If you followed my recent Instagram stories, you probably saw me wandering around Italy with her: Mr Grey’s dream toy box, the Holy Grail of pleasure, every sex blogger’s dream: the LELO Anniversary Collection.
To celebrate its 15th Anniversary, Swedish luxury sex toy brand LELO synthesized all the pleasure spread around the world from its very first toy to the last and then locked it in a modest, innocent black suitcase, sealed with a purple zip.
Born from the encounter between the unmistakable soft and velvety silicone, metal, carbon fibre and leather, here come 12 freshly forged pleasure objects: 12 limited-edition pieces arranged neatly on the black and purple painted wood walls, waiting to be freed from the elastic bands and to loosen inhibitions to the rhythm of arousal and desire.
Each piece is named after a person, a place, a time that played a key role in LELO’s history.
The Anniversary Collection is limited to 1000 pieces – 800 black zinc and 200 pink with premium 18K rose gold.
The very moment LELO handed us one of the 200 pieces en rose, my better half and I pictured the perfect photo shooting: a whole day spent in a luxury historic Italian building in Turin together with other four or five girls who would have liked to stay in front of the camera for one day, alternating shots and poses with vegan meals, bubbly toasts and free chats.
In less than one week, we lost our first choice location, then the plan B one, then we tried to craft a plan C but, at that point, all the locations available were too small, too far away or too expensive, or the respective owners were too on vacation. Then we lost the models receiving texts about setbacks, love troubles, unexpected menstruation and impossible public transport connections. Less than 48 hours before the shooting we were out of locations and less than 24 hours before, we were out of models. But still hell-bent on it.
After browsing through every nook and cranny of AirBnb and every contact in his iPhone, my better half found the unfindable: an improbable location, smaller, darker and further away than what we were looking for, which turned out to be perfect, and two proactive girls who, regardless of under-way periods and sunburned skin, decided to get involved without notice and to save our shooting.
Just to avoid last-minute surprises, the day before the shooting we went for a walk-through of the venue. There, in front of the house number written in a Whatsapp text, the front gate opened revealing the unexpected smiling face of a dear friend we hadn’t seen in years, overturning a memory drawer that was left sealed and forgot for a long time. Then came the hugs and we stopped worrying about the shooting.
The next day, at 5:30 pm on a midsummer Monday afternoon, we were in a Mongolian yurt surrounded by a magical wood on the outskirts of Turin. Around us, Buddha statues, Tantra images and the natural light filtered through the circular opening in the roof (and mosquitoes). In the spotlight, just her: the Anniversary Collection.
Our models-for-a-day had never been in front of a camera, never got naked in front of strangers and never tried a sex toy before.
The initial awkward stage lasted just the time it took us to set up camera equipment and lighting: within minutes, topless was the new normal, the supposed defects turned into a faded memory, and LELO sex toys started waving in the air, vibrating on the hands and slapping buttocks between one shot and the next.
The shooting turned into a cheerful experience of friendship and sharing. Unburdened by clothes and taboos, everyone enjoyed a new lightness and forgot worrying about the body and the projected self-image.
It’s always wonderful to see girls, women who feel confident and comfortable with their own body and suddenly switch from criticising it to loving it and playing with it.
Here is the outcome of a busy half a day’s shooting during which LELO’s suitcase, captured by I’M the Ph‘s camera, played the part of the star but remained just a pleasure for the eyes.
It’s time to move to practice and turn this triumph of silicone, leather and pink gold into pleasure for the body. In the coming days, we’ll make the acquaintance of each piece and we’ll tell about it in a huge final review.
Pictures: I’M the Ph
