Ahead of Pearl Necklace this weekend, we caught up with the clipboard wielding operations mastermind behind Torture Garden and resident DJ, Charlotte TG. To learn about how she got entangled into this international fetish brand, and explore how this new production to their ever-evolving roster came about.
What is Torture Garden?
Torture Garden is the world’s largest monthly fetish club. Allen TG and David Wood started the night to be the place they wanted to go to with their friends, and that is still very much our ethos. A home for people (like ourselves) looking for something outside of the norm, and the freedom to push their boundaries among like-minded people. With multiple dancefloors, performances varying from body art to burlesque, circus to fetish couture fashion shows, plus dungeons and couples rooms.
You can make a night at TG what you want it to be. Our crowd go all out with their outfits. Our dresscode is strict fetish so you won’t see any street wear at a TG night, and the costumes really add another dimension to making the night what it is.
Photo by @picturesinblood
Who is Charlotte TG?
I’ve been with Torture Gardern for around 20 years. I started as door bitch at the events, working briefly for TG Latex, our latex clothing label, before I started helping out in the TG office.
I stuck around so long that they eventually gave me a fancy title, and now I’m a director of the company. I look after the day to day running of TG which includes; booking shows, working with the team on themes and décor ideas, setting up our international events, and developing new projects. Plus, all the boring grown up stuff that happens behind the scenes to keep the business side of the events ticking over.
How did you discover the fetish world?
TG was one of the first ever clubs I went to (when I was far too young to find myself in a place like that), and Slimelight at Electrowerkz was actually the very first!! There is something really nice about putting on nights there and the venue being part of our family when it played such a big part in my early days on the subculture scene, sorry mum, it turns out it wasn’t just a phase!
Like a lot of people, Slimelight was a part of my journey and responsible for a lot of friendships that I still have a couple of decades later. Actually all of us at TG were regulars at Slimelight at different times, it’s such a rite of passage within the London alt community.
A few years after first being out on the alternative scene I was working in a fetish shop in Soho that sold tickets to TG parties. The guys asked me if I could help out on the door at the club and things just evolved from there really. My involvement grew over the years until one day I’d just ended up being a full-time member of the team, and as the events got bigger so did my role. It’s been quite a ride and kept me on my toes over the years. I’ve seen lots of changes and it’s been amazing how much more accepting the world has become of fetish and our previously underground world.
how did The concept of the Pearl Necklace come about?
The Pearl Necklace is the bastard Covid child of TG! When lockdown started it quickly became clear that TG was going to be on hold for a while. We were hearing from a lot of regular customers who were missing the community.
They missed the chance to be the person they get to become when they come to us for a night of escapism, and we were missing the events and being creative. We came up with a Covid restrictions friendly event. A way for people to get a taste of TG! Working with regular TG performers and bringing in our high production values to create a really immersive space at a venue that has been part of our journey from the beginning to create a new kind of night from us.
The Pearl Necklace was actually the name of a smaller Sunday night event that we held a couple of times as part of our TG Birthday Weekend years ago, and it felt like a good fit for the concept as it developed. We wanted to work with Electrowerkz, both companies were looking for ways to get through the pandemic so it was natural for us to do something together.
what lies behind the doors of The Pearl Necklace?
The idea is that The Pearl Necklace is a timeless mansion with an eclectic mix of “Resident” (the performers) who have opened their doors to welcome guests for dinner, we have (socially distanced) walkabout characters and hosts, and stage shows that get more…risqué… as the night goes on, with food and drink served throughout the night. The decor is really opulent and helps take you away from the everyday life that we could all use a break from in the last year!
It’s definitely a good way for people to dip their toes and get an idea of what TG is about. We’ve had lots of our regular club goers come along too and some excellent outfits (we post picks on instagram.com/the.pearlnecklace), so it feels like an authentic TG night, but without the commitment of a full on club for people wanting to try something new.
which residents might you encounter at the pearl necklace mansion?
The residents are all performers that you could expect to find on the stage at a TG night. We wanted to create work for people in our family that had found job opportunities come to a standstill as clubs had to close. With a sit-down audience we’re able to put on different kinds of stage shows. A club crowd is looking for something quite immediate but when people are having a meal, they watch the shows in a different way, it’s been a nice change programming such a different night, transferring what we do to something new.
We have a core cast that performer different acts at different nights, and then guest performers. Lolo Brow is our regular host, the Mistress of the house, and you can often see Skinny Red Head performing shibari, Charlie Bouquette being our resident burlesque bombshell, Andromeda Circus doing some very…unique…contortion, plus Cynth Icorn bringing an element of ritual, Rosy Pendlebaby taking confession as a very unforgiving latex nun and Matt Skully being the kind of Butler that not many mansions can boast of! Guest performers have included Virgin Xtravaganzah, Ayesha H, Demi Noire and Danny Ash.
I will say that if you are easily shocked, we aren’t going to be the right night for you!
What's the Future for fetish events in a post-covid world?
TG would have been celebrating our 30th birthday this year, but as with every other plan, this was put on hold as the world was in lock down. We’ve never been conventional though, so maybe 31 or 32 is a better year to commemorate!
I wish I could say for certain, for us we are waiting to be confident that it is safe for both customers and staff before we re-open, but there is nothing about the last year that we could have predicted with certainty, so like everyone else, we are waiting to see what happens next.
We have venues booked and are ready to go whenever it feels right to start up again. A lot of people are desperate to get out and party hard, but equally there are a lot of people that are nervous after having a year away from socialising. So it will be interesting to see how this affects all kinds of nights, or if things just go back to how they were and we pick up where we left off. I’m excited to get to be creative on a big scale again and to get back to doing what we love on a monthly basis
The Pearl Necklace is this weekend
4th June - Limited tickets
5th June - (Fetish Dresscode) Limited tickets
4th June - Limited tickets
5th June - (Fetish Dresscode) Limited tickets
Interview by James Elphick
Photos by Chasing The Tigers
Photos by Chasing The Tigers
