Condomerie featured by the Guardian

Condomerie featured by the Guardian

Will Coldwell, theguardian.com, Tuesday 20 May 2014 12.53 BST

The Condomerie is the world's first specialist condom shop, a treasure trove of latex artistry that has helped keep the city's (in)famous red-light district safe and sheathed since 1987. The colourful store and information centre on Warmoesstraat – one of the oldest streets in the city – displays an eye-opening collection of rubbers as well as colourful hand-painted novelty condoms in the shape of chickens, frogs and, ahem, Big Ben. There's even a small "condom museum" (currently closed for refurbishment). Perhaps it's hard to imagine it now, but when the idea for the shop was first, er, conceived during a discussion in a restaurant between three friends, it really was a radical proposition. The work the shop has done to break down the taboos surrounding contraception and sexually transmitted diseases – particularly HIV – makes it far more than a shop; it's more like a rather important institution in modern sexual history.