Yes, latex clothing designers/makers/houses are in fierce competition; ours is a rather small fashion world to fit. But we never like to see anyone actually close, or suffer a bad runway show, or have any other untoward occurrence befell them. At Dawnamatrix we have always viewed the existence of other designers with a ‘more-the-merrier’ kind of a philosophy; the more people brought to latex wearing by whatever means benefits us all, no? More often than not at a fetish event we’ll find fellow designers lending us a hand (or some lube), or offering a compliment about a new collection we’re presenting, more than they have ever any derision….and we believe we have acted as nice to our fellows. Let’s face it, we all work with a very specialized material making very specific clothes, why not regard other designers as brothers (and sisters) in niche?
So it is with sadness that we learned of House of Harlot’s closing; Robin Archer made it official last week that his famous UK latex brand and rubber clothing line is ending a twenty five year run. It was also announced that former HoH employee Iris Trika bought the company’s ‘stuff’ with an eye to relaunch the business. Trika currently owns the IrisTheSpider line and she will maintain the HoH main site as well as their Etsy presence once her full restructuring is complete.
The actual House of Harlot store location is now closed.
Various members of the House of Harlot team beyond Iris will continue in designing and creating alternate clothing. For instance designer Florence Druart has been given the assets of the HoH Torture Garden Clothing brand.
Robin Archer says he hopes to enjoy making bespoke items for his long-term clients. All of us here at Dawnamatrix certainly hope to see him and his very gifted employees continue in their latex dreams.