Wearables are transforming the formerly secretive products as we know them.
As early as a few years ago, getting a vibrator would hardly be described as a pleasant experience. Most likely, it was done in secret — at some small store with tinted windows on a side street or on a gaudy website. Once the product was safely taken home, it would be kept in a drawer or closet, hidden from view until it was time to be used. It might not be that you were ashamed of it, but it's not something you'd keep around for people to see. Because let's be honest: Sex toys are not exactly the most beautiful pieces to keep around in plain sight.
Recently, however, there have been a slew of brands that are looking to transform not only the experience of buying the products, but also the way they're viewed in society. The solution? Wearable sexual products that have a high design quotient, making the owners want to show them off and wear them in public — and in the process, perhaps start some long overdue conversations about the nature of the adult toy industry, especially the way it's marketed to women. From high-end silver massage rings to vibrators in the form of lockets, check out a few of the brands transforming sex toys as we know them.
Started by industrial designer Ti Chang, Crave wants to reinvent the vibrator by making it sleek, well-designed, and stylish. From a wearable option to wear around your neck like a necklace to discreet gold items that can be displayed around the house, Crave's purpose is to take the shame out of sexual objects — especially because of their stigma in society.
"Pleasure for women has had a terrible history of male suppression," says Chang. "Guilt and shame are too often part of the experience of pleasure for women, due to these cultural taboos. But there is no reason why a vibrator should not be as well-designed as a camera or cell phone. After all, if anything deserves good design, it's the things we bring to bed with us."
She's particularly proud of the necklace she's created. Called the Vesper, it's a slim, chic vibrator that you can delicately wear on a neck chain. Made of stainless steel, it comes in a silver, gold or rose gold finish (with optional engraving), and has two speeds designed with both discreteness and quietness in mind.
"It's quite statement-making, and that was the point," elaborates Chang. "It's so that women wouldn't be ashamed to wear it in public. Then, if they're asked about it, they can either explain what it is, or they can just say it's a piece of jewelry. But the point is to give them that choice, and hopefully start conversations around why they'd be embarrassed in the first place. It's quite empowering."