How Dark Garden Became SF’s Corsetry Haven for 35 Years

Photo of Autumn Addame by Will Bucquoy

BY FUDGIE FROTTAGE

Born in the wagon of a traveling show, and raised by a single mom who toured with Ren Faires, Autumn Addame was influenced by costuming at an early age. The strikingly beautiful, soft-spoken, talented, and driven Addame is almost entirely self-taught with a little schooling from a handful of older legendary designers. The start of her 35 year old business, Dark Garden was kismet. Autumn has been beautifying our city with her exquisite designs since 1989.

Fudgie Frottage: Let’s first talk about your upcoming event: You host an annual Femme-centric soiree the night before Folsom Street Fair called Praise, what do you have planned for us this year?

Autumn Addame: For years I wanted there to be a sexy, beautiful event where I felt inspired to be as fancy as I could possibly be, wear my most ridiculous heels, and know I could sit down to have an intimate conversation, or be a voyeur while some foxy humans express their deepest, darkest fantasies.

Praise is my antidote to the heavy male aspects of FSF – a remedy to subjugation and humiliation. Femmes need to be revered, adored, and praised. It’s a formal affair to tease your senses in anticipation of FSF’s debauchery. Praise will whet your appetite with sensual performances and activations. We’ve got live music, local and imported performers including Mistress Porcelain from Seattle, Japanese rope artist Saki Kamijoo, ecdysiasts Frankie Fictitious and Edie Eve, House Dommes offering spankings and other titillating experiences, a marvelous bootblack, and even Argentine Tango dancers, all while being surrounded by elegantly clad guests and models. This year we’ll be at Great American Music Hall – a venue with a serious brothel vibe.

Find out more about Praise right here

FF: Now let’s talk fashion.

AA: Our clothes do so much work for us. They tell people who we are, where we’re going, and sometimes, what we care about. They’re the ultimate disguise too, as you well know. 

FF: Which celebrities have you clothed and who was your favorite?

AA: Tilda Swinton was my all time favorite, but I’m not sure she’s truly human. I love, love, love working with Dita. She knows what she likes and needs, and is such a pro. I didn’t get to meet Gwen Stefani, but I did get to make a really lovely corset for her, thanks to being hired by Moschino to create part of her look for the Met Gala in 2019. J Lo was stressful, Pamela Anderson was super fun, and Christina Aguilera was kind and easy. Marilyn Manson was a trip, but I did get to make some really cool stuff. We’ve done a couple of fast turnarounds for Rihanna, but I’ve only worked with her stylist thus far, and Madonna…no comment.

FF: You started making corsets in 1989 and opened Dark Garden the same year, so you’ve been in business for 35 years —  wow, how has your work and client base evolved?

AA: I made my first corset when I was 12, quite a few years prior to starting Dark Garden in ‘89. Our very first fashion show was in ‘93, I look back at that show as really setting the tone for the devotion to inclusivity that Dark Garden has been passionate about since day one. Our models are all heights, sizes, colors, and genders. My work has evolved from being historically focused to being body focused.

Carolina Leon, Lindsay Ferguson, Jiz Lee, Allie Diane, Adrianna-Marie, Miss If N’ Whendy, Cat Mitchell. Dark Garden Corsetry, Naturals Collection. © Joel Aron.

FF: I remember you as the most sought after designer for all the fetish balls and goth parties.

AA: The fetish scene was on fire, it was there that I was introduced to the world of cross-dressers and waist-trainers. I met Eric Kroll at an event in NY, he asked to take photos of me and my work…suddenly we had an international following of the best fetish freaks and weirdos. I met Fakir Musafar around this time as well, who was friends with the owner of Body Manipulations –  I, too, wanted to know what limits we could push our bodies to, so I made a full-length leather corset with an astonishingly small waist for my friend and ingenue  ‘The Indra’ who wore it out to a nightclub where she caught the eye of fine art photographer Peter DaSilva. One thing led to another, and soon we had a complete catalog of our work. 

All of this experimentation on our own bodies meant that we learned what made for the magic combination of gorgeous curves and wearability. We started out only doing full custom work, made to measure – I learned a lot about how bodies are similar, and how they’re different.

Kisura and Kat Robichaud photo by Max Johnson

After 5 years of exclusively bespoke work, I started seeing patterns to the similarities, and we began creating a ready-to-wear line of corsets. At first it was one style and 11 sizes. Now it’s 14 styles and 20 sizes – all body-type informed.

We do a vast array of corsetry – for sexy-fun-time; for waist training; as part of wedding or other special occasion attire, and even medical corsetry.

Serafina, Kalico, Autumn, Marianne, Shane, photo by Frederic Aube taken at The Edwardian Ball.

FF: Tell us about your design process and inspiration.

AA: Over the years the team has of course changed a lot. I think I’ve trained over two hundred makers in our 35 years. I now have two associate designers working with me, Kalico Delafay and Marianne Faulkner. The three of us have very different styles, and we all enjoy different aspects of the design process. I love working one-on-one with people, designing their dream ensembles.

FF: I saw an interview you did where you talked about making a peacock inspired dress for a tiny dog in NOLA called Barbarella — you know I adore small dogs.

AA: Oooh – Barbarella! I swear, she was my gateway dog. I was a devoted cat person until I met Barb. She is one of those magical dogs that senses when you need comfort and just comes over and soaks up your anxiety then shakes it away. She was a New Orleans rescue dog, and her human likes to give back by fundraising for the rescue organization that brought them together. 

There’s a fantastic parade every Mardi Gras season called Barkus, all tiny floats with dogs of all breeds and sizes, in costume. Barb’s person wanted me to create a Mardi Gras Queen outfit. I had to do fittings for the dress on my cat, Zephyr who was actually really into it. It seems many creatures like to dress up, not just humans.

Zephyr and Barbarella photos by Autumn Addame

FF: I always enjoy your socials, and live vicariously through them. I especially recall an annual ball in Venice where everyone was wearing yellow and black, the creativity and fashion was amazing, someone was dressed as a glam bumble bee.

AA: Yes, Venetian Carnival – it’s my very happiest place because the rules are so different. The yellow and black outfit you’re thinking of was worn to a party with the theme of Maya the Bee, a European kid’s cartoon – Maya is a rebel and always breaks the banal rules. Every person at the party was wearing yellow and black stripes and the creativity was off the hook.

My favorite carnival costume is probably my pineapple look, made for a Tutti-Frutti themed party.

Autumn Addame and Daniel Silveira photo by © Marisa D’Alessandro

FF: I am certainly looking forward to what you will be wearing at Praise on Saturday, September 28. Readers, if you need something for FSF weekend, Dark Garden can hook you up. There is still time to buy something off the rack to wear on the rack. 

Praise starts at 10:30 pm, at GAMH right after Kat Robichaud’s MisFit Cabaret and goes until 2am. More info at: darkgarden.com