November 24, 2023 |
“We are the new erotics. We worship pleasure at the altar of Eros. Devoted to touch. Nourished by beauty…” That’s the start of the mantra of Filip Arickx’s latest endeavour: a multi-sensory brand specialising in highly curated collections of sumptuous adult toys that made its debut over the weekend. He called it Nightfall – perhaps symbolising the time of day during which the use of such gadgets tends to fall. Regardless, it’s an unprecedented debut; the launch of a Belgium-based label handcrafting self-pleasuring devices with the same gracious respect assigned to art, giving new meaning to the turn-of-phrase ‘objects of desire’ and bringing sex into the luxury sphere by “fusing fashion and eros.”
You’re probably familiar with A.F.Vandevorst, the Belgian fashion house directed by An Vandevorst and Arickx that, for 23 years, was known for its erotic inspirations and redefining of avant-garde womenswear before the long-married pair shuttered the business in 2020. While Vandevorst is head of design at Polimoda in Florence, Arickx has been on a bit of a hiatus – publicly at least – but with Nightfall, he’s back, and funnelling his full-time energy into heading up the sex toy brand. While he handles the creative side of things, Vandevorst has been charged with curating the sound of Nightfall and with creating a series of videos that illustrate the senses in relation to arousal – sight, sound, taste, smell, touch – to accompany its debut quartet of beautiful, durable toys. “Beauty creates an ease” he says, explaining why he opted to design the devices with such liberated decadence and beautiful, artful bodies. The innovative character of the desirable goodies comes to life in the tryst between “mesmerising beauty and immaculate design” as it’s determined to lift the lid on sex and sexuality and offer users uninhibited bliss. It’s a bold reclamation of sexuality in the face of society’s domineering purity culture. “No wars start over sex toys,” the designer asserts.
Grace. Named for the blooming orchid manually positioned within its waterproof body, Nightfall’s USB chargeable Blooming Orchid Vibrator is a silent and discreet appliance made from smooth, crystal clear silicone. “The orchid, of course, has this erotic expression which comes across beautifully in photography,” Arickx explains. With three deep pulsating settings, it invites users to revel in the “unique reverberating sensation” of glass vibration. “After talking to some women I found out that they didn’t need all those functions, they didn’t need to over complicate it; many of them just wanted soft, medium and hard!”
For the anally inclined, Holy is a decadent borosilicate glass butt plug that comes contained within a hand-polished, prismatic, crystal polyhedron flacon. “So many people look at it and think of a perfume bottle!” the designer laughs. Delicately sleek to the touch yet heavy in its grip, its an elegantly designed, gothic anal toy with a tapered shaft and flared base ensure smooth penetration and secure positioning. Plus, if temperature play is your game, you’ll find that it retains it exceptionally well, making it an exquisite choice for adding a touch of warmth or chill to your intimate experiences by yourself, or with a partner. Actually, the whole quartet is great to use as lush little add-ons during partnered play. “Everything I designed is designed with couples in mind. It was important for me to halt the discourse surrounding sex toys being for the divorcee or for the lonely person. It’s more about people finding each other and how Nightfall toys can be used alongside and within a sex life, bringing a certain beauty to ‘regular’ sex.”
The simplest of the blissful objects is Raven, an onyx-black casted-glass vibrator that proves darkness can be just as soothing as it is surprising. Evoking an image of “night-time distilled”, it features 10 enthralling vibrational functions. And for the main course, comes our personal favourite: Heaven, a blown borosilicate glass dildo with a manually suspended peacock plume encased within. Perfectly angled for exploring your innermost pleasure spots, its curved body and ribbed pattern will have you wondering if heaven really is a place on Earth. “The peacock represents pride, the peacock seduces,” Arickx articulates. “For me, a sense of pride is the greatest feeling. I don’t think I can love someone who I’m not proud of. Pride is the greatest compliment; it’s so precious to me.”
Something really special is the packaging; all Nightfall toys come parcelled in a hardcover smuggler book with a curated art cover. “It might be beautiful, but you still don’t want someone to touch it,” he starts, “So I thought about how the toy could still be part of the space that you choose for it, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be out in the open or in the bedroom. I wanted it to still be part of the mood of the room it was in. So I thought what if I put it in a book, you could essentially create a library and a mood in your room because of the display of the spines. The books hold the toys and the books can become part of the erotic space of the room amongst your other books and belongings.” Flip the first page of the ‘book’ and you’ll find inside a deep, concealed compartment fitted to its respective toy, tucked in beside Nightfall the zine, which features 48 pages of erotic content. “Nothing is explicit, it’s not porn, you don’t see dicks, you don’t see vaginas, it’s pure eroticism,” Arickx says. “It embodies a very soft eroticism, [but] you see some breasts and some fetishism.” With visuals created by the likes of Linder Sterling (“she’s very punk, she’s a feminist, she’s got a story to tell”), Ferry Van Der Nat, Julia et Vincent, Adam Moscat, Rita Lino, Ronald Stoops and Jurgen Maelfeyt, and Jelle Jespers and Jurgen Maelfeyt in charge of its design, Nightfall provides a “podium” for collaboration and commissioning young, up-and-coming artists and creatives from all over Europe to contribute to its erotic contents. “There’s so much potential for collaboration, not just on the design of the toys, but also contributing to the magazine and designing the dust jackets of the books the toys are packaged in, visuals, audio, editorial,” he says. “It can follow any direction as long as it belongs within the five senses.” Between imagery embodying the spirit of love, openness and generosity, decadence, debauchery, the astute words of well-respected fashion writer Luke Leitch swirl. Envelop yourself in its bold aesthetic vocabulary, the joys of pleasure and human connection.
Nightfall began development in 2021, after a successful roundup of investments, propelled by the idea that, like any pricy purchase, people should feel proud to have secured a Nightfall vibrator or toy. As such, its products aren’t stocked by the usual smutty, city-centre sex shops that leave customers with a feeling of shame or embarrassment as if they’re not supposed to or allowed to, express their sexuality. Nightfall, though, is “accessible eroticism”, not so much in the price point, but in the retail spaces he hopes can become attributed to the product. “I want to sell in designer stores,” he declares. “I want Nightfall to represent a bridge to accessible eroticism and to really enter into the luxury world through new means.”
Like many of us, Arickx had always considered adult toys to be something “ugly, cheap and smelling like plastic”. “I’ve never known someone who’s been proud of their new vibrator!” he admits. “They buy a new skirt, they want to show it off, they buy a new blouse and they want to show their friends, but they buy a sex toy – which also provides them with joy – they’re shy about it. [But] I wanted to move [sex toys] out of the margins; to elevate them to a luxury level. I think they have the ability to be a luxurious, fashionable accessory.
“There doesn’t need to be this sense of shame… We all want to enjoy life, enjoy each other, and create precious moments together – this is the whole story of Nightfall. I just wanted to reach out to people and tell people to be proud of their sex lives, to let people know that you don’t need to be ashamed of this. We want to create beautiful souvenirs and experiences and the most beautiful compliment would be people telling me that they had a really precious moment using my toys. That’s why it’s not just for single people, it can be used with a partner in a shared experience. [The toys] might make it easier to talk about what you like, to discuss what you enjoy, and beauty is a good bridge for this. Beauty can create a comfort zone.”
As it finds its footing, Nightfall will exist primarily online, but it’s clear from our conversation just how much zeal Arickx has for the future; in particular, his plans to stock Nightfall in designer stores. “This is all new, not only in the adult toy industry but also in the fashion industry,” he says. “It would be wonderful to be viewed as a luxury house. On one hand, I want to keep it creatively personal, but on the other hand I want to talk to as many people as possible. The idea is to be able to create and collaborate with fashion designers. How amazing would that be! It would be great for it to become something that can be accessed and discussed; more of a designer piece than merely a sex toy.”
Speaking to Eveline Rigouts, CEO of Nightfall (who felt attracted to the project for Arickx ability to “introduce beauty back into the discipline”), explains Nightfall’s plans for physical retail. “First of all we need to establish the brand on our own platform. It’s a space to sell toys but it’s also a multisensorial platform that is there to help provide an experience. A brand can be defined by where you sell, so we see a lot of opportunity in curated bookshops, or shops linked to a gallery, designer stores. We also have ideas surrounding boutique hotels, because of course there’s something about escaping, travelling and exploring to be found linked to the concept of Nightfall.” She adds, “We have a lot of options and we want to collaborate with lots of creatives that work across different mediums. We’d love to have Nightfall expressed across different mediums, whether it’s fashion design, film, photography.”
It’s a hedonistic brand bidding to leave a profound impact on the blueprint of sex-positive, contemporary culture. “With Nightfall, I hope to be the little stone in the river that makes the water flow differently,” Arickx muses. “Nightfall is a world, Nightfall is a platform, it’s a universe, and a lifestyle.”
Photography courtesy of Nightfall.
