Touko Laaksonen — also known as Tom of Finland — the legendary artist whose iconic drawings of hyper-masculine, hyper-sexualized men seared a permanent place in the erotic imagination of generations of gay men around the world, has been the subject of a recent biopic and had his art immortalized on a wide range of products — he was even honored with a postage stamp in his native Finland. So it doesn’t require a stretch of imagination to understand how Tom’s art would lend itself to a line of pleasure devices and other adult toys and accouterments as well as power an extension into new digital media landscapes.
Joakim Andreasson, director of licensing for Tom of Finland (TOF) Foundation and the owner and creative director of the Tom of Finland Store, is charged with strengthening the foundation’s ties within the adult industry, as well as the pleasure products and novelties sector. The launch of its online store, and the original TOF line, in collaboration with XR Brands, were immediate successes.
There is so much creativity in his work that we were able to extract product ideas and turn them into reality. We wanted to do something that no other company had done before. We decided that every single realistic dildo in the TOF line would be based on a character that Tom had drawn. We had our artist hand sculpt dildos from clay until they were practically identical to the cocks in Tom’s art.
“Our goal in engaging in commercial partnerships is to further Tom of Finland’s universal message of freedom, as well as change and influence perceptions of sexuality,” he told XBIZ. “By engaging with highly varied commercial collaborations — from a $20,000 luxury rug to a $15 cock ring — the Foundation strives to make Tom’s work accessible to a diverse range of market segments and audiences, in the hopes that virtually anyone can afford to own a piece of Tom’s art.”
Towards that end, the Tom of Finland Store was formally established in 2017 as a worldwide online destination point for officially licensed products, as well as “products developed by LGBTQ artists and brands that embody sexual freedom and positive attitudes towards sexuality,” Andreasson said. “We carry products across sectors and categories that include fashion, interior decor, books, jewelry and grooming products. Many of these are developed by some of the world’s most prominent and progressive artists and designers including Walter van Beirendonck, Jack Pierson, Bernhard Willhelm, Bruce LaBruce and Bjarne Melgaard."
The company even produces a line of red wine — billed as a blend of zinfandel, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and petite sirah grapes — with a white wine on the boards. Overseas, “we have 15-year-old girls with Tom of Finland tote bags, and grandmothers buying Tom of Finland bed sheets,” Andreasson observes. “It’s a whole different ballgame in Finland because he’s a cultural icon there, not just a gay icon.”
The Foundation has produced branded prophylactics, together with One Condoms, available in Super Sensitive and Legend styles, and they are in discussions about potential adult movie projects. Their collaboration with XR Brands began a few years ago with Tom of Finland Pleasure Tools.
The initial collaboration, however, quickly grew beyond its original concept, notes Rebecca Weinberg, general manager for XR Brands. “The collaboration first began when the Foundation approached XR Brands with the initial idea of a TOF lubricant line. After learning and understanding their history, body of work at hand and people’s deep connection to Tom’s struggle for acceptance, we quickly changed direction to not only develop lubricants but to launch an entire collection of TOF pleasure tools and lubricants together.”
Their development meetings were “not your typical boardroom meetings,” she recalls. “They were usually held in the TOF house (in Los Angeles) where Tom spent his final years drawing before he passed some 20-plus years ago. They were exciting, smoky and (full) of Tom’s spirit. If you’ve never visited, it’s a playland. Everywhere you look is a different art installation or sex furniture device. The inspiration around us was abundant and perfect for brainstorming sex toys. Reviewing a new ass lock butt plug, for sure someone would disappear with it and come back wearing it to report on ease-of-use and comfort level for the remainder of the meeting. We spent about a year to launch the first 20 or so items. It was a huge success and quickly began to win industry awards.”
The TOF line is “truly resonating” with customers. “They love the quality of the items and appreciate the thoughtfulness in design and packaging,” Weinberg said. The line’s “international interest is notably higher than other brands we offer,” she notes. “I attribute this to Tom’s notoriety and recognition in his homeland, Finland. Finland loves Tom so much that they released a limited edition postage stamp collection featuring Tom of Finland artwork that sold out within a week.”
The line’s current top-selling item is the TOF Silicone P-Spot Vibe, which she notes was designed to be adaptable for “beginners” as well as advanced play. “The durometer, or firmness, to the material is perfect for applying the right amount of pressure to the prostate area delivering maximum pleasure.”
The branded lubricant lines are also top sellers. “The packaging is simply sexy and eye-catching in an aluminum bottle which highlights the art-printed labels,” Weinberg said. “We married Tom’s art perfectly to the items. The formula itself is top-notch quality and has been tested and tweaked to perfection. Each lubricant is topped off with a color-coordinated branded dog tag keepsake.”
At each stage in the development process, XR took pains to put the Tom of Finland aesthetic first. “There are a number of things that we did differently with this brand. We let Tom’s drawings, over 3000 of them, guide us in development of the products every step of the way,” she said.
“There is so much creativity in his work that we were able to extract product ideas and turn them into reality. We wanted to do something that no other company had done before. We decided that every single realistic dildo in the TOF line would be based on a character that Tom had drawn; we had our artist hand sculpt dildos from clay until they were practically identical to the cocks in Tom’s art,” said Weinberg. “Taking a one-dimensional artist’s work and turning it into a three-dimensional usable pleasure tool had never been done before in our industry. It was an extensive and challenging method, but the end result made it all worthwhile.”
Grace notes include “small details of items,” such as “a tiny curved, branded debossed tag that is bolted to the neoprene bondage cuffs. We also added in extras for our customers into the packaging: the keepsake collector card of TOF art and the branded dog tag within most items is that extra little touch that is unexpected in a sex toy and thrilling for the customer.”
“Tom of Finland art alone will make any item special. It was our job to make an item good enough to be branded with TOF. We feel that with the Foundation’s help, we were able to achieve that,” Weinberg said. “The result was a beautiful, sexy release of products that displayed wonderfully in the store and even better on customer’s nightstands.”
The efforts made by TOFF and their licensing partners, such as XR Brands, have significantly broadened Tom of Finland’s reach. “We have a huge audience outside of the gay community, too,” Andreasson said. “We do projects with a gay voice, because that’s how Tom worked; he was communicating to gay men. (Originally), his material was (considered) smut for the gay community to jerk off to. It wasn’t until later that it gained fine art status.”
Today, the Foundation’s focus and their outreach efforts are heavily focused on “keeping that authentic voice,” he notes. “People outside of the gay community are then attracted to what we do or support the message or just think that the guys are hot and want to consume it for that reason.”
Andreasson notes their sex toys are “either directly inspired by Tom’s art, or we work to put a product into context by connecting it to a specific drawing. Regardless, each tool is there to expand on ones sexual desires just as Tom did with his work.”
“It’s really what Tom did. He influenced an entire population with his art and allowed them to find ways to be secure in themselves, to be proud and to express themselves through their sexuality, which was taboo. This is really the movement that he created through his work, eliminating any kind of shame towards sex, communicating a very positive approach towards sex and he did it through the common denominator that we all connect to, which is fine art.”
The pleasure products are “like a fantasy come to life,” he said “Or art come to life. I do see all our consumers as collectors, and part of Tom’s world. We cherish every consumer. It’s still people wanting to connect with the positive message of Tom.”
Photo: Josh Paul Thomas.
