Tony Mitchell is a British writer, online publisher, content editor and journalist covering alternative lifestyle and fashion, with a background in music journalism and magazine and book editing.
Born in Birmingham but raised in Portsmouth, Mitchell attended the University of Southampton, attaining a BSc Eng in Aeronautics and Astronautics[1]. Mitchell moved to London in 1972 and started a graduate course as an editorial trainee at publisher Morgan-Grampian. He worked on various Morgan-Grampian trade and technical magazines, such as ‘Building Design’ and 'Freight Transport’, before transferring to Spotlight Publications, which published consumer music titles, to take up a staff position on the British rock music weekly magazine Sounds.[2][3]
In the decades since leaving Sounds, Mitchell has worked in the areas of music and subculture journalism and publishing, becoming most known for his work on the fetish and alternative lifestyle scene, and founding the online website resource, The Fetishistas.
Sounds
Mitchell began working at Sounds in 1975 as supplements editor[4], occupying various positions, such as technical editor and assistant editor (technical), reviewing musical instruments, records,[5][6][7] gigs, films, music videos, tv and comedy. During his time there, Mitchell rose to the position of deputy editor and reviewed and interviewed many of the paper's featured artists, including Joni Mitchell, [8][9]Prince,[10]Annie Lennox, Debbie Harry, Grace Jones, MadonnaJudas Priest, Sting and Tom Petty. He also compiled and edited a one-off Sounds publication called ‘The Sounds Book of the Electric Guitar’ (Spotlight, 1987). He left Sounds in 1987 to help develop the Skin Two organisation's expansion into retail from its magazine publishing and nightclub-running base.
Skin Two
In 1983, when the Skin Two Club was founded by David Claridge and designer Daniel James, Mitchell was instrumental in supporting the launch, along with Beverley Glick.[11]
When Claridge left the club for a career in television in 1983, the Skin Two night was renamed Maitresse and Tim Woodward acquired the Skin Two name for a proposed fetish magazine. In partnership with photographer Grace Lau[12], Woodward published the first issue of Skin Two magazine in 1984 and Mitchell began contributing to it. In 1985 Mitchell assisted with Woodward’s relaunch of Skin Two Club nights in partnership with EctoMorph latex designer Krystina Kitsis.[13][14][15] After the Skin Two Showroom opened near Ladbroke Grove in 1987, Mitchell art-directed and designed the showroom’s early print catalogues. In 1991 he worked on the development of the first Skin Two Rubber Ball (from an idea by colleague Michelle Olley), which launched in autumn 1991 at Hammersmith Palais.[16] He also edited and designed the Skin Two Rubber Ball book published as a souvenir of that first event.
In 1992, Mitchell art-directed and designed the ‘Skin Two Collection 3: Murray and Vern’ catalogue photographed by Peter Ashworth.
Mitchell continued to be involved in various Skin Two ventures alongside his primary role on the magazine, assuming the title of magazine editor in 1998[17] until his departure in 2006. During this time at Skin Two, the magazine featured contributions from the era’s best known fetish writers, photographers and designers, as well as fetish-influenced artists such as Tim Burton, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Marc Almond, Debbie Harry and Clive Barker.[18]
The Fetishistas
In 2007, after leaving Skin Two, Mitchell launched his own fetish website, The Fetishistas, as publisher, editor and writer, with a view, in Mitchell’s own words, to create ‘a fetish website that would combine the best qualities of print and digital media in a single, free-to-view online product’, with the website featuring categories on news, events, features, videos and reviews. The Fetishistas saw Mitchell’s role as a commentator and authority on fetish and BDSM culture continuing to develop, leading to his serving on several awards panels including the prestigious German Fetish Awards at Berlin’s annual German Fetish Ball Weekend. In 2014, the Berlin awards jury voted for Mitchell to receive that year’s European Fetish Awards Special Award.
Music
For the Skin Two relaunch fashion show at London’s Embassy Club, Mitchell composed ‘The Skin Two Theme’, recorded with the Sounds’ music paper's keyboards reviewer Julian Colbeck.
