Tony Mitchell writes: This was Darcy’s first outing to Essen and he was clearly looking forward to having some serious fun there as a newly single guy.
Normally a fiercely independent traveller who chooses hotels more for the quality of their amenities than the opportunities they might present to socialise with fellow pervs, he was persuaded by enthusiastic accounts of my own Essen debut last year to experience the community feel of the Bredeney for himself.
Aside from one or two minor irritations such as the drastically pared-down special Easter menu offered by the hotel’s only restaurant (conforming to the stereotypical image of Germany as a nation yet to discover vegetables), he seemed to find the arrangements reasonably satisfactory.
We decided to split our reporting task pretty much down the middle. I would shoot the pictures and Darcy would provide the writing, in the form of a day-by-day, event-by-event blog.
So on the right you’ll find the first of my FE galleries, from the Models & Makers reception that kicked the whole weekend off, and below you’ll find the beginnings of Darcy’s Diary. We’ll be adding more entries and more galleries as fast as we can, so check back often to make sure you don’t miss anything!
DARCY’S DIARY: Thursday April 9 — Arrival
Fetish Evolution? Genius, it has to be said. Here’s the idea…
Take a conference/convention-style hotel on a holiday weekend when it would normally be empty. Totally fill it with a cross-section of fetish types from around the globe.
Stage a market/expo, a cocktail party, brunch, meet and greets and various other functions to break even the thickest ice. Utilise nearby state-of-the-art venues, run buses from your hotel and back to make it easy-peasy, and let people party on in the hotel bar and lobby till beyond dawn.
It’s a concept so stunningly obvious and clever that quite naturally it seems to have taken 20-plus years to cross from America and arrive on our European doorstep. In one swoop it does away with numerous logistical, locational and other irritating problems.
Even the most socially inept, tragic, no-mates misfit (not me, you snidey c***s) could make friends here: party friends, conversational friends, 6am-as-dawn-rises friends, even cute latex friends you may wake up with next afternoon.
As I write this shortly after checking in, the Hotel Bredeney is a hive of activity. Trade stands are being constructed, photographers are setting up, guests/revellers are checking in, models are promenading. In short, all is good with the world.
DARCY’S DIARY: Friday April 10 — Models + Makers
By Friday evening the Hotel Bredeney’s 300-plus rooms are filled with fetish and BDSM people, a couple of pets (canine) and zero children.
The weekend’s first scheduled event — the Models & Makers Reception — is due to kick off on the hotel’s first floor at about 6pm but is put back to 8pm. I’m not sure why, but with the weather warm enough for sunbathing and loads of tattooed and pierced bodies in the pool and on the terrace, no one seems to care.
By 8pm the event has shifted organically to the bar and restaurant area due to the fact that everyone has congregated there naturally (like those people in Close Encounters who all go to the same spot).
Some folk are dressed to the nines while others are more casual, neither preference fazing the relaxed and patient hotel staff.
Last year’s opening party at The Lokschuppen (after the reception) was closed down by the police for contravening Germany’s ban on Good Friday parties.
So for this year’s only Friday event, the organisers are adhering to a strict meet-and-greet social gathering format sans dancefloor, music or performance. Declaring the weekend officially open and welcoming industry guests, hosts Bianca Beauchamp and Paul Nathan even remind us that Models & Makers is “not a party”, just in case anyone is in any doubt.
With totally disregard for pacing themselves, the assembled hedonists start eating, drinking and networking, and sneaking off to their rooms to soil the sheets.
Ready, steady, go: the weekend starts here. It’s (not) my party and I’ll cry if someone hits me with a flogger or electrocutes me. It’s Good Friday, and somewhere not too far away, some buns will be hot and covered in crosses.
DARCY’S DIARY: Sat/Sun April 11/12 — Expo + Art Bizarre
Most major cities probably have one or maybe two shops that cater for a fetish and BDSM clientèle.
Outside the major cities and towns, such shops are rare. This means that most people are compelled either to buy online or travel some distance for an often limited choice.
Buying on line has become easier but there will always be problems with sizing and colours, the inability to try items on, and no possibility to compare in front of a mirror. For these reasons I feel that the Expo and Art Bizarre is probably my choice for the best event of the Fetish Evolution weekend.
Presenting more than 50 exhibitors across three floors, the E&AB is held at the official hotel, The Bredeney, making it über-accessible to the hotel’s full-house of pervs as well as others staying nearby. Hotel catering facilities and the nearness of the bar, terraces and lounges are further plus points and the two-day programme of live entertainment makes it more than just a retail fair.
The exhibitors are a wide cross-section of mainly but not exclusively German fetish and BDSM firms, offering latex, leather, corsets, footwear, toys, magazines and DVDs, and the standard is uniformerly high.
I can only offer a personal and obviously biased opinion of those that stand out from the rest, and I would urge readers to view the photo gallery by that strange guy who runs this site and then check the relevant websites (most of which have English translations and/or English speaking staff).
But for what it’s worth, my personal Expo favourites include, in no particular order:
Style Fetish — inventive bondage and sex machines.
SM-Factory — rubber ball gags with steel-lined breather/feeder holes.
Tolllkirsche — tasty goth-influenced Lycra/wetlook clothes (and marketing materials to match) from local Essen stars.
Rubber’s Finest — beautifully constructed and finished heavy rubber hoods and other restrictive wear.
Brigitte More — new ranges of stylish leather and latex couture.
Cyberesque — interesting cyber-fetish crossover clothes with strong visual impact.
SPI — an ever-expanding range of books, magazines and DVDs from the European publisher/distributor of DDI and Massad.
Burlesque Couture — clever ideas for an expanding market.
Latex 101 — finally a well-run company making an interesting, colourful and well-priced range of men’s latex wear. They even took German lessons to be able to communicate better with German customers.
Fets Fash — zentai catsuits embellished with a variety of accessories
Les Incroyables — an eclectic clothing range that could be classed as fetish, gothic, clubwear or even streetwear.
AMF Korsets — stand-alone corsets that to me are also art pieces: a fusion of fashion and art and the best in that genre. Every corset fan should own at least one AMF piece, as should every major art gallery.
Engineers of Desire — affordable, well-made corsetry from an exciting company that’s always out there. Britain’s finest and rôle models for the new breed, they do everything with energy and contagious enthusiasm.
Grischah — standing out among much good stuff in the Art Bizarre basement, this man not only shoots atmospheric erotic bondage but also designs and makes the distinctive steel restraints that feature in his pictures.
DARCY’S DIARY: Saturday April 11 — PreParty
Essen’s Saturday night event, labelled its Pre Party (ie pre-Sunday’s Ball), is due to be held some 30 minutes’ drive away from our hotel, in Bottrop.
This might seem a bit daunting — a 30-minute drive across the German countryside, getting lost, breakdown, staying the night at this creepy old inn? But no, as with most things Fetish Evolution, it’s easy.
Admittedly it is necessary to walk out to the front of the Hotel to get on the coach, and you do need to buy a ticket first, but, those tribulations aside, getting there is a piece of ham/natursekt.
The venue is amazing. The Lokschuppen is an old industrial building that looks like a club looks in movies like Blade or The Crow, complete with bits of redundant machinery.
Brickwork, glass, polished wood, plentiful bars, good sound and lights… as they would say on the gadget show: a nice piece of kit. Internal layout is somewhat strange though, with a very large main room that looks like it should have been two smaller rooms, and some seated areas.
Following directly on from the Dinner Delux fetish banquet at the same venue, this party is pitched very much as a social event. The music is kept at moderate level and, although crowded at peak times, it is never uncomfortable.
Predictably, major efforts have been made in the outfit/costume/dress department and there’s a wide cross-section of the different shades of fetish and BDSM. This is not a play party so the ‘serious player’ contingent might be disappointed — though with several hotels full of horny perverts, a bit of imagination could lead to multiple possibilities.
Perhaps the only criticism of the venue is that the stage is very low and this precludes many people from watching several admirable stage shows, including a unique twist on contemporary skills in sewing and needlework.
Although open-ended the party is very much winding down by about 2.30am which is about the time I personally am just getting wound up. Worth mentioning that there’s almost a lynching and mini riot when the coach back to the Essen sits outside the club for 50 minutes before returning us to our hotel.
However, once back there, the party, play, drinking and sneaking off to rooms to derive mutual pleasure from each other’s bodies in a safe, sane and consensual way (or even, I guess, from your own body, in a way that’s rumoured to make you deaf) continue.
Coming soon: Darcy’s takes on Sunday’s Ball — see people and show galleries on the right!
