BearWatch: Einav Hamami & PlayVegan

31st March 2020 Kyle Jackson

For this week’s BearWatch, we will be shining the spotlight on designer Einav Hamami and his brand of colorful handmade vegan harnesses and BDSM gear, PlayVegan.

PlayVegan started 5 years ago, when Einav was a young chaser who was starting to explore his fetishes and attend lots of bear parties. “I mean, what’s hotter than bears in harness?” asks Einav.

Soon he became fascinated by BDSM gear, and decided that he really wanted to wear a harness to the next pride parade. However, he found it difficult to find any harnesses or BDSM gear that fit his particular needs or size.

“As a vegan person and activist, I didn’t want to wear leather on my body. I don’t believe an animal should get hurt in order for me to have a fun night out… or in”, he says with a cheeky wink.

Out of necessity and a lack of options, Einav decided to make a harness for himself. Einav wanted to create a design that is truly unique to him — bright pink, super queer, and perfectly fit, while also not attempting to look like leather.

Einav wore the harness to the pride parade in Tel Aviv that year. People loved it so much that he began to receive requests from people to make more of them. The following year, he attended Tel Aviv pride again, but this time he was there selling his harnesses.

“It was an insane experience, and I’ve learned that there’s a big audience for fetish wear that is more of a fashion statement — something colorful and unique to wear to a party, a cruise or a pride parade — whether you are a BDSM novice or just interested in the aesthetic, “ says Einav. “I also wanted to make them strong enough for a fun session, and I can assure you they’ve been well-tested.”

Now, a few years later, Einav has opened his own design studio — PlayVegan. PlayVegan creates colorful, naughty and queer-oriented harnesses — all carefully made to order by Einav, with a big range of options to play with, including custom prints, color choices, special designs and custom sizes.

“I have a running online store and customers from all over the world, which I’m so happy and thankful for,” he says.

Einav makes it known that he loves to see people being proud of their body, enjoying themselves and feeling confident wearing something he has made. His customers come from a variety of body types and gender identities – which is everything he wanted for his brand to represent.

It’s important for me to celebrate that diversity by presenting models from our beautiful communities: The bear community, which is a big part of my personal world, alongside with the trans, queer and puppy play communities. There’s lots of misconceptions in the gay world that you have to look a certain way in order to wear a harness. But I don’t see that. Twink, bear, otter, pup, cis, trans, masc, femme – whoever you are – you’ll look absolutely fab in one.
Einav Hamimi

In addition to creating harnesses and other BDSM gear, Einav also illustrates prints for shirts and jewellery with strong messages about gender roles and veganism. “I believe that the things we choose to wear give us a chance to uniquely express ourselves and shout out our messages,” he says.

We can’t wait to see what else is in store for PlayVegan!