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Agent Provocateur
Since opening this Soho shop nearly 15 years ago, AP has become an international success story, with branches as far afield as New York, Moscow and Dubai. It’s the first port of call for the decadent and fashion-forward lingerie fan. The distinctive retro-glamour of the shops’ pink and black decor is extended to the staff, who are kitted out in cleavage-enhancing pink nurses’ uniforms. Bras, from 32A to 38F, start at around £60. Corsets, hosiery, nightwear, pasties and perfumes are also on the menu.
Agent Provocateur, 6 Broadwick St, W1F 8HL (7439 0229/www.agentprovocateur.com). Oxford Circus or Tottenham Court Rd tube. 11am-7pm Mon-Wed, Fri, Sat; 11am-8pm Thur; noon-5pm Sun. Other locations: 305 Westbourne Grove, W11 2QA (7243 1292); 5 Royal Exchange, EC3V 3LL (7623 0229); 16 Pont St, SW1X 9EN (7235 0229).

Aware
One-stop shopping for connoisseurs of men’s underwear, this space sells a comprehensive collection of designer labels. Expect to find boxers and briefs by Diesel, Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss and Armani, as well as its own-brand (trunks three-pack £29). Swimwear and close-fitting T-shirts are also available.
Aware, 25 Old Compton St, W1D 5JN (7287 3789/www.awarelondon.com). Leicester Sq tube. 11am-8pm Mon-Sun. Other locations: Amelie’s Follies, 34 Webb’s Rd, SW11 6FS (7924 3826). Feature continues

Best for old-fashioned glamour
Bordello
A touch of decadent, old-school naughtiness glamour in Shoreditch. Original lingerie designs by Damaris, Myla, Pussy Glamore and Buttress & Snatch swing off the rails alongside Australian swimwear label Jemma Jube and corsetry pieces by Miss Katie and Sian Hoffman. With a smattering of men’s undies by Fred & Ginger, Bordello also stocks boudoir furniture, candles and homewares.
Bordello, 55 Great Eastern St, EC2A 3HP (7503 3334/www.bordello-london.com). Old St tube/rail. 12.30-7.30pm Tue-Sat, 12.30-9.30pm Thur.

Clone Zone
London’s original gay superstore. Upstairs you’ve got your Calvin Klein undies, saucy greeting cards and ‘Glad To Be Gay’ CDs; downstairs things get, ahem, harder amid the skin mags and proctology videos. Fashion includes black leather pants and rubber jeans, sold alongside dildos moulded from the tackle of porn stars.
Clone Zone, 64 Old Compton Street, W1D 4UQ (7287 3530/www. clonezone.co.uk). Leicester Sq tube. 11am-9pm Mon-Thur, 11am-10pm Fri-Sat, noon-8pm Sun. Other locations: 266 Old Brompton Rd, SW5 9HR (7373 0598).

Coco de Mer

Best for eco accessories
Coco de Mer
With its sumptuous interior, objet d’art dildos and peep-show changing rooms which allow your partner to ‘spy’ on you, the new Coco de Mer store is one decadent erotic shop. Stock has an ethical, artisan-led twist: you can be sure your dildo is made from WWF-endorsed wood or that part of the price includes a charity donation (Bondage for Freedom donates to Burmese charities). It’s kinky too, boasting a great selection of tools, ticklers and restraints.
Coco de Mer, 108 Draycott Ave, SW3 3AE (7584 7615/www.coco-de-mer.com). South Kensington tube. 10am-8pm Mon-Sat, noon-6pm Sun. Other location: 23 Monmouth St, WC2H 9DD (7836 8882).

Expectations
Clunking down the metal steps to subterranean Expectations, you feel like you’re entering a dungeon – how appropriate. Merchandise includes retro gas masks, creepy rubber hoods and New York Police Department gear. The shop caters to just about every fetish going, from Adidas shorts to rubber wading suits. For those who are insecure about their size, rubber pants with a prosthetic penis are sold. Sex toys include dildos so big it hurts to look at them.
Expectations, 75 Great Eastern St, EC2A 3RY (7739 0292/www.expectations.co.uk). Old St tube/rail. 11am-7pm Mon-Fri, 11am-8pm Sat, noon-5pm Sun.

Freak Fetish
Many gay Londoners have suffered the indignity of being turned away from the Hoist nightclub owing to lack of proper leather gear. Now help is at hand. This fetish shop is right next door and open late on weekend evenings. So if you are barred by the Hoist’s doorman, pop in and pick up a pair of leather chaps (£129) or open-crotch shorts (£36) and, poof!, now
you can go to the ball!
Freak Fetish, Railway Arch 47B, South Lambeth Rd, SW8 1RH (www.fetishfreak.co.uk). Vauxhall tube/rail. 1-6.30pm Thur; 1.30-6.30pm, 10pm-2.30am Fri-Sat; 2-6.30pm,10pm-1.30am Sun.

Most hardcore
Fettered Pleasures
This really is hardcore. To enter Fettered Pleasures, you have to be buzzed in. Once inside, you’re surrounded by the stuff of nightmares – cleansing enemas, catheters, dungeon devices and gynaecological examining tables. Puppy cages and fisting stools are conveniently sold in flat-pack form: handy for hiding under a bed when the parents come to visit. Chains and rope are sold by the metre.
Fettered Pleasures, 90 Holloway Rd, N7 8JG (7619 9333/www.fetteredpleasures.com). Holloway Rd tube. 11am-7pm Mon-Sat.

Honour
Despite its small size, Honour is thorough. It stocks a strong selection of leather, rubber and PVC clothing. For men, standout PVC items include the boiler suit, trench coat and cycling shorts; in rubber, look out for the skin-tight bermuda shorts. For the ladies, uniforms are a forte, including naughty housemaids, policewomen and nurses. It’s also TV/TS friendly, thanks to wigs, hosiery and stilettos. The ‘bondage attic’ upstairs houses sex toys, DVDs, whips, restraints and more.
Honour, 86 Lower Marsh, SE1 7AB (7401 8219/ www.honour. co.uk). Waterloo tube/rail. 10.30am-7pm Mon-Fri, 11.30am-5pm Sat.

House of Harlot
House of Harlot specialises in haute-couture fetishwear, designing classy rubber and leather gear for the likes of Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton. Chances are you’ve seen its stylish creations in pop promos for Madonna, Marilyn Manson and, ah, Liberty X. Clothes range from clubby T-shirts to bespoke ballgowns, men’s rubber double-breasted suits and nurses’ uniforms. The bumless dresses are pure Leigh Bowery. Clothing can be cut to measure at no extra cost. It’s all rather pricey, but then, this is the sort of stuff you’d see in Vogue, not Hustler.
House of Harlot, 90 Holloway Rd, N7 8JG (7700 1441/www.house-of-harlot.com). Highbury & Islington tube/rail. 10am-6pm Mon-Fri, 11am-7pm Sat (also by appointment for fittings).

The London Fetish Fair
The fair – held on the second Sunday of every month at Shillibeers in Islington – is brimming with specialist stalls. Although the outlet run by Babes n Horny is now closed, you can still order its artisan-made silicone dildos and the like (in polka dots and other fanciful designs) online or visit its east London studio by appointment.
www.londonfetishfair.co.uk, www.babes-n-horny.com

Paradiso Bodyworks
The classiest fetish shop in Soho (admittedly, not a difficult achievement), Paradiso Bodyworks is more trendy boutique than pervy skulking territory. It operates out of two adjacent shops. The Old Compton Street branch specialises in hardcore fashion and sex toys. Clothes include kinky PVC nurses’ outfits (£65), catsuits (£75) and thigh-high boots (from £69). Staff are positively unabashed about explaining the intricacies of various toys. The shop next door showcases the glamorous side of fetish, with couture lingerie in silk, satin and lace (£85) and such glittering fare as diamanté-handled crops (£125) and jewelled nipple tassels (£65).
Paradiso Bodyworks, 60 Dean St, W1D 6AW (7287 6913). Leicester Sq or Tottenham Court Rd tube. 11am-7.30pm Mon-Sat. Other locations: 41 Old Compton St, W1D 6HF (7287 2487).

Prowler
Once billed as a gay department store, Prowler offers a mix of fashion and porn. The front room is full of trendy club gear and tight T-shirts, plus Calvin Klein underwear. The books section carries arty (read: nude) coffee-table books, gay diva bios and travel guides, plus fiction. Nothing too highbrow, though: this is, after all, a shop that also sells dildos, wank mags and DVDs featuring the men of eastern Europe.
Prowler, 5-7 Brewer Street, W1F 0RF (7734 4031/www.prowlerstores.co.uk). Piccadilly Circus tube. 11am-10pm Mon-Fri, 10am-10pm Sat, noon-8pm Sun.

Regulation
Regulation does a brisk trade in rubber gear for clubbers: kilts for gladiators, say, or peaked caps. For the young at heart, there’s a range of adult nappies, bibs and dummies. If you think that straitjackets are boring, try a human-sized vacuum-pack bag – sure to keep your loved one fresh. If all this sounds too fancy, there are old-fashioned wooden spoons. Lord knows what for.
Regulation, 17A St Alban’s Place, N1 0NX (7226 0665/www.regulation-london.co.uk). Angel tube. 10.30am-6.30pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun.

RoB London

Best for leather wear
RoB London
After almost 12 years, leather specialist RoB London has recently expanded to include a bright, airy space, a private(ish), snug room with flame-effect fire for private fittings and a dark, dungeon basement. With RoB London’s thick-cut leather-wear, accessories and multi-flavoured lubes on the ground floor, the basement is packed with specialist S&M products: a sling ergonomically designed to aid fisting, say, or executioners’ hoods. The onsite design and moulding of its own dildo line has been replaced with a tailor’s cutting room for leather- and latex-wear and repairs.
RoB London, 24-25 Wells St, W1T 3PH (3073 1010/www.rob.eu). Oxford Circus tube. 11am-7pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun.

Best for women
Sh!
Hoxton’s groundbreaking women’s pleasure emporium celebrates its sweet sixteenth this year. When the sex industry was dominated by sleazy store owners selling French maid’s outfits, Sh! stuck out like the sore proverbial. Its comprehensive stock of female-oriented sex toys and friendly, women-only atmosphere (men are admitted as ‘guests’) is just as radical today. In between the clit pleezers and cuffs, satin sheets and strap-ons, Sh! has just unveiled its new range of dildos, created with a new, non-toxic material. See ‘Carnal knowledge’, p10.
Sh!, 57 Hoxton Sq, N1 6PB (7613 5458/www.sh-womenstore.com). Old St tube/rail. Noon-8pm daily.

Showgirls

Award-winning fetish wear
Showgirls
Despite its location on the Holloway Road, Showgirls is known by some as ‘the Harvey Nicks of fetish shops’. With its stylish collection of couture fetishwear – delicately lace printed or perforated – it’s definitely more high fashion than down and dirty. Resident designer Atsuko Kudo is famed for her chic rubber dresses and lingerie and has recently created pieces for Grace Jones, Eva Mendes and countless stylists and photographers (on our visit, staff were busy wrapping samples for top fashion photographer Stephen Meisel and Italian Vogue). To complete your ensemble, Showgirls offers a small but striking collection of high heels, rubber ties and must-have accessories – tiny top hats and berets in slick, shiny rubber.
Showgirls, 64 Holloway Rd, N7 8JL (7697 9072/www.showgirlslatexboutique.com). Highbury & Islington tube/rail. 10.30am-7pm Mon-Sat

Bookshops | Fashion boutiques | Department stores | Erotica and Lingerie Gifts | Health & beauty | High street | Interiors | Jewellery | Menswear | Shoes Specialist | Sports & Technology | Vintage fashion | Shopping Awards 2008