kink client commission

An area of my work that I don't often discuss is commissions from kink clients.

People involved in kink have specific custom clothing, accessories, and equipment they want to have made and a costume production artist's skill set can be a good match for a creative, discreet, and open-minded maker. 

Many of the people who do this kind of work are involved in their local kink social scene, but some encounter it serendipitously. I first got involved doing these kinds of commissions when I lived in Boston. New England has a large and diverse kink community, and at the time, one of my coworkers at a regional theater costume shop had a second job working at a retail store that was a combination sex shop/leather gear purveyor. 

When his side-hustle employer Black Laboratories was looking to expand and prototype corsetry styles, they hired me and one of my coworkers as patternmakers. 

We both continued to work there even after the corsetry line launched, because the projects we worked on were creatively fulfilling. With us involved, the business could now offer a wider range of custom leather options beyond their stock styles of custom chaps, vests, and pants.

We made copies of patterns taken from existing pieces to replicate them in leather, and drafted patterns for one-of-a-kind commissions, like a leather French maid uniform and a leather baby bonnet and diaper cover for an adult wearer. 

Discretion is key with these clients and most of the time I offer a strict non-disclosure agreement—I don’t document my work, I won’t reproduce it for other clients, & I don’t keep records of the work that include a client’s legal name or other info that might link back to their identity. 

Many of these clients don’t want any record of the transaction to exist, so they are often barter/trade transactions—I have received compensation in auto and home repair services and goods like home-cooked food or fresh garden produce.

In a rare circumstance, I have permission from a client to share images and discuss elements of the construction of a custom piece, a leather blindfold with a locking buckle.

A locking buckle has a loop on the tongue for a padlock

😍 inspired custom leather blindfold

Here you can see the elongated strap holes (slots) that accommodate a locking buckle

Black faux fur lining

The blindfold in use illustrating the functionality of locking buckles

This piece was built to integrate with the client’s existing sensory-deprivation hood.