This week we have something completely different. A glimpse into the world of fetish fashion.  Primarily latex apparel was first worn for protective purposes by hazardous chemical workers and other trades. The use of latex first surfaced in early 1900 as a garment intended to help a woman lose weight and in 1940 Playtex introduced a girdle. Both attempts to move into the fashion world slowly faded away. It is thought that the transition of latex clothing into popular culture was made in the 1960s-1970s by experimental fashion designers who worked with different kinds of material in their designs. The early punk movement in the 1970's adopted the use of leather and latex in their stage costumes. There is some evidence to indicate that latex were used in fetish sex in the 1970's. By the 80's the use of alternative materials for popular fashion was actively used and evidenced in many music videos of the day. Fetish wear was still underground but starting to surface and this early time in latex fashion was referenced in Eric Kroll's Fetish Girls through early photographs and eventually published in 1994. Over in Europe fashion was taking bigger risks than sedate America, which gave rise to the formation of << O >> magazine. Certainly not to be confused with the pedestrian magazine called O; published by Oprah Winfrey. << O >> magazine was first published in 1988 and this art, fetish and fashion magazine helped drive up sales of alternative fashions. In the post 2000 world, the use of alternative fashion and latex materials is easily visible in music and Hollywood movies. Today we can find latex clothing available for sale in many boutiques and major specialty clothing chains.

In this set we have Kassandra Love who is a very experienced model in this genre and Vaeda Girl. To see the images from the set see the gallery LatexDuo.

Watsonphotography.ca creates unique images of fashion, models, people, travel, nature and racing sports by Toronto photographer Peter Watson.