Join the ‘Social Sex Revolution’ – Fleur du Mal Brings the Conversation Outside the Bedroom

Discover the Social Sex Revolution

Braving both the city rain and unrelenting social stigma, three inspiring female entrepreneurs gathered together in New York City’s beautiful Fleur du Mal lingerie boutique on March 27, 2024 to spearhead the “Social Sex Revolution” movement. Fleur du Mal founder Jennifer Zuccarini, visual artist Abbey Drucker, and MakeLoveNotPorn platform originator Cindy Gallop shared their own stories of gender inequality, prejudice within social media against female sexuality, and the challenges of doing business in sexual spaces with a primarily-female audience who sat riveted to their every word. Surrounded by slinky lingerie and raunchy magazines showcasing gorgeous stars of covers past, Fleur du Mal turned for the evening into a safe space for the freedom of discussing topics usually kept behind closed doors, out of daylight, and between the covers.

The Social Sex Revolution is a movement our panelists deem long overdue. The heavy social stigma surrounding female sexual activity and the overt censorship of proper representation of natural bodies within the art, social media, and adult film spaces continues to extend significantly into the modern day, despite apparent advancements made for women around the world in past decades (primarily in Western countries.) With March bringing a spotlight to Women’s History Month and recent news centered around censorship on social media and legal changes, it seems no better time than to break the barrier around conversations on sexual constructs and activity. MakeLoveNotPorn founder Cindy Gallop immediately broke down any tense feelings around these topics with a welcoming approach to the conversation at the panel – her candid and personal storytelling of sexual escapades and the touching positive feedback she’s received from users of the platform resulted in both uproarious laughter and sage agreement from the audience. Gallop stated, “you can live your life very different to the way you are expected to, and end up very, very happy.” She went on to add, “the revolution part [of the Social Sex Revolution] is not about the sex…it’s the fact that we’re finally making it social.”

Fleur du Mal founder Jennifer Zuccarini agreed, sharing a shocking statistic that women get less than two percent of all venture funding – a slim hope in entrepreneurship that shrinks even more drastically when a female business owner is looking to secure funding professionally for a product housed within the sexual realm. Without these conversations to propel change, dispel stigma, and properly educate, it will be difficult to ever see change in these very real (and very critical) areas both personally and professionally in modern society. The conversation also affects everyone, of any age and background. Gallop says, “I’m female. I’m older. And I have sex,” bluntly sharing that sexual conversation is not limited only to a certain demographic. The panelists point out collectively that “when people talk about ‘sex sells,’ they’re talking about it through the male lens” – a lens that only represents half of the population, and one half of the demographic having sex.

In addition, this filtered targeting is aimed towards a relatively young demographic with little diversity and a high level of augmentation or manipulation of reality, which can be extremely detrimental to a consumer’s perception of what sex really looks like in real relationships. Through filtering both bodies and the act of sex, media and social portrayals depict a false reality, skewing expectations and delineating the human element of sex. The panel discussed how this overly perfect “Uncanny Valley” rendering of sex can be a major blow to the confidence and comfort level of those consuming these depictions without their realizing it – making the Social Sex Revolution a crucial epiphany.

Zuccarini urged, “at Fleur du Mal, building the community around our brand is as important as the styles we create.” Abbey Drucker, the visual artist behind the NIGHT SESSIONS gallery on display at the event, also noted the importance of feeling seen and breaking stigma as a community, for both her photography subjects and the general population celebrating the female form and feeling at home in their natural bodies and acts. “This is all that I want: I want everyone to be comfortable,” Drucker declared.

After the panel, attendees built further upon this idea of community via discussing the impact of the panel talks and getting to know one another whilst mingling with martinis amongst the stunning Fleur du Mal lingerie racks. Next door, a provocative and poignant gallery showcased Abbey Drucker’s recent NIGHT SESSIONS photography collection, a moving compilation of nine works celebrating physical form and female bodies. Drucker aims to impart the idea that “sexuality can be soft and gentle,” even changing anew as the female audience moves through their own cycles naturally. With a background of interest in psychology, the visual artist brings a sense of unique cognitive and emotional concepts to her work, with the goal of building a space “where everyone can feel safe.” NIGHT SESSIONS aims to bring back the classical, building upon Drucker’s experience previously in classical black-and-white photography and the use of darkrooms for development. The contrast of the nude female form sculpted with light upon a dark background certainly presents a timeless vision of natural beauty, elegantly captured in a captivating yet calming light of free confidence mixed with naked vulnerability.

As Cindy Gallop stated adamantly during the panel discussion, there’s one thing that women should focus on both through the Social Sex Revolution and through their own unique perspectives in life, inside the bedroom and out. “Be free,” Gallop simply advises – stellar and straightforward advice towards each of us living our most authentic lives and accomplishing goals, without stigma or reservations.

Be Inspired: Meet Jennifer Zuccarini, Abbey Drucker, & Cindy Gallop

Jennifer Zuccarini is the ambitious designer who founded the iconic Fleur du Mal line, one of the premier brands for luxury undergarments in the market and a line known for its designs that are just as red-hot as her fiery red hair. Fleur du Mal aims to approach luxury lingerie from a fashion perspective, with delicate yet sophisticated designs that speak to a cheeky and naughty persona in its ready-to-wear, undergarments, and swim collections. The brand uses high-quality materials and artisan craftsmanship to create fantasies, and offers both menswear and womenswear looks. Its name stems from the title of a collection of poems by poet Charles Baudelaire, presenting a duality of transformative power and titillating seduction through design. Zuccarini considers the emotion behind lingerie and holds a goal to create products to make all people of all ages and sizes feel their best – boosting confidence while getting both dressed, and undressed. Fleur du Mal has a boutique in the heart of Soho located at 175 Mott Street in NYC and in Los Angeles at 519 N Almont Drive in West Hollywood.

Abbey Drucker is a New York-native visual artist who began receiving international recognition for her photography by the young age of sixteen. She studied photography at the School of Visual Arts in NYC and worked at lauded German photographer Ellen Von Unwerth’s studio before starting her professional career at the prestigious global mass media company Conde Nast. She has cultivated a career of applauded commercial and advertisement work and has been published in numerous publications including names such as Vogue and Rolling Stone. Drucker recently transitioned into fine art that illuminates the fluidity of womanhood and human connection. The artist bases her research around the intricacies of mental health and sexuality, presenting poignant work that feels both subtle and provocative. She holds a goal of empowerment for her subjects, encouraging them to embrace their bodies, and for her viewers to question societal standards and stigmas surrounding sex and the natural physical form. She looks to photograph bodies without augmentation for her new series NIGHT SESSIONS, showcasing natural vulnerability entwined with confident power through light sculpting and bold colour palettes on a selection of nude forms. Drucker’s work “captures the physicality of nature as the catalyst to romance, heartbreak, vulnerability, and resilience.”

Cindy Gallop proudly proclaims herself as “the Michael Bay of business,” and is the founder of the MakeLoveNotPorn platform and If We Ran the World initiative. Gallop is a fierce and outspoken advocate for gender equality and the de-stigmatization of sex, especially through the female lens. Her work has been featured on notable platforms such as Forbes and Dazed. The entrepreneur is vocal about the lack of funding for female-led ventures, especially in the sexual space, and is actively working to make a difference through her new initiative of All the Sky Holdings, the world’s first sextech fund. MakeLoveNotPorn is the world’s first human-curated, user-generated social sex video-sharing platform that socializes sex as a natural piece of life and relationships – the entrepreneurial visionary works to leverage her platforms to promote mutual consent, appropriate education at all ages, and proper sexual values. Cindy Gallop is half English and half Chinese, born in the UK and attended Oxford University. She is now based in New York and brings a uniquely global approach to her work, including consulting, branding, advertising, and public speaking.

CREDITS

Writer: Laur Weeks @laur.weeks

Boutique: Fleur du Mal, New York City @fleurdumalnyc

PR: Purple PR @purplepr

Panelists: Jennifer Zuccarini @jenniferzuccarini (Fleur du Mal founder,) Abbey Drucker @abbeydrucker (NIGHT SCENES visual artist,) and Cindy Gallop (MakeLoveNotPorn founder and advocate)

Photography courtesy of Purple PR & Abbey Drucker Studio. 

Images by Poupay Jutharat @poupayphoto for Abbey Drucker Studio. 

Images by Migiani Piciato @migi.pics, and Claudio Domo @claudiadomo for Purple PR.