We’re sometimes asked by customers whether Libidex, like other latex brands, ever supplies latex clothing to makers of movies, TV/streaming dramas or music videos. The answer is yes, we most certainly do! But we haven’t promoted this side of our work as much as some whose designs you might see sported by celebs on social media.

However, since there is obvious interest in our own collaborations in this area, our intention is for the Libidex Blog to bring you more of these stories from now on. And we’re going to start with our very substantial contribution of latex to a streaming series globally on Disney+ and on Hulu in the USA.

And when we say “very substantial”, we don’t mean a couple of outfits for some aspiring popster to wear in their promo video. We mean a whole shop-full of the stuff!

How did it come about? Rewind to autumn 2020, which is when we were approached by Lettie Grumbarl, the project’s art director. She asked Libidex to supply the latex clothes for Pistol, the biographical miniseries created for FX by Craig Pearce, directed by Danny Boyle and based on Steve Jones’s book Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol.

Lettie — whose previous art department includes Florence Foster Jenkins, Entebbe, The King, Emma, and The Great — explained that the clothes would be displayed on the rails of a recreation of Vivienne Westwood and Malcom McLaren’s iconic King’s Road shop SEX. In total the production company wanted to rent 50 Libidex pieces, which we were very happy to provide.

We were informed that the latex would only be used as set dressing and not worn. So it was a very pleasant surprise to see lead actor Anson Boon (who plays Johnny Rotten) trying on our Ashleigh Hood in his opening scene. There is a full close-up scene featuring “Johnny’s” mouth behind the hood’s open lips.

A few episodes further on, we were as delighted to see Talulah Riley, who plays Vivienne Westwood, holding one of our suspender belts during a poignant scene in which she delivers a passionate speech to two teenage girls about freeing women from the oppression of the patriarchy. We’re sure everyone will agree that nothing says ‘freedom from patriarchal oppression’ like a Libidex latex suspender belt!

You can see the Libidex latex we provided scattered all around the show’s SEX shop, which was recreated for the project right down to the bright pink latex SEX sign adorning the entrance. Visible throughout the series’ six episodes are myriad Libidex stockings, hoods, tops and skirts hanging on rails and displayed on wall-mounted mannequins.

But hang on a minute, we hear you saying! The stylish latex that Libidex designs and makes is light years ahead of the kind of basic black sex shop/mail order rubber fetish gear that was actually available to stock Westwood and McLaren’s shop in the mid-1970s! And you are not wrong.

This, we admit, was where a bit of artistic licence was unavoidable. But it did mean that at least the atmosphere — and, for the actors, the full fragrance! — of a shop full of 50 items of rubberwear was faithfully recreated. Albeit with pieces less basic and more stylish looking than anything that would have actually been found at SEX all those decades ago!

Watch the Pistol trailer here:

First six images below show Johnny Rotten (Anson Boon) in Pistol’s SEX shop; all but one show him trying on our Ashleigh latex hood.

The actors playing the four Sex Pistols recreate a band photo in front of a US tour bus

Maisie Williams in latex for her role as Jordan, in Pistol’s recreated SEX shop

Maisie Williams in latex for her role as Jordan, in Pistol’s recreated SEX shop

Jordan (Maisie Williams) in latex for her role in Pistol

Sid Vicious (Louis Partridge) and Johnny Rotten (Anson Boon) on stage in Pistol

Band members (right) arrive at Pistol’s recreation of Westwood & McLaren’s Kings Road shop SEX

Jordan (Maisie Williams) dressed for the English weather in Pistol

Jordan (Maisie Williams) makes a first class job of her daily commute in Pistol

Latex-clad Jordan (Maisie Williams) with Siouxsie (Beth Dillon) looking on in Pistol