Sustainability is for our BDSM wardrobe, too

From DIY workshops to latex repair, there are ways to get off without fucking the planet too.

WORDS BY JACK WILLIAMS
HEADER DESIGN BY ANISA CLEAVER

In March this year, Sheffield collective LeatherDyke held their first DIY Kink Gear Workshop. In preparation, co-founders Holly, Steph and Lily – all “local dykes and self-proclaimed perverts” – visited bike repair shops across the city, sourcing inner tubes and unusable tyres to go alongside the chains, o-rings and carabiners they’d bought from Wickes. Later that week, LeatherDyke’s club night would create a safe, sexy space to show off the resulting looks.

The workshop attracted dozens of eager, curious locals. Some were experienced at making their own kink gear; others were comparative novices, keen to learn. “We introduced some of the tools we’d brought, and then showed a few examples of gear that we’d made,” Holly tells GAY TIMES. “Then, it was kind of a free-for-all. People were asking for help and sharing their skills, but there was no real teaching element. There’s no right or wrong way to do it, it was just wonderful to watch people be so creative.” It’s not just accessories that you can make yourself, either; Holly describes impact tools, like floggers, whips and paddles, made from discarded bike handles and strips of inner tubes, and even cable ties. “That one definitely hurts,” she laughs.

Not all kink requires gear – whether you’re into lactation, voyeurism or sensory play, there are plenty of ways to get kinky without spending cash – but there’s an increasingly lucrative sexual wellness market determined to sell you more stuff, whether it be flimsy handcuffs or lightweight gags and masks. Plenty of these sexy extras are dirt-cheap and mass-produced. When they do fall apart, where do they end up? Landfill, most likely. Battery-powered sex toys even corrode in landfill, leaking dangerous chemicals into soil and water sources.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The DIY Kink Gear Workshop represents a more inventive and more sustainable alternative, turning otherwise discarded materials into horny, hand-made treasures.

Designers are thinking seriously about sustainability, too. In 2017, Lucia Mendez Falcon founded the Berlin-based LASH Fetish Gear, later creating an online shop in 2020. Now, LASH sells everything from collars and harnesses to skirts and bikinis, many of which are made from recycled leather. Falcon caters to buyers “seeking an ethical alternative to traditional leather,” but who found “vegan leather lacking in longevity.” Actually getting her hands on the recycled leather isn’t easy, though – “it involves the intricate process of dismantling garments from second-hand shops,” Falcon explains. “It might not be economical due to the additional labour, but it stands out as a more ethical and sustainable option.”

Falcon reiterates that buying durable, high-quality products is more sustainable, as they last longer. Yet even if you’re super careful, kink gear can get damaged – in the heat of the moment, latex can rip, floggers can break and harnesses can come apart if they’re yanked enough.

London-based Aimless Gallery is known for its beautiful latex pieces, often stamped with slogans like I <3 SUCKING COCK and DO I MAKE YOU HORNY? It’s a brand which embraces the queer politics of kink, using latex as a medium to fundraise for trans youth charity Mermaids, advocate for sex workers and take aim at UK government bigotry. Given the brand’s ethics, it’s unsurprising that Aimless Gallery founder Amy is committed to sustainability. As well as using recyclable packaging, reusing latex scraps and offcuts, they offer “latex repairs and stain cover-ups to help outfits last longer,” in the hopes of giving latex pieces a longer life.

Amy explains that latex is “farmed relatively sustainably,” and is often recyclable (organic latex is biodegradable, synthetic variations are not). “But whether it gets recycled or not when it gets to a recycling centre is a separate issue,” they continue, nodding to research by charities like Greenpeace, which uncovered that plenty of material thrown into recycling bins is actually just burned anyway. To avoid doubt, Amy aims for a zero-waste design process, but that’s easier said than done given the inevitable trickiness of creating custom clothes.

So, how do we shop more sustainably? Amy recommends avoiding the temptation of dirt-cheap, mass-produced kink gear, instead “investing in outfits you’ve consciously thought about rather than buying something in the moment because it looks exciting.” They also advise “going for outfits you can rewear and change with accessories” – not every event requires a new outfit, they underline – and “swapping and trading clothing rather than throwing things or away or letting them fester in your cupboards.” Sites like Second Skin are specifically for selling pre-loved gear, and it’s not uncommon to sell or exchange gear on networking sites like FetLife.

This buying and sharing of pre-loved gear taps into the community element of kink, so often erased by mainstream portrayals of a glossy, expensive aesthetic and polished parties with strict dress codes. You don’t need to spend loads of cash to indulge your kinkiest desires; in fact, Holly says there’s something inherently erotic about making your own accessories and impact tools. “While you’re making the tool, you’re anticipating the sex itself,” she explains. “Then you get to use it and be like, ‘wow, I did that!’”

LeatherDyke taps into deeply political histories like the San Francisco Blood Sisters, who advocated for sexual liberation, and the “rebel dykes” of London’s ‘80s lesbian S&M night Chain Reaction, vilified by pearl-clutching, conservative lesbians for apparently promoting male violence. Much like the commodification of queerness, there’s something jarring about buying a £10 harness on ASOS because twink heartthrob Timothée Chalamet wore one on the red carpet, without knowing its sartorial ties to what he called “sex dungeon culture.” “I’m pro-gatekeeping,” laughs Holly, nodding to this sanitisation of kink’s radical roots.

So, instead of shelling out on cheap tat destined for landfill, gather your kinkiest mates and have a go at creating your own looks from recycled materials. Buy second-hand gear or support independent creators. There are plenty of ways to fulfil your fantasies; luckily, plenty don’t involve bringing Mother Earth to her knees.

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