Writer and entrepreneur Dave Darcy Edmonds epitomises the post punk cross-over into the London fetish scene being the Editor at Large at Skin Two Magazine and founder of the label Pure Sex London. He has long black hair down to his waist, is almost always wearing an impressive leather jacket and can out punk anyone when it comes to regaling first-hand accounts of going to infamous punk rock gigs and of buying clothing directly from the Kings Road for his own clothing shop in Birmingham, England.
Questions by Bridget Veal
Q. Like most of Dave (Carroll)’s friendships, you and him are bonded by your enthusiasm for clothing, in particular Seditionaries’ by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren. 45 years on, you can both still talk at length about Seditionaries’, I find this both rational and absurd! Why do you think the interest for Seditionaries has carried on for so long?
A. I think for several reasons. Seditionaries is almost unique as a collection. It’s almost couture designed for streetwear. Its also art and politics and social commentary. The designs are so strong and confrontational that they've never become quaint or dated. It could be argued that they are more contentious and liable to offend now than when originally released. They have not aged with time, or lost their power. They incorporate themes around anger, rebellion, DIY culture, and gender roles and politics that were years ahead of everyone else.
It would be difficult to point to another clothing collection that has endured so long or that sparked movements, bands and all manner of culture across the entire world. New methods of clothing production and/or printing have not superseded them, in fact, the attention to detail on items like the parachute shirts and anarchy shirts is rarely present in clothing of any level today.
Q. The stories you have from your time as a punk rocker, the clothing you bought and adventures you had with your friends like Jordan Mooney capture such an important time in fashion and sub-culture history. How did you come to be a punk rocker?
A. With an Irish father I’d grown up in Birmingham but ostensibly left home by the age of 18 (gap year never went back). I was kind of an unusual kid, sexually straight but I much preferred girly things. I grew up in the area with the biggest density of immigrants in all of Europe. I was used to seeing Irish, Black, Asian, African, et al people from early childhood. I didn't view them as any different from anyone else (no better, no worse) but events around me gave me strong emotion around equality and social justice. I only really liked girls in the vein of Emma Peel, Morticia Addams, Fenella Fielding, biker girls, outsiders. I was at Bourneville College with David Claridge (Skin Two club pioneer and also Roland Rat) and via him I got a ticket to see David Bowie. I was doing A levels in Law, Economics, and Economic and Social History with a view to University and a career either in law or estate agency. It was the Bowie Ziggy Stardust tour at Birmingham Town Hall, a few days before the famous Hammersmith Odeon Ziggy finale. I'd seen a few of the dressed up, flamboyant, Bowie girls around the city ....... vintage clothing, dressed like Bowie/Roxy Music ...... but suddenly I was surrounded by 100's of them. At that concert I found my place in the world. I didn't need to be rich, have a well paid respected career, or have a big house, or a top end car, all that I wanted was to be near girls like that forever. It wasn't just sex it was everything ..... their creativity, their spirit, rebellion. The way they looked, dressed, thought, acted. Those Bowie kids, me included, were ready for punk. Bowie was being absorbed by the mainstream, he was no longer "ours"; we wanted something new to separate us from the majority, the mundane, the normal, punk ticked all the boxes and more. People talk of punk and various types of empowerment, its mostly middle class crap. People like Malcolm and Vivienne, Jordan, Siouxsie, The Clash, Polystyrene, Wayne/Jayne County ..... they didn't "challenge" convention or "break the rules" they just totally and utterly fucking ignored them in every way possible and they didn't need a flag to march behind or the approval of The Guardian writers.
Q. The transition from punk rock into the London fetish scene was a ‘thing’ and many prominent figures that were immersed in punk rock from an early age made the distinct cross-over, especially in the 90s. People who spring to mind are Ben Westwood with his photography, Joe Corre in founding Agent Provocateur, Steve Beech of Westward Bound and you and the team behind Skin Two Magazine. Why do you think punk rock and fetish are so intertwined?
A. I think probably for several reasons. The fact that Seditionaries was preceded by SEX is the first. Punk style fashions, and the people in and around the early punk/Seds scene, were frequently involved in alternative sexual scenes (gay, lesbian, fetish, leather) and several - at least - were involved/employed as what would now be called sex workers. The punk kids liked to shock and be confrontational and fetish was an easy look to trigger a reaction. Certainly punk and alternative kids made up a fair portion of the early contributors to the newer, younger, fetish scene, clubs, fashions, and magazines that evolved in the early 80's. I would not want to over emphasis this (as there's no end of virtue signalling others to do that) but I also think that a large part of punks legacy was empowerment. At the time I thought very much of the DIY ethic offered to working class kids like myself but I now realise that all kinds of minorities ...... race and colour wise. Women, non-mainstream sexualities, et al ..... were welcomed and given a platform and a voice via punk and the sub cultures that sprang from it; fetish and gay men/gay leather scene I would include there.
Q. Skin Two Magazine, how do you describe it to anyone who is just now discovering it?
A. It’s no longer published as a magazine but there are still copies around from all decades. At one point - pre internet - it provided a valuable resource for everything in that scene ...... from clubs and retailers, to models and personalities. The label (every aspect of Skin Two save for print magazine) is now owned by Honour.co.uk, they produce original items as well as new designs and carry forward the ideology.
Q. It’s rare to look through any fetish (especially bondage, dominatrix, leather) magazines produced in England, the USA and parts of Europe from 1972 through to 1979 and not see a piece of The London Leatherman featured on a model, male or female. We have a substantial collection of these now vintage publications, how have fetish magazines from this era influenced your own work?
A. Most of my original T-shirt designs for my own label "Pure Sex" and many that I designed for BOY London were very directly influenced by both fetish magazines and books. The John Willie book "The Adventures of Sweet Gwendoline" was a very direct inspiration for both the early Ants T-shirts and my own. That book was also the primary reference for most of the clothes I designed/produced for Pure Sex and my shops in Kensington Market and Hyper Hyper. Magazines such as Eric Stanton, Bettie Page, Bill Ward, and others also provided ideas and direction.
Q. When you think of The London Leatherman what springs to mind?
A. The first label of its kind that I can remember and certainly the best. I first visited the Battersea shop in the Seditionaries era. It was kinda intimidating but also just fabulous - like you'd wandered into the world of Tom of Finland. I didn't have personal interest in the gay leather scene but I found the clothes and imagery very seductive.
I think Punk found an easy association with outsiders and outliers of all types, as diverse as The London Leatherman and (a) Don Letts reggae playlist.
Q. Do you currently have any favourite The London Leatherman pieces you wear or have your eye on?
A. Yes. I have an original Muir cap that I got from the Battersea shop - I'd love to wear it but I'm too scared of losing it. I think I also have some belts and wristbands somewhere. More recently Faye Dowling gave me one of The London Leatherman mask long sleeve T-shirts that featured in the Horror Show exhibition at Somerset House. I've worn that out several times without really thinking of the impact it may, and has, provoked.
Q. Do you have any exciting projects you’re working on this summer 2023?
A. To be honest I’m always doing things. I actually hesitate to call it work, even though it pays bills, because I've been lucky that everything I've ever done I wanted to do and enjoyed. I've had jobs in fashion design, vintage clothing, magazine production, writing, photography, ticket tout and general spiv, and (as a) pro dom in a famous New York dungeon. I enjoyed all those things and I was, and still am, happy to do them seven days a week. I don’t have patience to sit around. I crave constant mental and artistic (?) stimulation. I wanna be around great, inspirational people (particularly girls) that make their life, their outfits, their environment, everything they touch, from food to a toothbrush, an inspiring and evolving work of art. Current projects include working on Faye Dowlings GothShop online website/zine, Contributor to Salvation magazine - published in print and online by Nigel Wingrove of Salvation/Redemption films, magazines, dvd’s, and general mischief infamy. I’m collaborating on a proposed large scale event with Skin Two/Honour and Ricardo Castro the promoter for the total legendary Slimelight club nights (and several other club nights and events under the Dark Room London umbrella). I've also started work on a range of fetish influenced prints and clothing items for my Japanese ex g/f who has a shop in Osaka, Japan.
I'd like to do more photos and styling on photos but there's a mass of Instagram models but a near zero number of people that can, will, want, to do something in the real world.