- Rapidfire Royalty
Name: Evana De Lune
Royal Title: Burlesque Striptillian & Fetish Goddess
Hood: A lady does not disclose her whereabouts to strangers
Date Night: Dinner and a show at Bar Pigalle in Richmond
Last splashed out on: A 1950s two piece powersuit cape and dress from Depop
Reading: The History & Arts of the Dominatrix, by Anne O Nomis purchased from Passionfruit Lingerie on Bridge Road, “it’s pre reading for a course they do there”
Not gonna lie, I’m girl crushing on Evana de Lune pretty hard. Stalking her socials reveals that last year she was a cover girl for Demasque magazine, celebrating all things kink and fetish, she launched a merchandise line, ran burlesque and fitness classes to keep the world sane in lockdown, did some devastatingly good modelling work and has a successful OnlyFans business. She is also a really lovely person.
In the week prior to us meeting, Evana has performed her first ever show in full latex for Melbourne Rubber’s Shine show and modelled for one of my all time favourite adult stores Passion Fruit Shop on Bridge Road.
“It’s been a busy week, but that’s definitely not a bad thing,” she says.
“I’ve been in meetings for new shows, working on costume creation, Stretch and Strengthen classes… I ran a hen’s party in Rye, which was super fun.. and I also had a big week of shows, with seven gigs.”
“I loved the Passionfruit lingerie collab last week, it was great to be photographed in their creations. But one of the things I like most about that shop is the erotic literature library there. I’m a complete bibliophile. There is something in there for everyone.”
“And the Shine show. Well, let’s just say I’ve had my feet in some very fun places –and tall shoes. I started exploring the kink world three years ago. I’ve always been interested in the subculture of kink and latex and was asked to perform for a kink related event – I was like hell yeah! Once the snowball had started rolling, I became the go-to for all kink, queer and fetish events. I have an act called Big Domme energy, which is me in a beautiful PVC outfit accompanied by a beautiful rhinestone strap on dildo. I’ll do anything and everything as long as it’s creative and fun.”
Evana de Lune has a cocktail named after her on the menu at Bar Pigalle, where she performs and teaches burlesque shows every weekend. With blackberry, white rum, mint, jalapenos and rhubarb bitter, it’s spicy, sharp, lipsmacking and potent, and may throw you round the room. Remind you of anyone?
“Bar Pigalle is a beautiful hub for burlesque in Melbourne, I’m proud to be a part of it,” she says.
“Maison Burlesque is the affiliated studio, where I teach a range of shows, Metalesque, Fetish, and Stretch and Strengthen. These are open dance classes that anyone can join. I am strong believer in mobility for mental health. I think moving is the most important thing you can do. Get out of bed early, and make movement a positive start to the day.”
It surprises me that Evana is a morning person. I’d expected her to be a nocturnal creature. But it just so happens that she is a boss babe who has managed to work a schedule that enables her to burn the candle brightly at both ends.
“I’ve chosen the way I work quite well; I’m a fanatical scheduler. From Mon to Thursday I wake up early, then Thursday night to Sunday I unleash the dark Striptillian of the underworld!”
Evana is far more than a performer, she’s a business powerhouse and a mistress of multitasking.
“I don’t think many people realise that it isn’t just about the performance, but booking shows, buying costumes, responding to your various inboxes, choreography, maintenance.”
“After a big weekend of performing and late nights, my house and car are trashed. Getting ready for a gig takes over two hours. There’s a lot of maintenance. But at the end of a long weekend of work, I walk in and throw everything down. It’s a glitter bombsite. I have two eyelash graveyards. One in the bathroom where they will get reused and one in the car on the dashboard that are done. When you are leaving a gig and you rip them off. It’s symbolic.”
Part of the preparation for her beautiful brand is making her own costumes, although for bigger pieces she has started commissioning designers.
“My drawers at home are full of rhinestones,” she says.
“I’ve always got a stacked project next to my desk. When people ask me what I do for fun, I tell them I make costumes.”
“I’m nearly finished my latest creation for my Led “Leopard” Zeppelin show, which is a three piece leopard print set twinned with a fabulous Catherine D’Lish fur trimmed sheer kimono robe . You know, it’s one of those “my husband has been murdered” gowns.”
In terms of shoes, Evana has an ambassadorship with Australian made dance shoe company Vivaz Dance, and her favourites are a black rhinestone pair. But she also can’t get past the merits of some stacked platform Pleasers, which are every stripper’s go to. Surprisingly, Evana has never worked in a strip club.
“I’ve been for auditions in strip clubs but it’s not for me,” she says.
“If it was just stage shows then fine, but the hustling and the way the management dictate what the girls can and can’t do just wouldn’t work for me. If they are telling you what you have to wear and when you have to be on stage, you don’t have full ownership of your brand.”
“Having said that, I have full respect for all girls who strip and have many friends that love their career. It’s an interesting and empowering industry – plus I just love going to the strippers, it’s the best night out.”
So where does burlesque begin and stripping end?
“They both rely on the act of alluring someone in; directing them where to look, the art of the tease. But in burlesque, there is a significant barrier between client and performer.”
“I do think that burlesque is the gateway drug into stripping. I know many who have made the switch. Burlesque is risqué but not too risky. It’s socially acceptable stripping,” she laughs.
Evana is a passionate advocate of how important it is for females to express themselves through their sexuality and feel empowerment in doing so.
“I look back to where I was four years ago, before I embarked on this journey, and I was a completely different person. Society seems to want you to put sexuality in a box. Everyone deserves the opportunity to explore and not feel shamed for it. There’s still so much shame and stigma, which comes from a very old view. It’s 2022. Go out and have fun. Unleash your kink!”
Evana has been running a successful OnlyFans business since just before the pandemic. The only dialogue I’ve ever read about this platform is endless articles of tabloidy journalism sensationalising how much creators can earn on the platform, pushing that rhetoric as if that’s a bad thing. I’m really keen to get her perspective on how this platform has allowed her to build and sell her own brand, and manage her own business in sexuality, effectively cutting out the middle man. It’s time to flip the script on how this platform is portrayed.
“I love Only Fans,” she says.
“I had never been able to earn a full time wage before I launched it. Gig and modelling work can be sporadic, and in peak pandemic, impossible. It was just before COVID kicked off that I started my page and it was the only thing that kept me going. It is liberating to not only earn a full time wage and not need government support, but also to finally be able to make a living off my art.”
“It’s liberating because there is now a space for the content and I can guide its journey, on face value but also for individual subscribers. You can create things in a safe space that you have put up a paywall to protect and funnel the right people through the platform. This has never been possible for those working in adult entertainment before. The power is with the creator, not a strip club owner, or film studio. We set the prices, the frequency and the vibe, expressing ourselves exactly as we want to, filter or no filter.”
OnlyFans was a lifeline for so many adult entertainment industry workers during the pandemic who hadn’t factored in a plan B. There is no union for strippers, or back up and not a lot of education for those who are effectively running a sole trader business. For so many girls OnlyFans means not having to go out and put yourselves in risky situations, not being on the street or taking risky private bookings. It’s sex work from the comfort of your own home, perfect for a global pandemic!
“The downside is that OnlyFans is still shunned by the traditional social media platforms, so it is challenging to publicly market. You can’t share it without getting reported or deleted. This means that sex as art is still perceived societally as bad. It would be nice to be able to advertise beyond “Link in Bio”.
Evana’s favourite content to create is fetish content, or anything that has an element of fetish to it.
“It’s about the objectification of something very simple. A foot. A shoe. Stockings. Picturing and creating art surrounded by an idea of something being so beautiful or wanted and veiling it in the language of intrigue.”
As you can imagine, Evana’s inbox is absolute insanity; she replies to upwards of 100 messages a day and is constantly communicating virtually. As a self-confessed introverted person doing an extroverted profession, she tells me she needs more downtime than most people. The more I speak to her, the more I admire her and understand how her self-respecting attitude and self-awareness is what underpins her success.
The fierce persona she has created as the female domme is one of raw sexuality and intrigue.
“I’ve always aligned myself with empowered women who speak their mind,” she says.
“I had strong mother in terms of attitude and aggressiveness, I’ve known strong female teachers and worked with strong health professionals. They have always been the role I have looked up to. Fierce woman inspire me. Creating an alter ego for yourself, would you be the soft, dainty woman? For me, absolutely not. It’s boots on, crack the whip, 120% you can’t fuck with me.”
In Melbourne’s vibrant scene, Evana is in good company. She works with a ravishing cohort of performers that stimulate her creativity.
She recommends we check out the Miss Maple Rose at Bar Pigalle, who exemplifies the classic style of burlesque.
She lights up talking about her partner in depravity Gina Sterling and says they are often described as twins, looking similar and dressing similar, with the same fierce, vampy beauty.
She also celebrates the amazing work of the delicious Velma Vouloir who runs an exceptional podcast called C*ntroversy, which is all about the history of eroticism and burlesque, awarded Australia’s ‘Best Sex & Relationships Podcast’ at the 2021 Australian Podcast Awards.
She is also spoiled for choice in terms of photographers to work with. It seems there is as much talent in this city behind the camera as there is in front of it.
“I can vouch for many good photographers; Alexis D’Lea at Cat Scratch Studios has the ideal space for intimate, inclusive and inspired photography.”
“I think there’s something extremely powerful at play when women take pictures of women.”
“I also love working with Kyle Goon, Sophia Rose Raw, Elektrum and so many others.”
I’ve seen some of Evana’s fetish photoshoots on her Instagram and they are raw AF. But don’t be fooled by the final fantasy end product.
“Hobbling around in eight inch heels in latex in a filthy disused carpark on a summer’s day is actually not sexy. Often we are in a random warehouse, trying not to trip over broken bottles or the spray cans left everywhere. We take the images as quickly as we can, it’s in and out in case the police rock up. It’s wild.”
Obsess over Evana De Lune in every way below:
