Editor’s Note:
Who decides what's sexy? Who dictates what's “too much”? And why does every new fashion revolution seem to come with a pair of latex gloves or a corset revival? Welcome to Pornotopia volume 4, darling—where sex sells, latex breathes, and every seam tells a secret.
In this volume, we slip into something more uncomfortable: the bondage of beauty, the couture of kink, the catwalks of control. This is the sultry space where fashion meets fetish, where the body is both exhibit and exorcism.
Where fishnet is theology and a whip is just good accessorizing. Welcome back to the utopian land, where we unzip the seams of culture and peek into the intimate relationship between fashion, fetish, and the art of erotic rebellion.
Fig.1 Kate Moss, Luncheon on the Grass by Mario Sorrenti, campaign collaboration with Yves Saint Laurent 1999 inspired by classic artworks
Fig.2 Ellen von Unwerth | The Awakening, Paris, From the Story of Olga (2011), Credits Artsy
KINKY ROOTS: Fashion’s Love Affair with Erotica
Let’s be honest: fashion has always been about sex. About showing skin, shaping silhouettes, seducing the gaze. But when it collides with BDSM, fashion becomes a kink in itself. It's about owning the gaze, not submitting to it. Think dominatrix as muse. Think Naomi Campbell on a leash. Think Grace Jones in a cage.
Designers are no longer shy about fetish roots. In fact, they flaunt them. Richard Quinn wraps faces in latex hoods on the runway. Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s garments are barely-there declarations of queer sensuality. Mugler, revived and made digital by Casey Cadwallader, fuses sex, architecture, and power into a TikTok-ready dystopia of body worship.
Even the mass market is in on it. Skims sells waist trainers. SHEIN sells harnesses. Instagram filters morph your face into cyber dominatrix chic. We are all curators of our own erotic avatars now.
Grace Jones - I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)
Fashion as Power Play
Corsets constrict. Heels elevate. Masks anonymize. The body becomes both sculpture and symbol. Fashion, like fetish, is an exquisite form of control — of who gets to look, of how we are seen, of what we reveal or conceal.
In both fashion and BDSM, there’s a choreography of roles: the wearer, the watcher, the performer, the submissive. The thrill lies not just in the material (latex, lace, leather) but in the dynamic it creates. It's not just aesthetics — it's a power exchange. And it’s gender-fluid. Kinkwear has long been a code in queer communities: leather daddies, drag dominatrixes, femme tops in latex minis. Designers like Rick Owens and Thierry Mugler embrace this erotic ambiguity, creating pieces that turn the body into a queer spectacle — sensual, surreal, unapologetic.
La Grande Dame - Parfum Orange (Official Music Video)
Fig.3 La Grande Dame, stage name of Yannick Martin Androf, French drag performer known for their distinctive fashion style
Fig.3a Michel Comte, Carla Bruni, 1993, solo exhibition Camera Work Gallery Berlin. Credits Photography Now
Carla Bruni - Quelqu'un m'a dit (Official Music Video)
From Runway to Real Life: Who’s Wearing Who?
But what happens when kink fashion becomes mass-produced for high-street stores and festival wear? Is it still subversive? Or just sexy cosplay?
The answer lies in intention. Just as ethical porn seeks to center pleasure and agency, ethical kinkwear honors the roots — the communities, the codes, the resistance behind the look. A leather harness is more than a trend. It’s a signal, a history, a form of storytelling.
The Fetishization of the Catwalk
When Jean Paul Gaultier sent Madonna on her 1990 Blonde Ambition tour in cone bras and leather corsets, he didn’t just push boundaries — he tore them apart with a stiletto heel. Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s SEX boutique in 1970s London quite literally dressed punks and misfits in bondage gear. Fast forward to the 2020s, and we see artists like Doja Cat, Rosalia, and Cardi B embodying modern dominatrix personas — part cyborg, part sex priestess, all power.
Latex, leather, mesh, and buckles are no longer “fetish wear” — they’re high fashion staples. But what does it mean when garments once coded as taboo are co-opted by the mainstream?
Fig.4 ADS Vintage 1941, Jantzen Lingerie George Petty, Dover, Sex Appeal Covers
Fig.5 Airbrush artwork by Japanese illustrator Pater Sato, ca 1980s
Fig.6 Advertising for lingerie Diana Slip ca 1930s. Photography by Brassai, credits AnOther Mag
Fig.7 Amleto Dalla Costa, Fashion lithographies series ca 1977
Fig.8 Bodacious, provocative portraits of sexy model Kaylie Davis shot by photographer HMD Fotography. Credits Traaaw Magazine, screenshot.
Become a Premium member now for the extended version of the article so that you don't miss out on what's behind the following teasing headlines:
- BDSM Meets Fashion Meets Pop Culture
- When Kink Became Couture
- The Final Stitch: In the Eye of the Beholder,
- Kink Is Couture
- DOMME FASHIONISTA STARTER KIT
- 62 additional surprising images
Click HERE for part 1 in the "Pornotopia" series
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