Dita Von Teese in one of the early Peter W Czernich shots featured in his imminent photo-book, which is crowdfunding now
For many of us, Dita Von Teese is the greatest fetish success story of modern times. She’s the ultimate proof that someone who started out as a model and performer in the world of corsets, latex, burlesque and bondage could become a mainstream fashion icon, red carpet celebrity and star of one of the most successful live reviews in history!
While Dita has many fans who have followed her since her early fetish days, the majority of her followers today may be only dimly aware of her ‘exotic’ beginnings. But to the rescue comes Peter W Czernich, founder of Germany’s legendary fetish magazine Marquis and one of the first photographers to shoot with Dita.
Between 1996 and 2004, Peter and Dita shot around 3,000 photos and 20 hours of video together. During that period, Dita featured regularly in — and on the cover of — Marquis, as well as starring in four Marquis videos.
Young Dita sports a red and black latex ensemble in a spread from Peter W Czernich’s forthcoming book of their early shoots
Now, Peter has assembled a fantastic selection of those early Dita images into a new homage to his famous pal and collaborator — a photo-book entitled Dita Von Teese – The Early Shootings. The book will be self-published this July through crowdfunding on Kickstarter, and at time of publication of this article, there’s a week still left to pledge support for the project and secure yourself a copy at pre-publication price.
As usual with Kickstarter, there is a range of pledge levels that come with increasingly desirable rewards for fans and collectors. And whatever you pledge, the money is only collected if the Kickstarter campaign reaches the target set for publishing to proceed. At time of writing, €13,800 (apx £11,815) had already been pledged towards the target of €14,950 (apx £12,800) so the chances of the target not being reached in the final week seem extremely remote!
Dita Von Teese channels 1950s style for this spread, in polka-dot latex that could serve as lingerie or swimwear (Peter W Czernich)
The minimum Basic pledge just to secure a copy of the book is €60 (apx £52) which will save you money on the subsequent €69.95 retail price. There are three more Basic pledge levels up to €100 (apx £86). Above these there are three Fan-level pledges between €150/£129 and €500/£428, all of which include the book signed by Dita with the optional addition of three A4 art prints, or the book in a luxurious slip case plus six A4 art prints and the Dita four-DVD box set.
At the true ‘I’m a super-fan and money is no object’ end of things are two one-off reward packages. The Ultra Fan, at €900/£770, offers the book (signed by Dita) in luxurious slip case, plus six fine art prints and the DVD box set along with some special Dita-related one-off goodies from Peter’s personal archive.
Young Dita’s 1950s elegance is also evident in this Czernich spread contrasting latex as pastel loungewear with a B&W cocktail look
Finally at €1,000/£856 is the original black corset worn by Dita Von Teese for the cover shoot of the book Fetish Goddess (included). The corset, in patent leather with abundant seams and boning, was made by Bizarre Design’s Jeroen van der Klis. It is size XS and the original shape except that the cups were taken out for ‘alternative styling’.
More information, including full details of all the rewards and pledge levels, can be found on the Kickstarter campaign site via the link below.
kickstarter.com/projects/peterwczernich/dita-von-teese-the-early-shootings
Below: cover art (right) of Dita Von Teese - The Early Shootings, shown with one of the book’s spreads (photos: Peter W Czernich)