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Sleazy Soho sex shops may give way to posh British `boutiques'

REUTERS, LONDON
Monday, Apr 01, 2002, Page 19

`Included in the collection is a solid sterling silver ring [vibrator], powered by a concealed watch battery, that promises, somewhat enigmatically, that `dinner parties need never be dull again.''

Move over Manolo. Bye-bye Burberry. A new must-have accessory has hit London's fashion scene and it has pulses racing faster than you can pant Prada.

The vibrator -- once a woman's little bedroom secret -- is now the fashionista's battery-operated friend of choice.

It's all part of boudoir chic, a new rage which has spawned a wave of upmarket "erotic boutiques" run by women for women, injecting glamour and style into the gritty sex industry.

"Great sex is a little like a designer handbag -- it's a luxurious treat," says Charlotte Semler, co-founder of Myla, an upscale lingerie and sex toy shop in the city's trendy Notting Hill area.

The three-month-old boutique, with its all-white interior and soft track lighting, is a far cry from the dank, subterranean sex shops of Soho frequented by men furtively eyeing porn magazines and clinically graphic video collections.

At Myla, hand-painted silk chemises hang alongside elegant embroidered bustiers and baby doll nighties trimmed with wispy ostrich feathers.

Along one wall, mounted upon blocks as if they were sculptures in a museum, are Myla's five "unique" vibrators.

Created by specially-commissioned product designers and artists to be "aesthetically pleasing," the toys look more like stylish paperweights than their phallic-shaped progenitors.

Included in the collection is a solid sterling silver ring, powered by a concealed watch battery, that promises, somewhat enigmatically, that "dinner parties need never be dull again."

Or what about a rechargeable, five-speed vibrator named "Bone" that was inspired by ancient fertility symbols and costs ?179 (US$254)? There is a six-month waiting list for this little number.

"Imagine what that would look like in a contemporary setting," says a smiling Ivana Silvestiri, Myla's manager.

At Coco de Mer, a sex boutique in London's touristy Covent Garden, founder Sam Roddick waxes a bit more philosophical.

She delves into sensuality, illusion and sexual exploration when asked what inspired her to open up three months ago.

The boutique -- Roddick despises the term "sex shop" -- evokes images of a 19th-century French bordello with its ruby-red walls and crushed velvet draperies. It carries an assortment of high-priced lingerie, vibrators, a sex "apothecary" and an erotic books collection.

But what of the hand-crafted molten glass and crystal dildos and snakeskin whips?

"People's tastes have developed to where they demand well thought-out things," explains Roddick, 30.

"I realized that other [female-friendly] sex shops, while inspirational, had not touched at all on fashion design that the rest of the world had caught up to."

Presumably Roddick, whose mother Anita Roddick created The Body Shop cosmetics chain, has been taught to recognize an untapped market when she sees it.

Others in the industry are also reaping rich rewards.

Ann Summers, the bawdy sex shop chain that has recently tried to smarten up its act, announced a whopping 25 percent sales increase over Christmas compared to the previous year.

And Agent Provocateur, London's original purveyor of naughty knickers for nice girls, has won new business from widely reported sightings of celebrities rifling through its racks of posh silk and lace goodies.

Even stalwart British department store Marks & Spencer, known for its "dependable" underwear, has got in on the act with a line of sexy lingerie designed by Agent Provocateur.

The way these new doyennes of erotica see it, sex isn't sleazy -- it's a lifestyle.

And no one lives it better than the four fresh-talking sex and fashion-obsessed women on the hit US television show Sex and the City.

"The show is hugely influential," says Kathryn Hoyle, the founder of Sh!, an "erotic emporium" for women in the city's artsy Hoxton area.

When one episode featured a character discovering the wonders of a special bunny rabbit vibrator, sex shops reported rocketing sales of the model.

Hoyle, who opened her store 10 years ago "out of frustration with the nasty Soho sex shops," has seen sex play become more mainstream over the decade.

"It's not a shameful secret any more," she says.

But does that mean women will start snapping up designer dildos the way they do Prada purses?

Absolutely, says Myla's Hemler. "There isn't that much fun and indulgence to be had in life today, so you go for it."
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