New York Times - Spotlight on Lycra

Spotlight on Lycra by Francine Parnes.

Lycra is a trademark for a synthetic material with elastic properties of the sort known generically as spandex. Lycra is commonly used in athletic or active clothing. Lycra as a clothing material is fetishized by some people like Moumout, that I met last August in La Grande Motte, perhaps on the basis that the garment forms a "second skin" that acts as a fetishistic surrogate for the wearer's own skin. This is known as lycra fetishism.

Photograph shot at la Grande Motte (French riviera) public camping on August 24th, 2005.