MaggieDelena Latex Clothing is hand made couture clothing made with premium materials and custom tailored to compliment and enhance the figure.  From classic silhouettes to edgy hardcore designs, MaggieDelena presents fashions for every facet of the fetish underworld. 

THat question is a bit difficult to answer.  Many people use the words ‘latex’ and ‘rubber’ interchangeably, and think they are one and the same.

 However, ‘latex’ is the term used to describle the natural form of rubber derived from the sap of the Hevea rubber tree.  ’Rubber’ is more synthetic, and it is made from petroleum products.  Synthetic rubber does not have the same feel or smell as natural latex.  Rubber has a very synthetic scent, sort of like the smell of tires.  To rubber fetishists, Latex smells like heaven.  This is what is used for the clothing, natural latex.

2. Explain how MaggieDelena.com evolved- from your first interest in Latex to your current success.

MaggieDelena is actually a fusion of my two favorite interests: Clothing Design and deviance. I started drawing when I was 3 years old, and always had an interest in clothing.  Some of my first doodles where of women modeling dresses and very tight corsets.  Obviously as a child, I didn’t know they were corsets, but looking back now it makes perfect sense.  When I started getting into my teens, I realized that I wasn’t into the same things that my peers were into.  I was attracted to anything that was dark or different from the norm.  Creating latex clothing is the ultimate culmination of both of those interests. I have a degree in Fashion Design, and I’ve been actively working as a Clothing Designer for 12 years.  This is how I learned about illustration, patterns, sewing, fit, and garment construction.

When I seriously got into latex clothing, I was disappointed at how most of it fit me.  I am tall and slender, and although I have a small waist, I have hips. All the garments I tried on fit me very poorly.  The pant legs or sleeves would be too short, or the waist on a dress would be too big on me.

If someone is going to pay a very high price for a clothing item, it has to fit well. I always loved the look of latex clothing, it is extremely sexy.  It just made perfect sense for me to start making it.  Then I just had to unlearn everything I learned in my career about sewn garments, and teach myself how to make clothes in latex with glue.  

3. Do you consider yourself a Latex fetishist or fashionista?

I consider myself to be both a latex fetishist and a designer who loves to create latex clothing.  I think it would probably be strange to be a latex clothing designer without being able to fully appreciate the fetish, because then you would be creating blindly. I personally like to design mostly high fashion garments, or pinup looks.

 However, I have customers who are hard players, and I create custom items for them when whey can’t find what they are looking for.  I also work with Rubberdoll a lot, who is sometimes looking for more edgy garments, or garments based on an idea for her performances.

Since what I do is a culmination of both interests, I have the best of both worlds!

4. Explain your thoughts on the Latex Fetish- the reasons behind the fascination. Visual and Sensory.

Well, I would imagine that it is different for everyone.  There is no right and wrong when it comes to fetish.  That being said, I get a lot of feedback from different people about what they love about latex, and it fascinates me.  I get to sit down with most of my customers in person and discuss their ideas and desires, so I hear a lot of different things.

What I have heard most from people is that they love the smell of the latex, and they love how it feels to be touched with layers of latex in between.

 Some people feel as if latex transforms them into their alter ego.  Some people just love the way it wraps their body very tightly and feels almost restraining.  A lot of people love the feel of latex when they are in the water, either in a pool or in a shower.  It is different for everyone, but there is definitely a fascination there within our scene. For me, I appreciate every aspect of latex.  From the way it looks on the body, to the way it makes the body sweat, to the lube rubbed in to get on a tight garment, to the shine sprayed on to give it that glass-like sheen, and the feel of it.  One of my favorite things is the smell of latex, so I’m very lucky because I get to be around it a lot.   

5. How difficult is it to produce a Latex garment- what is a short summary of the process itself, and how long does it take?

Making latex garments is easy for me at this point, but when I first started it was very challenging.  I had learned about making patterns for and sewing fabric.  This is an entirely different animal.  I had to teach myself everything all over again.  Every technique is completely different. I always start with a sketch and most of my customers are local so I take full measurements.  You can ask anyone who I’ve measured how excessive my measurement-taking is.  I want to make sure that what I make is going to fit like it should.  I have a pet-peeve about ill-fitting clothing.  I then make a paper pattern, cut the latex out and start gluing. How long it takes really depends on how complicated the garment is.  I’ve made garments for Rubberdoll that have taken me over 30 hours.  I’ve also made a boyshort in 30 minutes or less.  So, it really all depends on the complexity of the garment, how much coffee I’ve had, and what kind of music I’m playing.  

6. Do you believe Latex as a fetish has grown more popular in the community over the years, or declined, and why?

I definitely think latex has become more popular in our scene throughout the years.  I remember back when you’d go to a fetish party and only a handful of people were wearing latex.  Now I believe it can sometimes be almost half of the crowd! I’m really not sure exactly why it’s grown more popular besides the obvious:

its incredible look and feel.  A lot of people would love to have more latex, but the cost makes it a bit prohibitive for some.  But I think that more and more people are saving up for that outfit because they know they are going to look and feel fantastic once they have it on.  They see it on the performers and they see it on more and more people, and it looks amazing. It’s also become a bit more attainable since everything is available on the internet.    

7. How do you feel about Latex being embraced by more mainstream designers in recent years?

I think it’s great that latex is being embraced by more mainstream designers. I’ve seen latex pop up in the pages of fashion magazines more and more lately.  I think that it helps remove some of the stigma that surrounds latex being used as a textile. I always get excited when I see it somewhere it shouldn’t be.  At the same time, I wouldn’t want it to ever become mainstream. I also don’t exacty think that the public knows what it’s looking at when it sees latex in the pages of a magazine or a movie.  A lot of people are completely clueless that latex clothing even exists.  As far as latex ever actually becoming mainstream, I don’t think that could ever happen.

8. Are your fashion shows held at more mainstream clubs as well as Fetish Clubs? If so, how are they received by those audiences as opposed to a lifestyle crowd?.

I have only had fashion shows at Fetish/lifestyle clubs at this time.  I have been asked to do many fashion shows, and some of them have been at mainstream clubs.  However, due to time and travel constraints, I try to be conservative with the number of fashion shows that I have.  Putting a fashion show together is a lot of work, from finding models to making garments for the show, there is a lot of back end work that goes into it.  I don’t know if there would be any point to having a fashion show at a mainstream club, other than entertaining the crowd for a few minutes.  At this time, I prefer to stick to the lifestyle crowd.

9. When is your next show?

I have several shows planned for this year.  I will be having shows at the Skin Two pre-party in Atlanta, Georgia, in July, and FetishCon in Tampa, in August.  Dates and locations for Atlanta and Tampa can be found on the following website:  

http://www.secretroom.net/

http://www.myspace.com/maggiedelenadesign

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