How beautiful sex is: having it and talking about it (but only if openly and without the two unbearable opposites of gratuitous vulgarity and prudery).
But what a thorny topic, especially in our latitudes, sexuality. Which is instinctively repressed, as well as being one of the most obvious signs of prevailing machismo. Simple example: a man who is uninhibited towards his own and others’ sexuality is considered a virtuous reference, while a woman is labeled with epithets or phrases that are often unreferable.
For this reason we interviewed Andreina Serena Romano, founder of Twilo, with particular pleasurea designer love toys startup (as shown on the home page of the site).
We introduced you to Twilo in another article. In the chat with the founder we analyzed some aspects and curiosities. Let’s find out.
Twilo: when and why
The first question, not original but inevitable, concerns when and why Twilo was born (crasis of “Twist” and “Love”).
The project started in 2016. When Andreina Serena Romano, for professional reasons, was responsible for identifying the market for potential startups.
His idea was immediately the one that fuels the company today. That is, to eradicate the concept of sex toys from the hypertrophic imagery of porn, and make it accessible to anyone, to encourage joyful and shared sexuality.
In 2021 the company became an innovative startup and in 2022 it was awarded the innovation Oscar in Rome. Today, in addition to Andreina Serena Romano, Twilo has a minority shareholder, Anastasia Murano (who lives abroad) and two employees who together with the founder animate the company, namely Ilaria Della Queva and Federica Minafria. A team of around 15 external collaborators gravitates around Twilo.
The sex toy market
But how does the sex toy market work on a global level, or rather how is it going?
The founder of Twilo explains to us that it is a market that can ideally be divided into two sectors. There is that of sexy shops, e-commerce and so-called traditional, expanding products, which between now and 2026, according to the Global Sexual Wellness Market Observatory, will reach a turnover of 125.1 billion dollars, with a growth of 120%.
And then there is, returning to the concept dear to Andreina Serena Romano, one new attention to stimulation, to the use of love toys alone or as a couple, which is changing the concept of objects for sexual pleasure. And it is giving rise to ad hoc physical places: no longer sex shops but boutiques.
Especially young people and men
It is precisely on the production of designer love toys for daily and free sexuality that Twilo focuses.
And the public most attentive to this type of product (an unexpected fact, for which the company had to change its communication during the course) is made up of young and very young people, predominantly male.
The sex toys market and Italy
At this point, a question arises naturally about the reception a company like Twilo has received in our country.
Andreina Serena Romano gives us a somewhat disconcerting but unfortunately not unexpected answer. Italy is still burdened by strong preconceptions related to sexualityespecially towards a company led by three young women.
Then there is the further difficulty of social media, which daily convey images and videos full of violence. But they willingly ban content with explicit (even if not vulgar) language relating to the sexual sphere, or reels in which sex and love toys are presented with lightness and irony.
Yet, also thanks to the consensus of the younger ones, Twilo does not give up. AND beyond the design, development and sale of products, its social objective is that of dissemination. That is, to claim a sexuality untied from any shame or sinful thought.
In the next future
For this reason, to our question about what will be the news of Twilo in the near future, Andreina Serena Romano mentions the Twilo Vanwhich we imagine will travel up and down Italy to spread free sexuality.
The Twilo app is expected in the next few months, to which a series of products will be connected via Bluetooth. Products whose access credentials can also be provided to others, to play remotely. The application will include chat and video, as well as sensors connected to the objects, which will signal the degree of arousal of those who are using them.
There are three other projects being finalized, still partially top secret. A line of products for the hotel industry, a collection of metal stimulators that can be worn like jewellery, and an original line of designer products for the home that are also unsuspected sex toys.