masks and the associated regulation of breathing, known as breathplay. People, of course, knew about games with suffocation and breathing restriction before, but the availability of gas masks in the post-war period opened new horizons in this direction. Latex, gas masks, and everything associated with it has been published since 1957 by the company AtomAge, which publishes magazines such as Atomage, Rubberist, Dressing For Pleasure, and others.

The main fetish boom occurred during the 1980s. In 1983, a club called Skin Two was opened in the basement of London's Soho. Witnesses consider the opening of the club as the birth of the modern fetish scene. Similar clubs later emerged elsewhere in Europe or America, and over the years, small parties evolved into huge world Fetish Parties as we know them today - Fetish Evolution, Torture Garden, German Fetish Ball, Montreal Fetish Weekend, the Czech Prague Fetish Weekend, and many others. A year after the opening of the Skin Two club, in 1984, the first Skin Two Magazine was also published, now under KFS media.

In addition to AtomAge and Skin Two, we should mention the now-defunct German company Viola. In the 1980s and partly in the 1990s, it produced truly juicy films featuring some unforgettable faces. One of them is Dorothea, who is no longer heard of today. The most famous one is undoubtedly Natalia Mühlhausen.

Natalia later founded her own fetish kingdom under the original name Natalia's Rubber Club, later renamed The Rubber Whores, and now Natalia.pro. Instead of making films, she has been primarily devoted to her customers for many years. Her bizarre services are sought by men, women, and couples from all over the world.

One of the unforgettable personalities is an adventurer, traveler, former military pilot and officer, allegedly once Natalie's husband, Jo Hammar. Jo is an excellent photographer, who, alongside collaborating with leading magazines such as Playboy, Penthouse, or Hustler, is behind most of Natalia's famous photographs. He significantly contributed to the historical cup of fetish publications, from films, through magazines, to two legendary books - Fetish Rubber and Female Rubber. Natalia speaks of him as the discoverer of today's fetish scene. More will be revealed by Jo Hammar's biography, updated in April 2020 by his current wife.

Since the early 1990s, many more modern production companies have emerged, greatly aided by the spread of the Internet. We will randomly mention Marquis, Gwenmedia, Fetish Foto, Proud and Perverted (Sebastian Solo), and many others.

Since 2003, there has been an unbeatable group of websites under the banner of R.E. Productions, primarily including The Rubber Clinic and further Rubber Eva, Pissbag Productios, Video Eva, or Plastic Nappy. The entire production is primarily focused on latex, clinic, breathplay, and piss. The cast is of the highest level, and the websites are perfectly managed technically, including the quality of photographs and HD videos.
(Note 2021: These websites are no longer updated and have unfortunately gradually ceased to exist.)

Manufacturing Latex Clothing

With the increasing interest in latex, companies gradually came into existence that manufactured it. The oldest company, operating on the market since 1959 to this day, is the English Sealwear, closely collaborating with the aforementioned AtomAge. Their mutual connection was beneficial not only for the promotion of Sealwear latex clothing but also for the content of the magazines published.

In 1965, Kunzmann was founded in Germany, and two years later, Latexa. Both companies are still in operation today and continue to develop.

Later, new brands appeared. Worth mentioning is Demask, founded in 1990, based in Amsterdam with production, which perhaps few know, in Ostrava. Further, the German Blackstyle (1992), Austrian Simon O. (1996), and many others.
 

Clothing and accessories from the mentioned brands can be found in the category LATEX CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES.
 

Alongside these "larger" manufacturers, some of which already offered respectable collections of goods by the late 1960s, there are also fashion designers and designers who use latex more marginally, as an accessory, but thanks to them, it enters the world of fashion and ceases to be merely a matter for orthodox fetishists.

The first pioneer was punk designer Vivienne Westwood in the 1970s. Latex only gained the main attention of world fashion magazines a decade later, thanks to younger designers like Kim West and later Thierry Mugler. Admit it, this is the year 1995 - Thierry Mugler Haute Couture Fall Winter 1995.

Latex - A Phenomenon of the Present

As you can see, latex has been with us for a long time, and today we perceive it as a luxurious fashion material, whose popularity has literally been escalating in recent years, thanks to the media, films, music videos, and famous personalities like Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, or Kim Kardashian.

Don't miss other articles and always have them first-hand.
Subscribe to our newsletter and don't miss a thing >>>
 

Author: Martin Hrubý - MH Sexshop

Founder and operator of MH Sexshop and author of all texts on these pages. Since 2004, I have been handling all orders and advising you on purchases. More info can be found in the About Us section.