This article originally ran in the March 2015 issue of AVN. To see the issue, which features more coverage of AVN's January shows, click here.
Mistress Poubelle is an L.A.-based domme; she wrote about her experiences in the Lair, the kinky corner of the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo.
My dear readers. Mistress Poubelle here, your intrepid mistress, reporting on four days spent watching beautiful flesh on parade at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, naturally. Sponsored by Kink.com, the Lair is AEE's special area for all things kink, held on the mezzanine level overlooking the vast auditorium called the Joint. The Lair was my outpost for the entire time of the show, of course. It was delightful.
Mistress Cyan of the Sanctuary LAX beautifully executed her first oversight of the Lair, focusing on new and creative kink purveyors as well as presenting a raft of instructional workshops taught by actual kinksters to those vanilla attendees of the annual porn convention. Ah, yes. We always need to recruit fresh faces so we can play with more in our dungeons! Mistress Cyan shared her thoughts: "I've already been asked to organize the Lair next year and I'm so excited! The play areas have been busy the whole time and we sold out the vendors area."
She continued, "There are a lot of people here who are curious about BDSM and have come up to the second floor to discover the many aspects of it that we are offering. Of course, the Fifty Shades of Grey craze has helped us out a bit and our goal was to be interactive and not to scare them away. We asked them to try their hand (so to speak) at spanking and some light bondage. It was to allow them to understand it's not just about pain." And I am sure many of these virgin attendees took these skills home with them.
The kink purveyors came from all corners of the country. Boston was represented by Danny Winters of Leather by Danny, who sold at the Lair for the first time. "The entire line of my hand-crafted leather bondage equipment has been very well received, both by newcomers to the scene but also by the many professional dommes that are in attendance. There are many more people here who are exploring their kinky side and I'm always happy to show them Grip Cuffs, which are my own creation. They're always a best seller whether as the first piece of bondage equipment someone buys or as an addition to a well-stocked toy bag. I've been really happy with the show and the visuals have been great!"
Justin Sayne Leathers, newly transplanted to Los Angeles, displayed his charmingly wondrous alligator whips and floggers. Yes, dear readers, you read correctly. For the floggers, the entire skin of an alligator is used with the tail curled at one end for the handle, creating an effect that is beautiful to look at and deliciously painful to experience. Justin commented that the Lair presented a nice mix of pornsters who were doing more kink and fetish as well as experienced dommes and subs. "There's been a lot of interest for everything in the Lair and I've had a great time here. I've sold a few of my floggers, too, which makes me pretty happy."
Lady Tara, from Vegas' own Black Room, added that it was a good show. She presented more tame and toned-down products to introduce beginners to BDSM. Lady Tara added, "We also are here to present our new dungeon space called 'Faust,' which is near the Bellagio, and the Lair was the perfect place to announce it!"
California retailer Orchid and Serpent had a booth both on the main floor of AEE as well as in the Lair. Orchid and Serpent's Philip added that the more beginner-level BDSM equipment was displayed and sold on the main floor while the more kinky products were shown in the Lair. "Having two different retail booths worked out perfectly. When someone comes in looking for something a little more hardcore, we send them upstairs to get it because we have a lot more up there." Philip also shared that the nipple torture products sold well on the main floor, which should be no surprise to anyone who has been to AEE and seen all of the lovely bosoms there, waiting to be perked up by delicious devices.
The well-known publication DDI (Domination Directory International) had a booth featuring dommes advertising their much-wanted services within their pages. Medical fetishist Goddess LeeAnn signed photos while sharing what a good time she was having seeing many friends from the BDSM world. "The Lair has been great to meet new people but also see friends I haven't seen in a while. It's been nice to have our own space while welcoming the new and curious because we all had to start somewhere!"
Perhaps the best name for a booth and product line belonged to Papa Scott from the Pennsylvania-based Flogger Knows Best. "The show has been fantastic!" he exclaimed. "It's a nice mix of experienced players and newbies, and Kink.com and Mistress Cyan have done a great job bringing in more people. In fact, there have been more people on Friday than there have been in other shows combined. It's my third year here and I'll always be a vendor here in the Lair during AEE."
I also interviewed a few neophytes to all of these new experiences to get their thoughts on the Lair. Julie from San Diego was trying to understand it while at the same time was intrigued by it all. "OMG!" she explained. "There's so much I want to see and ask about. This is so different than my usual soccer mom crowd." Jim, from Texas, was attending another trade show being held in Las Vegas, and arrived with no agenda. "It's pretty cool. I've heard about kink but haven't seen anything like it before. It's about what I figured it would be."
So whether or not you tend to bend toward the kinky side of the spectrum, make sure you visit The Lair during the next AEE convention in Vegas. Otherwise, I'll have to spank you.
