MIUZU

Earlier today, I was flipping through Nico (a Euro fashion magazine) and found an interview of Sam Roddick of Coco de Mer.  For anyone who doesn’t know the name, Coco de Mer is the premier luxury sex boutique in the world.  Sam opened the first shop in London a few years ago. Now, on top of a burgeoning presence in the UK, they have a shop in Los Angeles.

Anyways…

The interview was brilliant – it looked past the aura of the Roddick name to the mindset that brought Sam to the “love” biz.  It’s evidence of what can happen when brains and confidence come of age. Sam was driven not by profit, but by a more meaningful desire. And given the Roddick legacy, it couldn’t have been without some serious reflection that Sam chose this direction for her career.  But Sam saw a chance to have a positive impact on the world, and went for it…with gusto.   Through it all, Sam has gotten to know herself very well. And when you meet her, it shows.

Not everyone is cut out for this business, and it’s certainly not yet mainstream. So it’s hard not to admire those who have taken it on from unlikely beginnings.

But it’s all in how you do it.  And there’s scarce pickin’s if you’re looking for people/companies that are executing with a good measure of taste.  Most of what you see is trashy and vulgar.

Not so with Coco de Mer.  What Sam (and her sis Justine) have created is a bit of a sex fashion oasis in the middle of a desert of cheap jelly products and shoddy lingerie.

Being way more enthused about contemporary stying and design (think Scandanavian), I’m not a huge fan of the Victorian qualities of the Coco de Mer collection. However, I am a HUGE fan of the sensibilities of the founders, the intent of the stores, and the effect of making sex products aspirational rather than just titillating. This underscores a different relationship between us humans and one of our most sought-after pastimes.

Thanks Sam, and Justine too.

Dave

It seems like every day someone says to me, “I LOVE your idea/strategy/plan!  But since it’s about sex, I can’t work with / buy from / help you.”

Everyone has a sense that there is a very big market here, but they are loathe to be associated with it.  And it’s never about the tastes/preferences of the person I’m interacting with.  It’s always what they think someone else might think…  And if you explicitly followed the trail to the person who’s opinions are stalling everyone before them in the chain, you’d find that they were some totally dysfunctional shut-in from the backwaters that may really need some therapeutic intervention.

There’s the private conversation about our domain (sex) and the public one.  And for so many people, the two are necessarily in conflict…because to be honest about it is to admit to things over which so many people feel shame.

Our attitudes are so broken.

But I think this is where the intrigue lies!  At the end of the day, we’re still human, and we have needs that are completely natural.  And whether we feel good about it or not, we fulfill them! One way or another…

Our job as a brand is to give access to a different psychic linkage; to uncouple the element of shame from the erotic: to make it socially compelling.

I’ll be writing more about this in the future. I love this stuff!

Dave

I caught a piece from the Canadian Broadcast Corporation yesterday.  You can find it / listen to it here. Look down the page to Part 2 of the broadcast to stream the report in question…

As chinese manufacturers broadly feel the sting of the economic downturn, this reporter finds that the sex toy manufacturers in China are still thriving.  It may be regrettable that so many of these producers are making products in such poor taste.

I know – I’m biased.  But….

It’s a good sign that consumers are still taking care of themselves and their intimate lives!

Now we just need to convince them to be a little more selective…

:-)

The world is changing fast.

in 2001, when I first considered making “intimacy products”, some friends of mine raised a great deal of skepticism about the notion, saying that it was a small fragmented business and we’d never make any money at it.

Out of that early effort, Jimmyjane was borne, and is helping to change the consumer landscape with great, luxurious design – specifically for sex

Look what else has happened:

• you can buy Jimmyjane products at Nordstrom
• Philips (the Dutch electronics giant) has started making sex toys
• Selfridges (one of the most prestigious retailers in the world) has been selling premium sex products for over 7 years now, with no intention of stopping)
• other leading premium retailers around the world are taking on premium sex brands in an effort to define themselves as progressive, provocatively fashionable, and smart

This is just a sampling.  I could go on and on…  (I surely will at some point!)

The adventure continues…with miuzu.  With miuzu we aim to appeal to a larger market with products that are cool, hip, approachable, and very affordable.  We draw on many other brands for inspiration: Apple, Nike, Method, and even IKEA.

Stay with us as we progress.  This is sure to get interesting!