Berlin Strippers Collective is no more. In September, the group that gained fame by seeking to revolutionise the sex work industry rebranded to Slut Riot and changed their business model. Now, they’re a proper company with freelancers and a profit margin – but they’re still retaining all of that rebellious energy.
When Edie Montana co-founded the Berlin Strippers Collective (BSC) in 2019, it seemed like the perfect setup. As a self-organised group, BSC allowed its collective members to take ownership and determine their own working conditions. There were no penny-pitching managers, restrictive club rules or pandering to potentially problematic customer demands.
Members could gain an independent source of income, while exploring the artistic and creative side of stripping. The concept hit a nerve: by 2021, the collective had amassed a following of 10k on Instagram.
But as BSC grew, so did its challenges. “It was a little bit chaotic having 20 people,” says Montana, describing the unspoken nature of administrative duties. “We had big stages like Volksbühne, Lollapalooza, Clubcommission [Tag der Clubkultur award ceremony]. We were growing, growing, growing, but the structure was not there. And if the structure is not there, it just crumbles.”
People think that Berlin is so progressive, but sex work is stigmatised pretty much everywhere.
The bigger a collective, the more it struggles to maintain direct participation, and consensus-based decision-making becomes more difficult. Operations often slow when no one is explicitly responsible for the ‘boring stuff’. “Collectives work when the number of members is limited,” Montana explains. But instead of limiting membership and in turn limiting the number of people able to participate in their events, BSC decided to reorganise.
On September 16, BSC debuted a new name and business model on Instagram: Slut Riot, a full-fledged business that uses performance and art as a means to help destigmatise and create visibility for sex workers. “We were playing around with ‘slut’ – slut something, slut what? And riot embodies that we’re trying to cause a stir,” says Slut Riot co-founder Mei Magdalene. “Our name is loud because we’re tired of being quiet,” Montana adds.
To address the issues with the collective model, Slut Riot has adopted a more traditional hierarchical structure. It’s no longer a member-based group, though the organisation will continue to host events, with Montana and Magdalene serving as the “C-E-Hoes” and freelancers hired as performers. According to Montana, the new structure allows for more professional and sustainable operations while still embracing the collective’s revolutionary spirit. “We won’t function as a traditional company,” she says. “We have lived it, how bad companies and managers can be. So we try to get away from that.”
Magdalene highlights the opportunities this structure provides, such as the ability to collaborate with international performers and advertise for partnerships. “Shifting to a company gives us this brand new momentum to move forward with these new ideas and a new structure, different from what the collective was doing.”
Despite the benefits, Slut Riot’s co-founders recognise that moving away from the collective model is controversial. It marks a significant ideological shift – from being independent and anti-management to accepting the need for structure to handle growth and professionalism. “It took a long time to accept this … because we have this background of being exploited by managers,” says Montana, “but the fact that you have the structure of a company doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to operate as a capitalist, exploitative company.”
Magdalene agrees, noting that their past experiences offer valuable lessons. “A really powerful learning tool is actually learning what not to do … Edie and I, throughout our entire working lives, have seen bad examples of how not to behave. So it’s going to be really nice for us to be able to take that knowledge and apply it in Slut Riot.”
Expanding Slut Riot beyond a local strippers’ collective reflects their goal of creating a space for all types of sex workers, including escorts, pornography performers, online content creators and more to participate in their projects. Montana stresses that the Slut Riot platform is exclusively for sex workers.
“We are not going to hire any pole dancer, who doesn’t have a background in stripping, or burlesque dancers, nude models, people who go to kinky parties. It’s not their space,” she explains. “Sex workers need these spaces because we have different experiences … We want to talk about the violence that we experience, the prejudice and stereotypes. This is important because people think that Berlin is so progressive, but sex work is stigmatised pretty much everywhere.”
Beyond performances, Slut Riot plans to organise more community-centred events for sex workers, building off what BSC started with the SW Pole Jams. This could include counselling for those new to the industry and support groups for sharing experiences. “It can feel very isolating at times to be in this line of work, because we all have very personal experiences from working this job,” Magdalene says. “By having Slut Riot, we’ll be able to create a sense of community between sex workers and know that they have a place to talk to someone about what they do.”
Slut Riot will continue to host beloved BSC events, such as the monthly Stripper Stories spoken word event and the Scandal at the Strip Club interactive murder mystery game. Magdalene also teased a cheerleader-themed launch event planned for early 2025.
Looking ahead, Slut Riot is in discussions to trademark its slogan “Sluts Against The Machine” and aspires to collaborate with prominent artists and performers in Berlin and beyond. They also aim to host more interdisciplinary events featuring talented sex workers of all kinds.
“[Slut Riot] gives us the opportunity to have so many more people involved in our projects and to have it not only be pole shows,” says Magdalene. “We can have singing, we can have theatre.”
“We’re very ambitious,” Montana adds. “We’re not afraid of dreaming big.”
