Dayne Henderson is a North Shields–born latex fashion designer whose daring, avant-garde creations have reached global stages. Best known for crafting latex costumes for Lady Gaga’s ArtRave: The Artpop Ball Tour and dramatic runway shows at Torture Garden and Berlin Alternative Fashion Week, Henderson has carved out a niche at the intersection of fetish fashion, industrial aesthetics, and underground artistry. His story blends North East roots, resilience through setbacks, and a commitment to staying true to his vision — proving that world-class creativity can thrive outside London.
“I love that idea of the master craftsmen, like old traditional leather workers or any expert craftsperson. I can’t wait to be 70 still making gimp masks, what a tale!”. Dayne Henderson
I visited Dayne at his studio/workshop on an Industrial estate in North Shields, the “Gimp shack”, heavily tattooed, physically imposing of a Goth/Alt cultural background he is eloquent and a nervous bubble of energy. Very much a home lover and a product of North Shields where his family and upbringing had a powerful effect on his future career. “I live just over the road and I went to Norham , I’m very close to my family, so I’m still very much in a North shields bubble” and has had no desire to relocate his life and work to the capital and is aware of the possible dangers of excessive ambition “I’ll go against the grain but I do feel like if maybe I had been in London, if I had went through a different route to becoming a fashion brand, then I would have had a totally different outlook. Maybe I would have burnt out faster.
“I went to King Edwards primary and then Norham high school didn’t do well in my GCSE’s, then Tyne Met college and did a BTEC in Fashion and Clothing, gained a triple distinction. I was there for two years and from there to Northumbria University a time he describes as turbulent. He failed the first year of Northumbria and blames the repetition of the foundation year and the cookie cutter approach producing designers for high street fashion brands “I think it was just because I’d already done a lot of the stuff in college but in the second year I started to find what I was about as a designer but Northumbria did not like that and i ended by failing a second time. He expands, “there was an outfit I had designed, and they brought me in for a big discussion”, he was told “it’s not commercial. what you want to be doing is not for us”.
“I repeated the second year twice I had covered quite a lot in college so going back to basics didn’t hold my attention. I remember one design brief I was told my work wasn’t commercial and would attract no customer – A similar design that would go on to be made and grab the attention of lady gaga a few years later”.
Never wanting to be content with being the type of designer who would design details such as pockets for the high street he states, “It just wasn’t me, I got into design to be outlandish and to make a mark and I felt like my designs and concepts were too much”. I failed the first year twice. I then I ended up going to Sunderland University to do fashion product and promotion. They put me right in the second year and It was a case of like you can do what want to do as a designer, if you can justify it and if you can tell us what your market is and how you get your product out there.
“Sunderland gave me the advantage of letting me be free, and that’s where it started, my “playing” with Latex, and the aesthetic was always futuristic, always industrial and yeah, super, super tight (mischievous chuckle) and when I came across Latex that was it and I was away”. He did his final collection for Sunderland which was all latex, and he describes it as a nice place to start his career after the difficulties of the early years. I graduated with a first-class degree in fashion product and promotion
He went to work for a company in Lincolnshire in a tiny, isolated village producing hardcore latex garments. Here he was able to further develop techniques and hone his skills but after a year there and becoming homesick for North Shields he returned and within three months of working for himself he was then commissioned by Lady Gaga to produce costumes for her world tour. Which he describes as a baptism of fire and initially thought it was prank.
“I sent a tweet to her stylist at the time. It was picture of an outfit I had created and, and all I said was “Gaga likes rubber” And that was it. And then he got back within a couple of hours. It was on Mother’s Day. I was taking my mam out for dinner”, and “Mam! Guess what’s just happened”. That was in 2014 for her Artrave: The Artpop Ball Tour and he was a guest at her Metro arena gig to see nineteen pieces designed for Gaga and her dancers. He went on to describe the pressure and stress of producing for something so high profile, “I was terrified and anxious as i wanted it to be so good”, but as a catalyst for a career it has been “hardcore” ever since.
A more recent celebrity hookup was a headdress for Skin from Skunk Anansie in which she caused a stir at 2022 Glastonbury.
Going online it’s hard to find much evidence of Daynes commercial work in the form of websites and storefront and I suggested he has had a bit of a hiatus since the Gaga experience but he has done catwalk shows at some of the world’s leading fetish clubs, notably, Torture Garden, renowned as the world’s leading fetish club who gave him his first large show and since then Newcastle fashion week, Berlin Alternative Fashion Week, a further ten Torture Gardens and an Italian fashion show and has been fulfilling customer commissions for all that time.
“Torture Garden gave me my first large show just as the gaga stuff was released, I went on to do multiple shows at their clubs both in the UK and internationally, (that’s the Italy show I referenced). Berlin Alternative fashion week at Berlins infamous music venue Berghain. MY other notable projects, Great British Sex Survey with channel 4, I did a music video with Plan B for the track ‘Wait so Long’, I even have a small cameo in that which is cool, a Desperados beer TV commercial. Various other music artists, Asnikko, Cobra, Bambi Thug – Irelands Eurovision entry for 2024. Theres also the projects that don’t come to fruition. Which as an independent designer can be rough, this happened during Covid with another lady gaga project, and too many other times to mention”.
I asked about his online presence. It’s a complicated answer but essentially he considers that he is still learning a process and doesn’t feel, like a true artist, that he has reached a definitive stage in his development and is always progressing and refining and as for commissions he says “If people want to find me they find me”, “I like staying within my niche and I just like to be left to do my process and it adds an air of mystique. I’m known for not being in your face about it or trying to promote and I just sort of create”.
“I don’t know why I said not feeling like a true artist, the lack of website is more to do with the ability and time to create one, being a one-man brand, I’m already spread thin and to retrospectively put in over a decade’s worth of work is overwhelming”.
I prefer to keep the commission of work one to one private commission, this way my clients get a personal experience, I’m the artist, salesman, designer, manufacturer, admin. I get to communicate with people globally that I’d never otherwise have contact with, and the clients themselves are getting more of an experience and an investment in my time that placing an order on a website. It’s by no means a very business minded or efficient way to work but it’s my process and something between a lifestyle, being an artist, a job. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to work as a self-sustaining artist and living off things I create with my own hands, but that does have drawbacks when it comes to the pressure that brings and the effects on my mental health
He’s Definitely underground but is one of the top designers in his field and people seek him out to produce his dramatic designs. Often plagiarized, he was one of the first to develop techniques and a standard in his field and communicates a real frustration when this happens but not being high profile, it leads the field open to this kind of opportunism. Not adhering to the seasonal collection narrative of mainstream fashion of spring/summer collections he describes his work as a continuation, “My work started then. And it’s a growth, it’s a continuation. I don’t start a new project. It’s all my identity, body of work, in latex and blown up.
He describes his outfits as futuristic, very Spacey, very industrial. “You know, a lot of that comes from music. Music is huge, and rather than getting visual influences music’s the thing for me. I listen to an eclectic mix. Yeah, my taste in music goes all the way from T Rex to Techno. I use music to get into the zone that I want to be in to create the piece as opposed to looking at picture for a reference and doing that like you can feel the process. He uses music to clear his mind as part of the process and the inspiration comes from imagination, his brain. There is a freeform element to his work which is purely an expression of this dark imagination and elevates it to an artform. The reason that people are turned on by wearing latex is its transformative abilities and sensual properties. As with any costume, a wearer can imagine themselves having a new identity, a larger-than-life exuberant transformation. The designs have a hard industrial visual that is slightly forbidding, but the dichotomy is created by the soft sinuous, tactile, warm feel of the material that is undeniably sexy.
He says “It’s about finding that power to own who you are and where you’re from and to keep hammering away because the opportunities aren’t as good here, but if I go back to influence, I’m originally from the Meadowell and then North Shields area and mainly brought up by loving, but strong and sometimes formidable women. I was a baby at the time of the riots, but that area and that culture I think became a deep influence. If you look at a lot of the (designs) the spikes, the inflatables, defensive or offensive sillouettes (representations of breasts and muscles), there’s a running theme, it’s about power and about protection, using the body as a shield or weapon, masks, that extremeness, I think comes from way back in my conscience and being from here, that’s my reference”. Mixed with the asthetic of a dystopian future and the outworldly figures has become my design identity.
One piece made in response (as a coping mechanism) to his mother’s breast cancer diagnosis with three breasts and an inflated musculature representing the strength and determination and stoic attitude of these tough characters and he takes emotional inspiration from the women who brought him up
“I can’t draw; besides fashion illustration, I was a creative kid, but I never found my thing. I think the thing I liked was when it was tactile and I was using my hands and doing things. Creatively in my formative years I, frustratingly so, didn’t consider myself creative in the typical sense, I couldn’t draw or last with any instrument I forced my parents to let me take up, but I did enjoy to do things with my hands and make things and I knew that’s where my focus was. I was always into anything with a costume and a mask, wrestlers, power rangers – Tight suits and mask, go figure!”
“I came out as gay at 14, I’m not saying it was as rough as past generations had it but socially and certainly in school it was different to how things are now but with that instead of retreating into myself, I came all the way out. I found my thing and was positively outlandish in my pursuit of finding my own style and identity though clothing, exploring sub-cultures but never quite fitting into one category. Using fashion and style as a way to express who I was or wanted to be. Notably one time wearing a pair of 7inch platform boots and a straight jacket as part of my school uniform! Much to the despair of my family and teachers and that gave me almost a thrill, to go against the system and the standards. Fight fire with fire, the more I was called a freak or considered and ‘oddball’ the bigger thrill I got. This has become a concept that has become a running theme in my work and process”.
And then to have the body as a canvas was amazing just a different moveable element and it was seeing Taboo’ – Boy George’s musical with leigh Bowery and to see him using himself as a canvas for his work and becoming a living piece of art was the thing that set me off”.
“I find I have a bit of a symbiotic relationship with latex. It’s a strong, durable fabric. You can pull it about, but if you get the slightest little and nick try and pull it it’s gone, it tears, its fragile, it has amazing strength but is paradoxically fragility. Which I find echoes me as a person, and I think that’s why I clicked with it as a medium. It’s mad, but that is what I think. The construction process itself forces me to have patience, resilience and a focus that I can lack outside of the creative process. Sometimes I feel like it’s a bit of an addiction. There are times. I want to stop the brand and feel I cannot possibly do this anymore, but I can’t stop it. I probably couldn’t and wouldn’t do anything different especially when I’ve made something that I’m impressed with and i still feel like it’s such a rush”. – Sometimes I feel like its and addiction, there are times I want to stop the brand and look for a more stable career but I can’t stop, that outlet and rush for me when I create something that I truly am impressed with it’s a powerful thing! The process of making latex is quite peaceful in itself, it’s a labor intensive but no sewing, machines or gadgets, latex comes in sheet form like any other material but is unique in its construction methods, it’s all made with a few simple hand tools and glue. Anyone can make latex it just takes a long time and dedication to be any good, it makes me incredibly proud to feel like I am an expert in a creative handmade process. I love that idea of the master craftsmen, like old traditional leather workers or any expert craftsperson. I can’t wait to be 70 still making gimp masks, what a tale!
He’s not precious about the designs as objects as its the process which is the thing he gets a kick out of and loves and that is his focus and as works of pure imagination the focus must be in the mindful present, and this explains the lack of online media focus, he has no website. Rather than posting repeatedly the same design he feels the need to get on and create.
“To create I need to have this disconnect from the customer itself, a degree of separation. Latex is an expensive product. The process that I go through is lengthy. They are reasonably priced things and it’s hard for me, unless i have this disconnect put a value something that I’ve made with my hands but then I’m also enjoying it, so it becomes difficult to value and I’m also working continuously and this is my lifestyle”.
“I think what I’m trying to say there is that it’s weird to put a monetary value on your own skills and processes, especially when they are something you love to do, I always wanted to be a brand but never really intended to become a business. Peter Pan syndrome if you like, never grow up, be creative without limits, let the grownups worry about money and being responsible. Of course, that’s not the reality but I cling on to that where I can, the best times are the times I’m not making for any client or reason other than to be playful and enjoy creative process”.
“I will go against the grain, But I do feel like if maybe I had been in London, if I had gone through a different route to becoming a fashion brand, then I would have had more opportunities and exposure. I do feel isolated at times from there being a lack of scene or opportunities up here. I did Newcastle fashion week a couple of times which was great to be able to put on a showcase locally but that sort of fizzled out and never returned”.
“I’m also aware of how different my life could have gone altogether if I didn’t have the creative process, especially in my early 20s I was quite wild, I could have so easily slipped off the rails, I found formal education a struggle and the route wasn’t easy but ultimately my love and passion for creativity has given me focus, just by making maybe a couple of different decisions, or not making something or not going to uni or not going to college I could have had a completely different life.
“I would love it if someone young from shields was to come across my work and be inspired and realize that you can be from here (Northeast) and do something entirely different. For me the only real Punk there is now is to do your own thing in any way you can. It’s the kids who have got the fresh minds full of vision and that’s where the money should go”.
And then to have the body as a canvas was amazing just a different moveable element and it was seeing Taboo’ – Boy George’s musical with leigh Bowery and to see him using himself as a canvas for his work and becoming a living piece of art was the thing that set me off”.
“To reference influences, I have a few that I would regard as being important to my work. Leigh Bowery, I discovered in my teens, known for his iconic personality and extreme aesthetic, used himself or the body as a canvas, before my time leigh died of when I was 6 but his legacy in fashion and club culture is infinite. Thierry Mugler is major influence, also before my time, starting out in the 70’s, he was a pioneer of the type of fashion and aesthetic I love, powerful women, outlandish and provocative design, also the first time I discovered latex in fashion. Gareth Pugh, was a young designer taking the fashion world by storm when I was in college and university, originally from Sunderland and showing in London and Paris fashion weeks that was a clear sign at the time that it was a possibility to make it in fashion regardless of where you come from”.
Instagram @daynehenderson
Big Announcement!
We’re beyond excited to reveal that Dayne Henderson – the North Shields–born latex fashion designer whose creations have been worn by icons like Lady Gaga and Skin from Skunk Anansie – will be showcasing his work at I Love North Shields LIVE!
From Berlin Alternative Fashion Week to Torture Garden, Dayne’s avant-garde latex couture has captivated audiences across the world. Now, you’ll have the chance to see his visionary designs right here in his hometown.
✨ Don’t miss this rare opportunity to experience one of North Shields’ most innovative creatives in action!
📍 I Love North Shields LIVE
🗓 Sunday 5th October | Salt Market Social
🎟 Free entry – book your ticket here: https://ilovenorthshields.com/ilns-live/
👉 Find out more about the event:
🔗 Event page: https://ilovenorthshields.com/event/i-love-north-shields-live/
🌐 ILNS Website: https://ilovenorthshields.com/
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