SPONSORSHIP

The Nearer The Moon sponsorship programme is designed to provide a member of the performance and/or sex worker communities with a bespoke costume or uniform. 

During the accelerated momentum behind the Black Lives Matters movement in June 2020, the world took notice of the hardships and inequalities across every part of our society experienced by black members of the community. 

I took some time off from posting promotional content on social media for Nearer The Moon, concentrating on researching, donating to Black Lives Matter UK, sharing black owned businesses and talking to the people behind those brands.

In response to one of my stories talking about how I'd like to support the black community more, I was approached by a performer for sponsorship of a custom burlesque costume. I immediately agreed - one of my great passions is making costumes and very special one off pieces and I have benefitted greatly from burlesque performers and strippers and all manner of sex workers choosing Nearer The Moon for their work uniforms and promotional photoshoots. This is a very niche but potentially valuable way I can give back.

Since then, we have been discussing and developing a costume which I will be documenting over on Patreon as the project progresses. I don't want to give too much away as obviously the performer will want to debut it publicly themselves. Let's just say it's based on a bombshell character from the 80's.

As I've been working over the past two weeks I realised this is something I can continue to do. I've been talking to sex workers and performers from many facets of the industries about whether access to expensive costumes can be barrier to entry or progression, the answer was a resounding yes. For each new act, photoshoot, themed club night, performers need costumes, beautiful costumes that are exciting and new. Now, that doesn't mean they have to be expensive, I have it on good authority that you can get just as much value from a neon Amazon body stocking as a bespoke latex bodysuit - but what about if they didn't have to cost anything at all?

Maybe that could mean one more BAME performer on a burlesque line up, more diversity in our strip clubs, another cash tip on cam? And while it may seem trivial to provide lingerie costumes, please don't get me wrong this is not my solution for or the absolvement of racism, this is just something I can do with my very specialist skills to help just a tiny tiny tiny bit. 

I hope in turn it could help further someones career, increase the amount of images of members of the BAME communities we see on social media, and increase someones earnings.

To qualify you will need to provide proof of your profession either through website, social media accounts or another mutually agreed way. You will need to be from one of the BAME communities. You will be able to have photos taken of your outfit. You will be available for discussions via e-mail. You will have the ability to provide measurements for yourself (not immediately don't worry!). You will need to provide a shipping address. 

I will be launching the sponsorship application once I have finished the first one and then once everyone has been verified for criteria, I will use a random selection tool to decide the order. Each costume will take at least six weeks and will be approved by both parties before any manufacture takes place.