Murray and Vern: UK Latex Design House That Mainstreamed Fetish Fashion

Murray and Vern is an English design house and clothing retail company described as bringing “the design and imagery of latex clothing into the world of mainstream culture” for UK fashion, including television and film work. Because of their early adoption of latex they are regarded as pioneers who moved the fetish aesthetic into broader style culture. Design pieces sit in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). Their work is known for incorporating elements from the dance club scene, gay community, fetish world, and performance art culture.

Manchester Roots: Whitworth Street to Afflecks

Angela Murray and Stuart Vern founded Murray & Vern in 1984, initially working from a workshop on Whitworth Street in Manchester—then a hub of the city’s gay and club scene, including bar Manto and clubs Paradise Factory and The Hacienda. Through the eighties and nineties the design house continued to trade from Manchester, opening a first shop in Afflecks Palace and later Kensington Market. Early catalogues titled PURE were designed by The Designers Republic and took their name from the duo’s Pure diffusion range; collections featured in Skin Two magazine, the international fetish-fashion reference of the period.

“Fags And Slags,” Flesh, and the Rubber Ball

In 1992, Murray & Vern held a fashion show named “Fags And Slags” at The Hacienda’s then-monthly gay night, Flesh, casting friends, performers, and models from the London and Manchester club scenes—fashion designer Pam Hogg, performance artist The Divine David (David Hoyle), DJ Paulette, performance artists Matthew Glamourre and Nicola Bowery, and photographer Lee Baxter among them. The fashion show then toured the UK and closed with a show at the Rubber Ball fetish night at the Hammersmith Palais. That same year, i-D Magazine cited Murray and Vern as one of the 100 most influential designers in the world. Their designs were stocked by Sign of the Times and Kim West in London, Geese in Manchester, and Patricia Field in New York.

London Move, V&A Streetstyle, and Club Nights

In 1994 they moved from the Whitworth Street studio to London. Label work featured in the V&A Streetstyle exhibition and accompanying book; the museum also produced postcards of their designs photographed by Peter Ashworth. The late nineties saw fashion shows at Ministry of Sound featuring a performance by Minty (Nicola Bowery and Matthew Glamoure); an independent cinema ad for the label directed by Carrie Kirkpatrick; and a brochure collaboration with The Designers Republic titled “Murray and Vern Vs The Designers Republic,” sold through Foyles and Tate Modern. They hosted performance and club nights such as Naked and Famous at The 333 Club on Old Street and Absinthe, Ketamine and Guns at The Strongroom, a Jamie Reid–designed studio, where an Irvine Welsh–written piece was performed. Their 1999 Brewer Street, Soho shop display was photographed by well-known London photographer Derek Ridgers.

2000s Activity, Closure, and Reunion

The 2000s saw Murray and Vern present a series of fashion and performance club nights with contributions from Simon Hoare, Tania Glyde, and Michelle Olley, and open a London shop in Camden. They later exhibited at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York in the show The Corset: Fashioning The Body. The website launched in 1998; the year 2000 brought an i-D website-of-the-month feature and an appearance on Channel 4’s Big Breakfast hosted by Denise Van Outen. The label ceased to trade in 2002. Angela Murray later graduated in both counselling and photography; Stuart Vern continued to design with PURE, the M&V diffusion range, and moved into film set design. In 2023, Murray and Vern began working together again on archive and new designs for the Murray & Vern label.

In 2024 they featured in the book The Hacienda – Threads: A Celebration of Music, Fashion and Friendship. In support of the publication, Angela Murray took part in a round-table panel on the Manchester scene alongside Noel Gallagher, Peter Hook, David Hoyle, Ang Matthews, Graeme Park, Paul Cons, Greg Wilson, and Ian Griffiths, discussing the cultural history and relevance of The Hacienda. Toby Mott’s Transgression in the UK, released the same year, also included images and quotes from Murray and Vern.

Film Shoots and Ad Campaigns

Murray & Vern designs have been used in films and advertisements including: latex catsuits in the opening credits of the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough; principal costume in a 2012 Baileys advertisement; custom costumes for Italian shoemaker Inniu’s ad campaign (shot by Nic Gaunt); and latex set dressing in the 2017 science-fiction film Beyond Skyline. Clothing has been shot by British documentarian Derek Ridgers and music/fashion photographer Peter Ashworth for the collection “Pain is a close-up/happiness a long shot.” Ashworth also shot what became an iconic fetish image—a model on a spiked sofa wearing a Murray and Vern catsuit—for the front cover of their 1992 catalogue.

Museum Collections and How to Buy

Murray & Vern designs held in the V&A permanent collection include a red safety-pin dress from the Street Style exhibition 1994–95, lime green latex rubber stockings (1994), and silver rubber stockings (1994). All lines were designed by founders Angela Murray and Stuart Vern. Pieces sell online through the official website or select outlets; vintage Murray and Vern garments are sought after by collectors. Official Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook channels document the revived house; external documentary trails include BBC coverage of Gaychester and a dedicated Murray & Vern film.

For BDSM wardrobe history and latex fetish fashion, Murray and Vern sit at a rare junction: club-floor rubber, gay nightlife casting, Skin Two editorial credibility, Bond-film visibility, and museum glass. Hacienda Flesh shows, Rubber Ball finales, Ministry of Sound spectacles, and a twenty-year hiatus followed by archive-conscious return map a full UK latex story. Related topics include fetish clothing lists, latex culture, and British design houses K–Z—but the usable lesson for kink dressers is simpler. The catsuit that reads as dungeon armor and the catsuit that hangs in the V&A can share the same designers, the same Whitworth Street beginnings, and the same refusal to treat rubber as only underground costume.