Come As You Are To The Fair

Ten years ago Come As You Are held their very first Erotic Arts and Crafts Fair. For those of you not familiar with this terrific store, Come As You Are is the world’s only co-op sex shop – owned and operated by its workers.  They formed in 1997 with a mission to scrub away the sex-shaming that so often comes with toy purchases, while also ensuring an environment which reflects diverse genders, orientations, sexualities, and life experiences.  Not only do they provide a ton of useful information on the products they sell, they also discuss such topics as sexuality and aging, sexuality for the disabled, how to clean your sex toys, and instructions on how to recycle your toys when they’ve given you your last thrill.

I got a chance to check in with Noah Kloeze: Worker-Owner at Come As You Are Co-operative and the event coordinator for the Erotic Arts and Crafts Fair.  He told me that back in 2007 Jack, (also a Worker-Owner) at Come As You Are, was at that very first Fair.  What was it about that first Fair that made them realize they had something really special on their hands?  According to Jack, his impression at the time was that “it was a stunning opportunity to celebrate some of our favourite things: sex, community, and DIY culture. Everyone involved had a blast, and visitors were blown away by the array of skilled makers we have locally. It wasn’t ever a question that this event needed to happen again.”  And so it did!

As far as celebrating the big 1-0 milestone, Noah tells me that they’re really excited to be celebrating 10 years of the Fair this year.  And they’ve done some sweet splurging!  “The thing we have splurged on to celebrate this big year is custom Come As You Are branded candy hearts – who ever gets to order custom candy?! It’s been hard saving it for the event, though…”  No kidding!

Now, I love the idea of erotic arts and crafts as much as anyone – but I’m curious … who says what’s erotic when it comes to the artists being showcased?  Noah will be the first to tell you, “Erotic is very much in the eye of the beholder. One person’s erotic is another person’s banal.”

So when it came to curating this event, “This year our requirements were that vendors offer products / services that explored sex, gender, identity, pleasure, or sexual health in some way. So, as you can see, the Erotic Arts and Crafts Fair has definitely grown and evolved to include all kinds of content! What we are always working to offer is a dynamic and playful event full of goods that are cheeky, charming, sexy, educational, raunchy, affirming – hopefully all at the same time!”

Sounds like loads of fun!  So what kind of experience will a newbie have when they start wandering through the fair?  After all, even the most openminded of folks have boundaries.  Noah assures me he and the Come As You Are team have made every effort to take the comfort of the guests into consideration.

“I’d say that being welcoming is always a goal we have with any event we host!” he says. “There’s a lot of different types of sexiness that our vendors are bringing (from upcycled cashmere undies to handmade BDSM leather gear) and a lot of different types of fun (playful strawberry buttplugs, anyone?!).  We always strive to create an environment that’s comfortable, laid-back, and easy-going, and as much as we have a lot of sexy stuff on-hand, the show isn’t too explicit. It’s important to us that folks are able engage with any erotic content as much or as little as they’d like.”

I was curious about what happens after the event – did anyone wind up meeting other artists and forming some great partnerships?  Did participating at the Fair get them some wonderful new clients?  After all, the best thing that can happen for any DIYer is getting more exposure!