SPOTLIGHT: THE WOMEN WHO FOUNDED UNBOUND BABES

Being one of the carefully selected brands on PLEASE, Unbound Babes is a company that is totally aligned with what we are trying to achieve. They are all about empowerment, breaking boundaries and making real changes. Let’s get to know this playful and powerful brand a bit better.

Unbound is a mighty team who have made headlines by fighting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority over sexism in subway ads. They have sent thousands of vibrators to members of congress in support of reproductive health, and they also make some of the most beautiful, body safe vibes and accessories in the biz.

Unbound Babes believes that whether you're just starting to explore or you're a seasoned expert, you deserve pleasure and an unapologetic community of babes to revel in it with. The best part? You don't even have to leave your bed to be a part of it.

“Historically, sex toys were designed by men because, well, what wasn’t?” smirks Polly Rodriguez, co-founder and CEO of Unbound. “As a result, the majority of vibrators took a phallic form, which is frustrating because the shape of the object has little to do with its ability to arouse. Research shows that 70 percent of women require clitoral stimulation in order to orgasm."

Not only was it the limited offerings on the market that frustrated Rodriguez prior to launching her own endeavour— but it was also an unsavoury shopping experience.

Just over a decade ago at 21, Rodriguez was diagnosed with stage IIIC colorectal cancer. She was fortunate enough to beat it, but the first part of the treatment included radiation therapy, which resulted in an early onset of menopause. Though there was a shiner silver lining. The experience was powerful enough to change her relationship to her body forever.
“[Cancer] forced me to make a decision about whether I would continue to fear my body or learn to appreciate it,” she explains. “I think anyone who has survived any form of mental or physical illness faces that decision. Those who choose to embrace it, in all its flawed forms, are often more body-positive and sex-positive for it.”

Seeking comfort for menopausal dryness with lubricants as well as sex toys for personal pleasure throughout her twenties, most of the time she would end up at a seedy sex shop, leaving much to be desired.

This critical gap in the market led her and co-founder Sarah Jayne to start Unbound in 2014, aiming to take vibrators, lubricants, and sex accessories mainstream through elevated design, body-safe materials, and accessible pricing.

Further disrupting the market, a few years later the company launched its first line of wearable sex accessories, which included bangle bracelets that doubled as handcuffs, a choker necklace designed to be repurposed as a whip, and earrings that could be used as nipple clamps. “As soon as they sold out, we knew we were on to something,” Rodriguez says.

Today, the company has been hailed by the New York Times as the “ideological centre of the tech-savvy, female-led women’s sexuality movement” with over 50 products created by a team of 10 women in New York City.

We love Unbound Babes and all the products which they have created, we can’t wait to see what else they create.

Shop unbound here.