Coco De Mer’s Erotic Shop Goes Global
Coco De Mer’s high end erotic shop has long been a staple for the sophisticate and the sexually curious.
The aesthetically pleasing palace set in London’s Covent Garden is as much a museum as it is a shop with each toy being part utility, part object d’art.
Don’t be surprised if you run in to Angelina, Madonna or Christina picking up lingerie by Stella McCartney or Coco or a few provocative props or toys made of jade, ornately carved stone or over the top crystal.
Proprietor Sam Roddick puts much more than pleasure in to her palace as there is always a political slant as she is a keen about awareness as she is arousal. This comes as no surprise Sam’s late mother, Anita Roddick, a noted activist, found The Body Shop years ago.
The Body Shop has always been about giving back and addressing the issues and needs of the global community. The late Roddick was ahead of the cause curve, setting the global tone long before it was nouveau chic and years before Bono, Geldof and Angelina became activists. Roddick says, “I was an activist by the age of three, encouraging my mom.”
You can rest or arouse assured that all of Coco’s sex toys boast of being made of non-carcinogenic materials and all of Coco’s own products are made in tiny communities around the globe and receive a percentage of the profits after items are sold.
The running theme throughout Coco stores in Southern California and in England are respect, permission and pleasure. As Roddick says, “There’s no shame, no violence, no judgment. And with clear boundaries, there is a lot of pleasure.” Coco de Mer in its simplest terms, is a celebration of human sexuality.
Like Alice in Wonderland, Coco’s shop is fantasy and fairy tale—seductive, yet playful. In the courtyard of the L.A. boutique on Melrose was an oversized, perfectly manicured, phallus-shaped bush. Once in the lush burgundy boudoir, you were surrounded by suggestive silks, lingerie and wraps, glass and jade dildos, multi-pearl rings, paddles, whips, vintage erotica, harnesses, blindfolds, leather goods by U.K. designer Alexander McQueen and erotic furniture with hidden sexual functions, presented in an museum-quality like manner.
There was an incredible sense of humor and whimsy throughout, from the Peep Show in the changing room, where your lover could peep to view you in your seductive wares, to Mr. Permissions Office, where you could view saucy movies. There was that ever-present British wit and whimsy and naughtiness throughout.
Coco has since closed its Melrose doors, but continues to reign in So Cal in Santa Barbara. Sam’s sister Justine runs the store, which she says is, “Going gangbusters. I call it Coco Lite as it is the vanilla version of the other stores. Although all any one is interested in are the sex toys, of course.”
The two Coco’s in the UK’s Covent Gardena and Brompton Cross were recently bought by online retailer Lovehoney, which was founded by former journalist Richard Longhurst and former DJ Neal Slateford in the UK.
The creative control of Coco, which opened its doors in 2001, continues as Coco was almost solely owned by Roddick and her father, Gordon, who co-found the paper The Big Issue. A small percentage of Coco was owned by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics.
You too can continue to reach erotic enlightenment as Coco de Mer will remain as a stand-alone luxury brand with their high-end product range. Sam will continue to advise the company.
I’m sure she can rest knowing that she awakened sexuality in all of us. Now with Lovehoney’s online reach in to Europe, Asia, Australia and the U.S., the arousal will go worldwide.
