This year’s sexiest accessory? Condoms.
After a recent decline in sales, the rubber gloves are finally getting some love as fashion brands push safe sex messaging to the forefront by way of playful collections that put condoms at the heart of designs.
“We are working around the world to try to normalize conversations around sex and sexuality,” Nicolò Scala, global brand marketing manager for Durex, told The Post in a statement.
“Having condoms being featured in more mainstream ways underscores the fact that safe sex is being recognized as culturally, and societally critical.”
Roam, a UK sexual wellness brand, released condoms in several skin tones earlier this year with the aim of ending the “stigma” surrounding sex-related shopping sprees.
In May, Julia Fox, 33, bared it all in a sheer condom tube top, complete with matching boots and bag.
Shortly thereafter, a very pregnant Rihanna made a bold fashion statement, literally donning an oversized tee reading: “USE A CONDOM.”
Saint Laurent released a gold-wrapped condom adorned with the brand’s logo, retailing at just over $5, and Neil Barrett dropped a limited edition leather condom case for $55.
Durex and Diesel debuted an unlikely partnership earlier this year, constructing a lit cherry red condom summit that loomed over the catwalk at Milan fashion week.
The brazen presentation was followed by the brands’ collaborative collection “ForSucsexful Living” — a play on Diesel’s “For Successful Living” mantra — which featured a hybrid logo of both companies pressed on jeans, tees and hats.
“Durex is the world’s leading intimate wellness brand, leading the conversation around sexual liberation and freedom by bringing it to the forefront of culture — that’s what we did with our Diesel collaboration,” Scala continued.
“The two brands came together to amplify and expand the democracy of Diesel’s message of sex positivity manifested at the Milan Fashion Week Show, along with Durex’s core value of embracing your true sexual self.”
Following the launch, Durex released its state-of-the-art condom customization hinged on its UK-based study that found that a majority of men purchase “regular” fit rubber, despite needing a different size.
High fashion has long been known to challenge normalcy, often toeing the line between absurd and genius, and this prophylactic promotion is no different.
“A huge part of fashion has and always will be to provoke, push the envelope, and make a statement,” Yasemin Emory, co-founder of sexual health brand Jems, told The Guardian.
Once taboo, discourse surrounding sex — primarily safe sex — has been thrust into the mainstream, coinciding with the soaring rates of sexually transmitted infections post-pandemic.
Studies have suggested a concerning decline in safe sex practices and condom sales, as people rely on other methods of contraception to prevent pregnancies.
Gen Z, meanwhile, is no longer hung up on hook-ups, reportedly entering a sex recession as young women ditch hormonal birth control en masse amid health concerns.
Coupled with how “open” Zoomers are about sex, those cultural conditions are the perfect storm for condom capitalization.
“If we continue to normalize these conversations and discuss safer sex, condom use will continue to have a resurgence,” Emory told The Guardian.