In a country as conservative as the Philippines, sex shops are usually very difficult to find and access. They’re usually found in the sketchiest places in the metro. It’s hard enough (pun intended) to talk about sex in general in this country, even in an academic and legislative context, let alone try and bring up any kind of information regarding sexual accessories.
Enter (another pun intended?) Ilya, an online sex shop that caters to all the kinky needs of your average (albeit more open-minded and clearly more sexually active) Filipino, all while being fun and educational. Where physical retail sex stores tend to come off as lowkey and sketchy, Ilya is different from the get-go, from their eye-catching brand designs to their in-depth guides to toys, accessories, and sex-positivity.
Young STAR got to speak with co-owner Arvin Alvarez on the Ilya brand, accessibility, and, in her words, “saving the world one sex toy at a time.”