The Risque Market
THRILL SEEKERS Risque, suggestive and daringly close to indelicacy, many party retailers will have a dedicated hen and stag area or a sexy dress-up section instore. With the Erotic Trade Only (ETO) Show taking place at the NEC in Birmingham on 28-29 June, PPE looks at the latest provocative costumes and accessories.
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s the UK’s inaugural trade-only event for the erotic market, the ETO show really is the place to go if you want to source the latest in risque dress-up and costume-play – and many other things besides. With 65 exhibitors and 1,400 visitors expected to attend this year’s show, there’s nowhere better in the UK to browse a tantalising display of titillating products. Following on from last year’s tenth anniversary, a ‘record breaker’ according
The 50 Shades Effect As for ‘50 Shades of Grey’ having an effect on the market, the books and subsequent film seem to have fed peoples imagination, leading to a variety of new (or at least re-marketed!) products, tailored to the ‘bedroom kinkster’! “We have a whole range of 50 Shadesinspired products,” said Alix TurtonWilson of Creative Conceptions, “from masquerade masks and ticklers, to furry handcuffs and Fifty Days of Play bondage tape. We have something for every budding Christian or Anna!” With more 50 Shades films set to follow in the next couple of years, PPE predicts that this trend isn’t going anywhere anytime soon!
to organiser, Jonny Kirk, this year’s event is showing all the signs of reaching the bar that was raised so high in 2014. So what exactly does Jonny expect from the 2015 show? “There are a couple of exhibitors with some big surprises this year, making the show the largest floor space we have ever had,” he explained. “We have all of the regulars and a good number of first time exhibitors from Europe and the US.” Jonny continued: “We try to keep the concept simple and make the experience, for exhibitors especially, as easy and painless as possible. If one company can meet 100 buyers in two days, that saves an awful lot of time and money during the rest of the year.” What can visitors to the show expect to see? Jonny says: “Lingerie is the largest
Above: This Fifty Days of Play bondage tape from Creative Conceptions can also be used for stag do pranks and as a versatile dress-up accessory.
Above: New Temptations is launching new lines of Dreamgirl dress-up lingerie at the ETO show.
part of the show this year, with around 25 brands represented such as Fever, Baci, Seven ‘til Midnight, Coquette, Dreamgirl, Rene Rofe, Avanua, Irall and Shirley of Hollywood.” ETO is renowned and loved, not just for lingerie, but for offering a vast array of everything erotica under one roof, including the slightly tamer elements that Progressive Party Europe is particularly interested in: hen and stag accessories, dress-up, suggestive games, and the like. This makes it the perfect platform for hunting out your naughtier products – so what exactly are this years’ exhibitors hoping to gain from being part of the top erotic trade show in the UK?
MAY/JUNE 2015 PROGRESSIVE PARTY EUROPE
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01/06/2015 12:48