My visit to London Coco de Mer

Human hair whips, blonde and auburn, respectively.

Right before the holidays I got a chance to visit one of the London Coco de Mer stores (there are two; there are also two stores in the US, Los Angeles and the brand *spanking* new New York store). It wasn’t any ordinary visit to a Coco store — not that a visit to these high-end, one-of-a-kind boutiques could ever be ordinary.

For instance, I found out that each store is unique and has exquisitely handpicked stock from local sex toy and sex accessory artisans. I had the very gracious opportunity to be invited to the posh Brompton Cross / South Kensington store for a meeting and personal tour with the amazing Sam Roddick, who showed me everything you might miss at first glance, from the delicate filigree-like background panels detailing lighthearted Victorian-esque naughty bits (custom made for the store and very subtle yet filthy upon inspection), to the museum-quality stock. And not only did I get to spend hours with Sam (and hatch nefariously fun plans for VB-Coco projects next year) — I also got permission to photograph the store.

All the images are in this set — Flickr link; turn safesearch off to see all pics, or click yourself after the jump to see a selected gallery. And what is Sam Roddick like? Funny, irreverent, sexually devious, brilliant and a ridiculous amount of fun to have loud sexually intelligent and raunchy brainstorming conversations in a London restaurant with. Our time was not just inspiring, but one of my 2009 highlights. YAYZ!

Full disclosure: Coco de Mer USA is a lovingly handpicked sponsor of Tiny Nibbles — among the supporters I’ve personally chosen to partner with and who make this blog possible. This post is not part of the sponsorship, they didn’t know I was going to do it, and I’m pleased to share the pics and love.