Second Skin - Inside the Worlds of Fetish, Kink and Deviant Desire

The smell of leather. The flash of a harness. The snap of a latex glove. Welcome to the radical, vibrant world of sexual fetishists. In 21st century commodity culture, we are all intimately involved with objects: we covet a Birkin bag; we keep trainers box-fresh. We are, in a sense, all fetishists. But occasionally this desire spills into something more subversive. SECOND SKIN offers a tour through the materials, objects and power dynamics commonly fetishised, unpacking their histories, their expressive potential, and the communities they give rise to. Drawing from her encounters with fellow fetishists and kinksters, it is also the story of Anastasiia Fedorova's own journey: of what it means to come to terms with one's sexuality. Brave and searching, Second Skin reveals how what we deem 'taboo' is never static, while asking: do we have the courage to look at these desires directly, and express them unapologetically?

About the author

ANASTASIIA FEDOROVA is a writer, curator and fetishist. She has written for DAZED, i-D, Freize, Vogue and the Guardian, among other publications, and has collaborated with kink and fetish institutions, including the UK Leather and Fetish Archive and Klub Verboten. Her work is dedicated to exploring the ways queer communities are archived and documented and to the poetic and radical potential of queer love and sex. Second Skin is her first book.

Product details

• Authors: Anastasiia Federova, Anastasiia Fedorova, Shuang Xuetao
• Publisher: Granta Books
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 05.06.2025, delayed
• EAN: 9781803511900
• ISBN: 978-1-80351-190-0
• Subjects: Non-fiction book; Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general); Cultural Studies, HISTORY / Social History, Memoirs, Social and cultural history, Sex and sexuality, social aspects, Sexual Behaviour, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Human Sexuality, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Memoirs