Torture Garden is the world’s largest Fetish and Body Art Club, we are home for those who are looking for something more extreme than you can find in “regular” clubs. TG is a community, a family, and all who want to explore their fetish alter ego are welcomed through our doors. The crowd make the night so our infamously strict dresscode guarantees that you leave behind the real world and forget the mundane as you cross the threshold and step inside
Monthly London events attract between 1000-2500 people, our multi-roomed high production value sets create an immersive underworld to lose yourself in. You can make the night what you want it to be…dance in the main room, play in the dungeon, take in the unique crowd, find new music in our eclectic ballroom or take that special person to the couples room! Our friendly crowd are always welcoming – but if you are coming out to play, make sure to wear your best fantasy look and be part of the night, however you want to spend it!
With smaller events such as the TG Boat Parties, or our The Pearl Necklace Supper Club nights, you can find what kind of TG is your kind of TG.
Torture Garden also has Edinburgh nights 3 times a year plus franchises in Rome, Tokyo, LA, New York and Berlin, and guest appearances at other international events…check the event page for upcoming dates!
TG is also a top Latex Fetish Fashion Label, Production Company and Performance Agency.
Allen Pelling and David Wood formed Torture Garden as a Fetish Club in October 1990. As an alternative club promoter/DJ, Allen was at the forefront of London’s new Alt scene; and David, a conceptual art and film graduate, had been going to fetish clubs since 1984. Bored with the existing retro-alternative and suburban-style fetish clubs, they wanted to create a new kind of radical and edgy-alternative fetish club that combined diverse and progressive music, multiple environments, fashion, performance, visuals, installations, a market area – and more.
One hundred people came to the first event, held on a Wednesday night at the Opera On The Green venue in a shopping precinct in Shepherd’s Bush. By the fifth event, there were 500 guests and the place was rammed! By this time, TG had developed its own unique crowd that combined the Alternative post-Goth/Industrial, Hard-core S&M, Fetish Fashion and Gay and Straight scenes, with the cutting-edge Body Art and Piercing scenes.
In 2003, Charlotte Hellicar who had already been the TG “door-bitch” for a number of years joined the team full time, becoming General Manager. She is now Company Director and oversees the running of the events, future projects and that no coffee cup is left unfilled in the office. Yasmin Kay became part of the team in 2018 as Assistant Manager. Blessed with more patience than the rest of the team put together, she manages the TG social media as well as offering dresscode advice to anyone that contacts the office prior to an event. Come to the club and you’re guaranteed to meet her, as she guards our door to keep the club safe from dress code violations
Allen TG now focuses on the production company side of the business (more about this below) and taking our own in house production to new levels. He continues to regularly DJ at the club
In May 2019, David left the Club to pursue new projects, after 3 decades of service as Creative Director
Torture Garden was named after the 1899 novel The Torture Garden (Le Jardin des supplices) by Octave Mirbeau, set in a Chinese Garden of Torture. We chose it more because of the exotic and mysterious images that it evoked, rather than the specific novel itself. From the beginning, we often shortened “Torture Garden” to “TG” because it was shorter and didn’t scare the bank manager! Yet it was also a reference of influence to an earlier TG – Throbbing Gristle – the seminal industrial experimentalists and founders of Psychic TV, Thee Temple OV Psychick Youth, Coil and Chris & Cosey – to name a few!
What about the logo? Believe it or not, TG’s circle logo was inspired by the back of a lorry, spotted on a rainy motorway drive. Keep an eye out in France…
Torture Garden has adapted and evolved over the years as we take the TG experience to different spaces (everything from the 2,500 capacity Coronet, to a 1919 World War 1 ship – the HMS President). Even now we choose to use a variety of venues rather than stick to one, giving us the creative freedom to play with what we offer the crowd on any given night.
Electrowerkz has been a long term home, with its multiple rooms and staircases to get lost in – you can have a different night every time that you visit! Ministry of Sound remains a customer favourite for our “Not New Year’s Eve” party on Dec 30th each year, while Scala’s main stage allows us to showcase the best in alternative performances and cutting edge underground fashion – both elements being key parts of any TG night!
Many of our (and our customers’) favourite venues have succumbed to the fast pace & continuous changes that London is known for. Mass in Brixton, the club above a church no less (you can imagine some of the comedy situations that arose, unloading dungeon kit as people arrived for Sunday service was always a delicate situation!!), is still somewhere that many regular attendees remember fondly! SeOne in London Bridge offered us the chance to really push our ideas, including a dogging area with cars bought in to the club, a wrestling ring stage and 6 rooms to theme was a dream come true! In recent years the The Coronet had allowed us to produce epic stage shows – sadly now demolished we started looking again, and have found a new space in Studio Spaces in East London!
In the 1980s and 1990s, fetish and S&M were still taboo and very underground – even dressing in rubber and going to a fetish club seemed a dangerous activity! As TG’s notoriety grew, so did the “shock and scandal” reports in the tabloids, resulting in the police frequently forcing venues to close or events being cancelled (especially from 1991 to 1993) and the aftermath of Operation Spanner hung over the scene during the early 1990s. However, as numbers attending grew at prestigious venues (such as Ministry of Sound), and fetish fashion and creativity infiltrated the mainstream, fetish became trendy and venues actively wanted to host TG events. As British society opened up to sexuality more generally in the late 1990s, the media also changed its attitude to fetish. From the tabloids to Channel 4, fetish was now more commonly depicted in a positive light and since the 2000s, it seems that everyone knows someone who’s been to Torture Garden.
Fetish and fetish clubbing are not for everyone, and we don’t want just anybody at our events. In the media, “fetish” is viewed as fashionable every few years with mainstream designers and musicians constantly taking inspiration from the underground fetish scene. In the last 20 years, we’ve seen the fetish scene grow hugely in appeal; clubs like TG have gone from being a dirty secret that you don’t want people to know about, to somewhere you can explore openly. Films and fashion trends have made people more aware of a world that was previously hard to access even though we’ve been around for a long time! In the early days, you couldn’t just search the Internet to find out more about fetish parties, you had to be brave and steps through closed doors without knowing what to expect. Now, it’s less daunting for people to explore.
Ultimately TG is not a fancy dress party, it’s a sanctuary for us freaks that can’t be ourselves in mainstream parties! So if that doesn’t sound like you, or a side of yourself that you are looking to explore, chances are we aren’t the night for you!
TG’s multidimensional events cater equally for a wide range of open-minded individuals from Young Fashionable Clubber to Alternative Arty Weirdo; Burlesque Cabaret Fan to Sophisticated S&M Regular – providing something for everybody from any age group (18-60+), sexual orientation and gender. Creating an environment that accepts and encourages individualism, diversity and free self-expression and exploration is what makes TG and our parties unique. Although, ultimately, it is the crowd that generates the energy and atmosphere of an event and the TG crowd is the most diverse, radically dressed-up and cutting-edge crowd in the world. It’s our partygoers that have made TG what it is. Many famous names have walked the floors of our venues, but everyone’s privacy is respected at TG so unless they want to talk about coming out to play, our lips are sealed.
More than anything else, TG has become world-renowned for its incredible and theatrical performances and fashion shows. As well as staging extreme artists that no one else would dare book, we encouraged and developed performance in burlesque, cabaret and circus when there was no other platform for artists in the 1990s. We discovered future big names when they were unknown; Dita Von Tease made her UK and European performance debut at TG in 1999, popstar Paloma Faith appeared as a surreal singing performance artist in her early days, and all the scene’s biggest names have performed over the years, including:
Fashion: Torture Garden Clothing, Pretty Pervy, E Garbs, DeMask, House of Harlot, Conflicto, Inner Sanctum, Murray and Vern, Manuel Albarran, So Hip It Hurts, HW-Design, Northbound Leather, Puimond, Bibian Blue, Katarzyna Konieczka and Eaton Knot, MEAT, Bondinage, Sian Hoffman, Dead Lotus Couture, Lady Lucie Latex, Ada Zanditon, Carapace, Kurage, AMF Korsets, Dayne Henderson and so many more
Music: The Tiger Lillies, Avenue D, Death in June, Genitorturers, Test Dept, Minty, Lab 4, Flesh Fetish, Von Magnet, Noblesse Oblige, Ernesto Tomasini, Urban Voodoo Machine, Brooke Candy, Ray Noir, Gobsausage and Viktoria Modesta.
Performance: Dita Von Tease, Paloma Faith, Fakir Musafar, Archaos, Ron Athey, Franko B, Divine David, Lukas Zpira, Midori, Kumi, Marissa Carnesky, Masuimi Max, Porcelain Twinz, Suka Off, Psycho Cyborgs, Ryan Styles, Scottee, Gawkagogo, Lucifire, Empress Stah, Chrysalis, Yusura, Hamish McCann, Miss Crash, Katrina Lilwall, Vivid Angel, Miss Miranda, Skinny Red Head, Roxy Velvet, Topanga Love, Boom Boom, ReveRso, Marie Devilreux, Banbury Cross, Monsterlune, Lolo Brow, Joe Black, Samantha Sun, Cynth Icorn, Andromeda Circus, The Fuel Girls, The Baron, Fancy Chance, Virgin X, Miss Behave, MisSa, LouLou D’vil, Marnie Scarlet, and Satomi.
Art Exhibition/Installations: Araki, Franko B, Trevor Brown, Romain Slocombe, Charles Gatewood and Espira.
TG is a progressive clubbing concept; it’s never been tied to one style of music or fashion. As our tastes changed with the times, so TG evolved, fusing fetish with whatever clubbing sub-culture we were enjoying. From the very beginning, TG always wanted to be more than just a one-room, one-style-of-music club. As an established club, we have the most diverse music policy, with three to six rooms currently ranging from Electro House and Booty Breaks, Tech House and Techno to Dubstep and Drum ‘n’ Bass in the Club Arena; Glamour Trash and Disco Punk to Electro Clash and R&B mash-ups in the Ballroom; Electro Swing to Burlesque Exotica and Sleazy Rock ‘n’ Roll in the Cabaret Room, and Eastern and Ritual to Experimental and Film Soundtracks and almost anything atmospheric in the Dungeon room.
Many have described their first experience of entering a TG event as like stepping into another world. TG events are about fantasy and role-play, every party is like stepping into another world, but periodically we add specific themes to create a unique experience, incorporating themed dress codes, Club decor, visuals, music, performances and installations. Over the years, previous themes have included A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Crash, Medical, Uniform, Heaven and Hell, Moulin Rouge, Carnival, Sex, James Bond, War… and so many more! Before the Covid lockdowns, our Red Light Love Valentine’s Ball included an Amsterdam-style street window set with performers and The Replicant’s Ball has been the most popular theme of recent years and one we were really proud of, with a fully immersive, futuristic, dystopian transformation of the Electrowerkz.
A fetish club is an environment that encourages the exploration of one’s sexuality, but there are also strict codes of conduct within fetish clubs. Touching anyone without their expressed permission and any form of harassment of any kind is strictly forbidden. In general, fetish clubs are the safest, friendliest and most relaxed club environments. They are places where people of all genders can dress up and be themselves without the fear of harassment; help us to keep it this way.
TG is a safe and consensual event with respect at the core of the Club. The Club operates a zero-tolerance policy towards anyone who cannot behave appropriately, it’s your responsibility to make sure you are armed with this info and behave appropriately if you are a first time visitor, if you have any questions, just ask! (check our Etiquette & Dresscode and FAQs for more information on this).
The TG dress code strives to avoid narrow limitations and encourage individual imagination and diversity. A modern fetish club is more about fantasy and transformation than just rubber and leather, and many of the best outfits seen at TG are made by those wearing them or assembled from various second-hand articles (i.e. theatrical costume or uniforms). So, if you can’t afford expensive latex or leather costumes then explore personal fantasies and use your imagination, or even try body paint! Please always remember that if your outfit wouldn’t turn heads in the street – don’t bother to wear it to Torture Garden. (although you’re welcome to bring your outfit in a bag and get changed in the club).
We have a list of definite “no’s”, so make sure you take the time to really think about what you will wear to the club to avoid disappointment and being turned away on the night…For more info and inspiration check out our dresscode page, blog and gallery.
There is no such thing as “too much” at TG, we are a home for people to push their boundaries and be the most extreme version of themselves…so step outside of your everyday persona and think about who you could be but don’t dare to be in your everyday life!
TG has produced its own range of Photographic and Art Books – Torture Garden Body Shocks to Cybersex & Body Probe, various DJ CD’s, TG Cybersex Video, Torture Garden X DVD and T-shirts, which have worldwide distribution in major stores such as Tower, Virgin, HMV, Books Etc and Dillons.
As London is the world’s capital for fetish clubbing and Torture Garden is the world’s largest (and most famous) fetish club, the TG style of fetish clubbing has proved a popular export. With a small team providing DJ sets, visuals, fashion shows and performances, TG has staged regular full events or been guests all around the world, including Tokyo, Moscow, Rio, São Paulo, New York, San Fransisco, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, San Antonio, Portland, Paris, Croatia, Rome, Athens, Helsinki, Berlin, Amsterdam and Naples. TG has also toured in the UK with events in Brighton Edinburgh, Sheffield, Manchester and Milton Keynes! TG’s international events always work best through a partnership with a local promoter who understands the local scene, therefore if you want to bring TG to your city, get in touch!
As the club grew, so did our professional standard of production, and a result of TG’s reputation, spectacular shows and performance, theatricality, themed parties, diverse music and striking visuals, we were asked increasingly to produce events, stage shows or to provide performers/characters for major exhibitions, clubs, corporate parties, TV or film projects. Therefore, TG formed a Production Agency to cater for the demand.
Torture Garden now has its own production company, providing lighting, sound, decor and full production management for a wide variety of corporate and private parties including theming the bars for London Tattoo Convention, producing the pre-party for the Kerrang! Awards, the legendary stage shows for the Erotica Exhibition at London’s Olympia, as well as the Skin Two Rubber Ball from 2000-2004 ( for those old school fetishists reading this!!), China White’s area at Henley regatta, and even sending 20 performers to an opulent Russian wedding in Prague and providing extras and dressed up characters for numerous films and TV productions.
We also add our production flair to other club events such as Last Tuesday Society, A Curious Invitation, Blitz Party, Prohibition, Wyndstock and Boneca.
Torture Garden Latex was established in 2002 by Kaisu Paakkola as the latex design offshoot of the world’s most famous fetish club. It has since established itself as one of the international scene’s leading high-end fetish clothing brands and is worn by many of the top models, mainstream musicians, and featured in all major fetish fashion publications and various mainstream media. Torture Garden Latex has staged fashion shows at many of the world’s biggest fashion events such as Torture Garden Japan/ Rome/ LA/ Berlin/ NYC, Fetish Factory in Florida, Wasteland in Amsterdam, the German Fetish Ball, SF Fetish Ball, Smack in New York, Ritual in Rome, Underworld in Athens and Rubber Ball, Erotica and Torture Garden in London.
Florence Druart took over as the creative force behind the brand in 2010 and continues to run the label, designing ready-to-wear collections as well as taking on private commissions.
Torture Garden Latex is available to purchase via torturegardenlatex.com
