Even as sex shops have moved up in the world and their products have reached the masses through that modern invention, the sex-toy party, the actual goods have still left much to be desired. Rows of pink vibrators and dildos shaped like penises are just plain sad.
I'm less a prude than a snob, really.
Now, with the advent of super-luxe, high-design sex toys to the market, the pickings are much more attractive. "We are becoming more and more sophisticated consumers," says Cory Silverberg, one of the principals at Come As You Are (http://www.caya.ca), (Correction: The web site for Toronto shop Come As You Are is www.comeasyouare.com) a collective and sex shop on Toronto's Queen Street West. "We want products that are smart and beautiful and sometimes over-the-top luxurious."
To wit, the shop has just become the exclusive Canadian retailer of the Jimmy Jane, a waterproof, 24-karat-gold-plated vibrator that costs a cool $325.
Sold also at chi-chi boutiques such as Fred Segal in the U.S., this little number has no problem garnering publicity. With a super-battery that kicks it for 16 hours straight, it even has celebrity fans: Kate Moss is reportedly so enamoured, she buys them for all her friends.
Much of the design enhancement has been driven by upscale sex shops catering to women, such as Britain's Myla, which produces its own line of luxe lingerie as well as commissioning sex toys from some of the world's hottest design names.
New York industrial design star Scott Henderson joins peers Tom Dixon and Marc Newson with his brand-new C-shell vibrator, which has the distinction of being one of the most powerful items on the market.
"Designers love to get their hands on products traditionally thought of as mundane," Henderson says, "household and personal items that have never received any professional design attention, and to solve function problems while also providing a piece that satisfies aesthetic concerns."
Dixon, whose angular, sculptural vibrator called Bone has got the design world buzzing, puts it bluntly: "Everything was so down market and ugly and badly engineered," he told the press. "People deserve better if they are going to stick these things up their intimate bits."
Bone, which retails for $380 (U.S.) at Myla's New York boutique, was inspired by sculptures of Barbara Hepworth, as well as ancient fertility symbols. Henderson's C-shell ($130 at Myla) is pretty -- a loop that is meant to be "easy to hold" (one surmises with wet hands) with a speed-control switch he describes as "not fussy." The three settings show a little face, one at rest, the second smiling, the third looking really damn happy. Signage is, of course, a big field in design these days.
The other big trend in the market is, of course, technology. Come As You Are has just added the $350 (Canadian) Je Joue to its line, a toy that involves a whole other level of sharing with friends and the world. This is a "teledildonic" toy, which basically means a sex toy that interacts with the Internet. The toy is programmable, like a stationary bike, says Silverberg, where the program takes you up and down hills, faster and slower, etc.
You can upload your own program for others to use. You can e-mail it to friends. Friends can e-mail you their program. (Okay, I am a prude.)
Silverberg estimates that the international sex-toy market is worth billions ("all the companies are privately owned, and there is no trade association to gather numbers") and that the Canadian market is worth hundreds of millions.
"Lots of people want these products," Henderson says. "This trend is about elevating the category of products, so they can reach a whole other class of consumers."
