The Libidex label was originally established in 1989 when Helen Saffery brought her design talents and fashion industry experience to the fetish scene, creating exquisite rubber couture and pre-empting the couture/fetish crossover designs of Gaultier, Mugler and McQueen

Those who know their rubber call Libidex the 'Saville Row' tailors to the fetish world - but that might make you think they're rather snooty and exclusive. Not a bit. Simon Rose, who worked with Helen to establish the company which he acquired in 1998, believes that rubber is for everyone, and that everyone deserves the best from their latex wardrobe

"Our main selling point is that we offer a high quality latex clothing and a made-to-measure service at a very reasonable price. We are always keen to create new looks from our customers' ideas as well as our own, and our aim always is to produce something that suits in style, appearance and fit."

Libidex customers come from all walks of life and in all shapes and sizes. From mature, experienced rubberists and SM aficionados, to the gay scene, transsexuals and transvestites, clubbers just looking for something funky to wear, and shy first-timers. Libidex offers a very wide range of styles and colours, from classic to more stylised designs, including catsuits, tops, leggings, trousers, shorts and lingerie to more exotic outfits based on military uniforms and even more fantastic designs using techniques such as appliqué, printing, inflatable rubber and combining rubber with other materials. Over the last few years, Libidex has added substantially to its collection, designing new ranges of lingerie, catsuits and corsets, along with dresses and fantasy uniforms. Simon's approach is to use classic, popular designs and give them his own latex twist, resulting in creations that make a statement but are also eminently wearable.

Libidex's creations have regular outings at shows all over the world, from the USA to Japan and to Germany. Recent appearances have included an extravaganza performance at Amsterdam's Wasteland and at the German Fetish Ball in Berlin.

Libidex is becoming increasingly popular with the transvestite/transsexual market. "Most of our designs are for women (though we are constantly expanding our male range), but these always look excellent on men too. Because we offer a bespoke service, we can adapt any of our female designs to fit perfectly on the male figure. A good many of our customers are cross-dressers and we are very pleased to cater for them."

Libidex has always been a hit with the glitterati and society's more notorious characters. In the quintessential nineties scandal David Mellor's mistress Antonia de Sancha cavorted Sun style in a Libidex catsuit - and the late Paula Yates chose to relaunch Britain's seminal style and music show The Tube in Libidex. Caprice front paged on Esquire in Libidex designs, doing a double encore on the cover of The Times magazine and photographer Bob Carlos Clarke's 2000 calendar, along with actress Rachel Weisz and models Paula Hamilton and Vanessa Upton. Vanessa, one of London's favourite fetish models also appeared in the Loaded Calendar, this time in a Libidex nurse's outfit.

In 2003, Libidex was commissioned to produce hoods for Emma Bunton and Harvey Nichols and complete outfits for a troupe of LA showgirls and a band of raunchy 'Tequila' girls accompanying Eminem on tour.

More recently, Libidex has undertaken commissions for Vivienne Westwood and the late Alexander McQueen, and has even dressed the Opera at La Scala Milan, and a production of Monteverdi's Coronation of Poppaea at English National Opera in London

In 1998, Libidex expanded into a new Studio in St Pancras, London, streamlined the ordering process and went on-line, making it more accessible to customers worldwide. In October 2005 Libidex opened its flagship store in Covent Garden, Liberation, which today is the only fetish latex shop in central London. It has become famous in the fetish world as a ‘must visit' destination for London's fetish tourists, and has been well reviewed in magazines and on television, with London's events magazine Time Out dubbing it ‘the coolest kink boutique in town'.

In 2007, Libidex formed a partnership with a company in Malaysia to begin producing its own brand of fashion-grade latex sheeting for use in the production of latex garments. Radical Rubber, as it was called, was the first serious challenge to 4D Rubber, which had up to then practically monopolised the supply of latex sheeting to garment makers throughout the world. Radical Rubber offered the industry a choice of two suppliers, new colours and effects in latex, and a sharp drop in prices when it came on the market.

Libidex is now one of the largest producers of high quality latex garments in the world, and in 2010 moved into new (though actually 150 year old), larger premises in a converted Victorian factory in Bloomsbury, London. This now houses the Libidex design studio and workshop, the Radical Rubber warehouse and the company's offices.

According to Simon, "It's our ability to think differently and to push forward the boundaries of latex fashion that people seem to like. It's great that so many people come back to us again and again - we must be doing something right!"