MEDIA INQUIRIES: press@folsomstreeteast.org
MEDIA LIAISON:
Susan Wright
susan@ncsfreedom.org
917-848-6544

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
WHAT: A Fetish for Fashion: A fetish fashion show and charity auction benefitting The LGBT Community Center of NYC
WHEN: Saturday, February 12 | Door at 7/Show at 8
WHERE: The LGBT Community Center (http://www.gaycenter.org) – 208 W. 13th St. NY, NY
WHO: Performer: Sylvia Tosun; Designs by: The Eagle Shop NYC, The Leather Man, ManSkins and WonderWear NY

Folsom Street East presents: A Fetish for Fashion
(New York City) Not everybody celebrates Valentine’s Day the same way.

For those of us who prefer our roses thorny and our candy hard, Folsom Street East (http://www.folsomstreeteast.org) proudly presents A Fetish for Fashion, our first annual runway show and charity auction to benefit the LGBT Community Center. We invite you to join us on the 3rd floor of 208 West 13th Street on Saturday, February 12th for an evening of polymorphously provocative fetishwear from The NY Eagle Shop, The Leather Man, WonderWear NY, and ManSkins NYC. The night’s festivities will also include a special appearance by #1 Billboard charting artist Sylvia Tosun, who will be performing her new single, “World Keeps Turning.”

We can’t think of a better way to kick off Fashion Week in NYC — and support a worthy cause — than with a runway presentation showcasing some of the city’s fiercest leather/fetish/kink-wear designs. In addition to the runway presentation, this year’s event will also include a cocktail reception and silent auction of luxury adult items to benefit The Center – including our own “Million-Dollar Jock,” which would make even the bravest Victoria’s Secret model blush and turn in her wings.

Doors open at 7pm on Saturday night, with the show kicking off around 8pm. Admission for the cocktail reception, auction, and fashion show is $10 for standing room and $15 for seats (while they last) and includes one drink ticket. The after-party will be held at the NY Eagle on 28th Street, with drink specials throughout the evening for fashion show attendees presenting their FSE wristband.

For more information, please contact FSE Board President Devin MacLachlan at devin@folsomstreeteast.org.

Press Photos

Photos copyright PeterLauPhotography.com

Download a pdf version HERE.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WHAT:  Folsom Street East
WHEN:  Sunday, June 20, 2010 – 2-8pm
WHERE:  28^th Street btw. 10^th & 11^th Avenues
WHO:  Co-Hosts: Peppermint and Mike Dreyden
Performers: Sylvia Tosun, Fredrick Ford, The Johns, Brian Kent, Noa Tylo, Unisex Salon, The I.C.N.Y.

A KINK OF OUR OWN: FOLSOM STREET EAST RETURNS

(New York City) On Sunday, June 20th from 2-8pm, the Folsom Street East (FSE) street fair returns for the 14th consecutive year, celebrating its adolescence with a day of fetish-fueled fun on West 28th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues on Manhattan’s West Side.

While most New York City street fairs feature a lot of the same stuff – tube socks sold in bulk, 10-minute massages, a variety of meats-on-a-stick, maybe a couple of pet adoption booths with cute puppies — FSE is a little different. True, there are tube socks – but mostly just visible above the laces of black leather boots — and any massages given are more friendly than therapeutic. You’re far more likely to encounter bears and wolves than puppies, and “meat-on-a-stick” can quickly take on an entirely new meaning.

Inspired by San Francisco’s legendary Folsom Street Fair, FSE was founded in 1997 by former Gay Male S/M Activists (GMSMA) chair John Weis and a cohort of similarly-minded New York City leathermen. “I thought that having a fun day in the sun for the SM/leather community celebrating our diversity would go a long way in helping dispel myths and stereotypes,” said Weis. “We saw FSE as important opportunity for visibility, outreach and activism. A key part of that is taking a proud stand — outside in the sunshine – embracing and celebrating sexual diversity.”

Since that first year, FSE has featured live music and performance art, bootblacks, barbers, health and community information, and vendors selling everything from cigars to harnesses to handmade floggers. From a handful of vendor tables and a few hundred attendees that first year, FSE has grown exponentially: the 2009 event drew over 50 vendors and nearly 10,000 leather and fetish-clad revelers over the course of the afternoon.

FSE is also an opportunity for the community to flex some philanthropic muscle as well. The $10 suggested donation benefits a number of charities and to date, FSE has donated over $210,000 to a wide array of non-profit organizations, including this year’s beneficiaries: the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center, the New York City Anti-Violence Project, and the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF).

Each year, FSE names the winner of the organization’s Sexual Freedom Award, which is given to an individual or group whose work promotes equality, respect and openness among people regardless of sexual orientation or gender expression. In addition to public acknowledgment and a commemorative plaque, each year’s recipient receives a $500 grant to the charity of their choice. This year’s Sexual Freedom Award recipient is Ms Susan Wright, founder of the NCSF.

FSE is organized and staffed entirely by volunteers who give of their time and talents to make the whole thing happen.  Anyone interested volunteering at the event is invited to visit the FSE Volunteer page or email volunteer coordinator Mike Ryan at volunteers@folsomstreeteast.org.

In addition to the street fair, this year FSE will be spanning the weekend, kicking off with BULLY—a Friday night party—at View Bar, moving through Saturday night with Bad Apple at Rush (presented in conjunction with NY promoter Mark Nelson), and on into Sunday’s street fair.  For more details about these and other weekend events, visit the FSE Events page.

MEDIA INQUIRIES: press@folsomstreeteast.org
MEDIA LIAISON:
Susan Wright
susan@ncsfreedom.org
917-848-6544

Download PDF: A Kink of Our Own: FSE Returns (One Page)
Download PDF: A Kink of Our Own: FSE Returns (Full Version)