By Jay E. Moyes

NEW YORK – Recently, the Big Apple gleamed with the New York Rubber Ball and the Miss Rubber World 2013 competition. After the event, we were granted an audience with The Baroness, one of New York’s preeminent designers of elegant, provocative latex fashions. She is a major sponsor of New York Rubber Ball and serves as Mistress of Ceremonies for the Miss Rubber World contest.

While The Baroness is known worldwide for latex fashion now, she previously experienced enormous success in other areas. She ran a successful lingerie company during the 1980s and also designed costumes for Broadway and Hollywood.

We were able to get to know her a bit, ask about the latex fetish and fashion business, and get a post-crowning analysis of the competition.

YNOT.com: Why latex?

The Baroness: Why not latex! Are you mad? [She laughs.]

I started with a little red latex dress. It was short and tight with a front zipper and not my style at all, but I wanted it. We go into the dressing room and try to cram me into this dress. The dress felt dreadful. I couldn’t breathe. I was aware every fat piece was dangling out.

I go out into the store. When I do, I hear, “Ah! Oh my God. You look incredible!” And I think to myself, “If this dress fit me, I would feel as incredible as you think I look.”

That’s why I started working with latex. I wanted women to look good in this fabulous material and not feel dreadful. My first thing was to make latex clothing that actually fit different body types, and I wanted to have a broader array of styles so more women would wear them.

What new latex garments did you unveil during your fashion show at Miss Rubber World 2013?

I wanted to show how much latex has evolved over the course of the years I’ve been doing it. When I started, latex was pretty much black and red. Most of what I’ve used before is a jewel tone, with sapphire and emerald colors. This time, I used gold, silver, copper, shamrock green, a soft violet color and a wonderful blue-ice latex. The new colors glisten and gleam in a way that’s quite different.

I also wanted to see a lot more little dresses now that we’re coming into summer. The trend has been that you see more and more latex out as streetwear. So I designed some new little frocks, a heart dress with hearts over the bust cuffs. I have tight, form-fitting shorts and a new dress called the “flirty dress” — a short dress that flares out at the neck. We’ve got some new halter-style dresses with lacing up the back.

Did you back any contestants in the Miss Rubber World contest this year? Have you worked closely with contestants for Miss Rubber World in the past?

Not this year. When the Miss Rubber World contest first started, it was New York-based. I worked very heavily with the competition, dressing three of the six contestants. I’ve judged a lot of competitions, so I tend to guide and advise people. I also used my store to direct contestants to the event. As the event has grown, it has become more international, with worldwide competitors, which is really great.

This year we had Psylocke from Europe, Val Vampyre from Florida and Angel Eena from Tennessee. We’re also seeing more designers compete. Angel, who came in third, is a designer. So is Madria from Montreal. The only one from New York this year was Julie Simone. Queen Titania, who won second place, is from nearby Rhode Island.

How would you describe some of the fantasy performances at Miss Rubber World 2013? What put the winner, Psylocke, over the top?

If I were judging Miss Rubber World 2013, I would have voted for Psylocke right away. She came out on stage in a black catsuit wearing a hood, and she had a transparent piss bag attached to her. Psylocke’s set-up on stage was a table, chairs, a champagne bottle and two glasses. I looked away for a moment, and next thing I knew, she was offering champagne to the judges, and the piss bag was on the floor. I think that’s fucking brilliant. First of all, anyone who’s wearing a stadium belt to a fetish event….

Stadium belt? You mean like a catheter?

Yes, piss bag, catheter, stadium belt. Imagine Psylocke in the catsuit. Now imagine a tube coming from the area of her genitalia, winding down the leg, and secured to the leg is a latex bag, a piss bag. I find this incredibly entertaining. That’s something most of the people in New York, when they think about latex, they really don’t think about the SM play end of it. So I really like that, because that is the play aspect of latex.

“There you are judges. That’s my gift.” That is spectacular, is it not?

[/b]That was an all-or-nothing move! It would either floor the judges, or you’d lose the contest immediately.[/b]

Having judged Miss Rubber World, I tell this to all the contestants immediately: “Bring bribes for the judges. We can all be bribed.” If we can’t, what good are we as judges? We want to see stuff from you.

[After her opening,] Psylocke put on high-heeled ballet boots and pranced about the stage as part of her performance. Anyone who can walk around in ballet boots is a great fetishist.

What else stood out, and how did that contrast with past Miss Rubber World contests?

The person who has a passion for latex and rubber is going to get a higher score than the one who says “well, it’s cool to dress up, and I like to wear it for my boyfriend.” Some fantasy performances were just a little burlesque act, which doesn’t appeal to me as much because burlesque is different from where we’re going with [Miss Rubber World].

Archean, who won Miss Rubber World 2011, said a lot of effort has to go into the performance. She did a magic escape act on stage, with a latex vacuum bed. Kylie Marilyn won Miss Rubber World 2012 with a simple catsuit-and-cream performance. As a former judge, what are your criteria?

As a judge, I want to see something I haven’t seen before. I’ve seen strap-on dicks shooting cream out onto some other chick’s breasts — done to death 10 years ago.

I love inflatables. I like fluids and latex, and I love latex because of the more tactile experience. So the catsuit-and-cream experience Kylie Marilyn performed in 2012 was more interesting. When you get competitors doing the same thing, it becomes harder to judge. Nothing stands out. However, a novice will present something we most likely haven’t seen, and Europeans will present something we haven’t seen [in the U.S.].

What won Queen Titania first runner-up was the on-stage interview part of the competition. As MC, I asked her, “If you had one piece of latex to give to anyone or everyone, what would it be?” Queen Titania said, “I would give them one rubber glove.” Her first experience with latex was a one-rubber-glove hand job, and it was great. I thought, “That’s brilliant!” I like the aspect that it is interesting and sexual. That remark just hit me better than much of what I saw.

Speaking of Queen Titania, you’ve brought out something important about the contest: Male-to-female transgender people are allowed to compete. Two have won the Miss Rubber World title. How is it the rubber community steps over gender barriers more easily than other groups?

For most latex fetishists, if it is shiny and they like it, they don’t care about the gender or who’s wearing it. Latex has the aspect of body modification through clothing. There are inflatables, the rubber-doll archetype and superhero styles. That’s why we have masks and hoods. Those allow you to become a different figure.

The only rule with latex is you make up your own rules. It doesn’t have to be a certain way. Whatever makes you feel the most comfortable, the most attractive and alluring [is right for you].

What would you say was your favorite part of Miss Rubber World 2013? What really stood out?

I love the fact that more people are doing fashion shows, so all of these rubberists get a chance to see an array of designers and an array of people from foreign worlds. I love seeing how many new and emerging designers there are.

What does The Baroness have in store for us next?

I have my own events such as the Fetish Retinue, an event held first Sunday of every month. I’ll also be presenting the Royal Amusements Dinner, which will be Sunday, June 2, during the New York Fetish Marathon. You can sign up through the website for emails about our upcoming events.

As a designer, I am working on hardcore, bizarre SM fashion. As I’m a hardcore player, my approach to it is different. It’s not a delicate “oh, here I am for the fashion ball.” It’s more like, “I’m going to drag you, kicking and screaming, down the street with [my fashion creation], and it won’t break!”

The new hardcore fetish and BDSM line incorporates the modern direction latex has gone with the fetish way of [the past], such as with buckles, straps and enclosures. I like bondage clothing that’s surprisingly unique, where I can just put something together and someone is secured, or you can take off the belt and use it in another way.

Do you work with other shops and stores as well? Do you accept wholesale or custom orders?

We have stuff for sale at the boutique in New York and we sell through the website, but a lot of what I make doesn’t make it to the website. It’s custom made for our clients. At the boutique, I dress all of my customers and dress them for the big events.

We do offer wholesale. The Baroness wholesale line is smaller, but the items are the less-expensive pieces. It does depend how busy I am. As a designer and an artist, I enjoy just doing really fabulous pieces, but sometimes I would rather everyone buy my stuff off the racks. Then I could just go on vacation.

The Baroness has been a designer of elegant, provocative latex fashions since 1994. She is renowned for her fashion events, parties and performances. The Baroness has been a spokesperson for latex fashion in the media, including on HBO’s Real Sex, A&E and the Playboy Channel. Her shop of latex wear and rubber gear is located at 530-B East 13th Street in New York City. Orders and inquiries may be placed online or by calling 212-529-5964.

The New York Rubber Ball and the Miss Rubber World contest are held every spring in the city that never sleeps. The events run over the course of a weekend and feature fetish parties, prominent latex designers and latex fashion models from around the globe. A DVD of the 2013 event is in post-production. For sales, content distribution, broadcast rights or more information, contact Dana Windsor.

[SIZE=1]All images are courtesy Baroness.com and copyrighted.[/SIZE]