Tiger Forgives: Russian fetish designer and her subversive gender-bending world

The beauty of fetish and kink is that they can be anything you make of them. But they can also be tools to create the universe you want to live in. Moscow-based fetish designer Dahliia Kurmanguzhina of Tiger Forgives uses her work to dream up her own alternative reality and create a real community. Ranging from jewellery to latex and custom clothing, her work is part sci-fi, part 1970s horror, with a heady dose of hot sexual fantasy — all created through the prism of Dahliia’s vision and passion for the lifestyle.

I have to admit, when I discovered Dahliia’s work I squealed a little — obviously because I loved it, but also because she is from Russia, just like me. I am always excited to discover fetish designers who work from a non-Western perspective, but also I couldn’t believe that the Russian BDSM and fetish scenes actually had a place for what Dahliia creates. Russia is and has been a very patriarchal country, and its conservative attitudes to gender and sexuality can sometimes be perpetuated through the roles people choose to play in S/M and through the artistic male gaze. Tiger Forgives had none of that: it is subversive, gender-bending, fluid, funny, and endlessly hybrid in its references. Its instagram order page also reveals the artistry of the process: fragments of custom chains and collars which are always one of a kind designs. (The nipple clamp earring has been on my wishlist from the second I saw it).

Dahliia has been designing clothes for almost a decade, but she has truly found her calling through celebrating kink and fetish. It’s been an interest in her personal life since early on – and a creative focus since she founded Tiger Forgives in 2016.

I first interviewed Dahliia for The Calvert Journal a few months ago. It got me thinking why is that fetish fashion is often perceived as something on the fringes of creativity, and to admire how the designer’s work allows people to channel their most authentic personalities – even if it calls to be a human-sized latex kitten.

In this full-length version of the interview, I talked to Dahliia about her passion for creating custom pieces, breakfasts, the kink scene in Russia, and the possibility of reinventing what sexual expression looks like today.

First of all, what inspired you to call your brand Tiger Forgives?

A tiger is a dangerous, tireless, powerful animal who hunts alone. It is one of the few animals who attacks people and looks at them as prey. A tiger can’t bestow blessings like a god, but it can let its victim go, perhaps as an absolution of their sins. Tiger Forgives, for me, creates an image of a powerful but forgiving creature.

How did you discover your interest to fetish and BDSM?

At 15, I was very impressed by the first Russian fetish models: Agna Devy and Alina Stalina. A couple of years later, I saw Alina in a club toilet: she was putting lipstick on in the mirror wearing a red latex dress – this image has stayed with me. When I was 25, I went to London and took a trip to buy sheet latex – the first I bought was a few meters of red. But generally, I had this specific hunger for as long as I can remember. I felt constrained and tense because my interests were different from the ones of the very “vanilla” people who were all around me. It made me doubt the authenticity of my desires. After I came out of a long relationship I have decided to focus on myself and my exploration of desire – I went to my first kink party and had a paid session with a pro dom.

Do you have any favourite materials?

I love artificial materials: thick corset netting, transparent organza, matte spandex and PVC. The only natural materials I work with are latex and metals. I also love bias cut – it’s the love of my life.

What do you like about working with latex?

I love the end result! I also love how steadfast it is: if you did something wrong, it is impossible to correct, you can’t unpick and remake it. Latex demands very precise constructions, meticulous attention to detail and precision when gluing the garment together. Latex is not for the faint hearted.

Do you mainly work with custom designs?

I currently work with custom orders and planning to continue. I am against mass production, I don’t see a point in making a dress in a standardised size which would hang in a shop for six months while I can make a perfect garment with individual measurements. In a way, I am a supporter of sustainable fashion, but I also just believe that garments are for people, not vice versa.

What inspires you in your work?

My partner, music, and, weirdly enough, breakfasts. The ritual of a good breakfast gives me energy for the whole day! I’ve been listening to a lot of Deftones music, so much pain and sex in their lyrics. I also really admire creatives who explore the complex relationship with physicality in their imagery, like White Voodoo and Hellikisto. I love sexuality and excessive corporality, an endless process of acceptance and rejection of one’s body, exhibitionism and vulnerability. It makes you look at the human body from a new perspective. I am also a big fan of Fecal Matter: for me they’re an example of self-acceptance, confidence in their creativity and channeling of their worldview.

The aesthetic of your brand is very different from mainstream representation of fetish, erotica and sexuality – and especially in Russia. Why do you think that is?

I don’t like standardised sexuality: lace, thongs, arched backs... I find these cliches very impersonal and leaving no room for the fantasy, telling nothing about the person underneath.

Being sexy for me means being yourself 100,000 per cent. In the pre-pandemic times, I used to make looks for people for kink parties based on the way they felt about themselves. Before starting the main design work, we talked a lot about their personality, what they liked, and what they aimed to express. All orders are personal: people add their ideas and desires which makes garments and jewellery truly unique. This process is very precious to me.

Can you give some examples of the outfits you made?

For example, a detailed look for a primal dom to give them more confidence in their subsequent “hunt”. Imagine tight latex leggings which emphasise the shape of the legs, high shiny boots adding assertiveness to the step, a functional harness for all the tools for later use, thick latex gloves good for touching and penetrating anything, and a light sheer tailored jacket. Being elegant is very important for that person in any situation.

Their “victim” – in a voluminous translucent dress, bright and iridescent under any light, you can see her from far away. Large dangly earrings for lightness and flow and to accentuate elegant neck with a functional collar with a short lead. Thin stripes of latex underwear under the dress hardly conceal anything. She dances absorbed in the music and sees no one around her. Perfect couple, right?

They both would only see each other.  The right look which perfectly matches the person’s inner world gives them great power. In the end, we all want to attract what we like.

It sounds like you always try to learn more about people and their fantasies through your designs.

Voyeurism, one of my main fetishes, has shown me that every person needs someone who would observe and study them, romanticise them and help them find their true self underneath the whole erotic ornamentation.

Images courtesy of Tiger Forgives. Top portrait by Ivan Ivanov.