British latex label Rubberluv has been acquired by Max Kuhl, the Hamburg-based owner of Inner Sanctum and Heveas Heaven. The sale was completed just before Easter, in time for Rubberluv stock to be shipped to Essen and displayed on the Inner Sanctum stand at the Fetish Evolution expo.

In Essen, the official story was that Rubberluv was just sharing stand space with its German friends. And this remained the case when Rubberluv was again seen alongside Inner Sanctum and Heveas Heaven in Berlin, at May’s German Fetish Fair. Only now, with all the details taken care of and continuity of Rubberluv production ensured, have buyer and seller considered the time to be right for them to go public.

A long period of illness was apparently behind founder Chris Bellamy’s reluctant decision to sell Rubberluv, and he was keen to find a buyer who would maintain the quality and style of the brand he’d created with his wife Shirley. Chris also wanted to secure continuity of employment for his production staff. Max, already good friends with Chris, turned out to be the perfect buyer to fulfill all these objectives.

The two men struck a deal whereby Rubberluv’s administration would move to Hamburg, but garment production would remain in the UK with the same staff. So Rubberluv will continue to be made in the UK, and the new German owner will focus on increasing the brand’s appeal to the kind of fetish fashion fans who already love the Inner Sanctum line (bought by Max from its British founder some 18 months ago).

New Rubberluv collections are promised soon, but the existing range can be bought online, as before, from Rubberluv.com, as well as from Inner Sanctum’s new showroom at Stresemannstr 132a, 22769 Hamburg.