In a cultural moment where conversations around intimacy, identity, and inclusion are finally breaking into the mainstream, Samuel Douek stands at the center of a movement that refuses to whisper. As the Founder and CEO of HOWL Worldwide, Douek has built more than a brand. He has built a platform. A community. A cultural force that fuses sex, music, nightlife, and radical inclusivity into one unapologetic ecosystem.
What began in 2019 as a queer rave in London has evolved into an award-winning global pleasure platform, disrupting both nightlife and sexual wellness industries along the way.
From Radical Rave to Cultural Movement
HOWL’s origins are deeply rooted in nightlife. The first event took place at GROW Tottenham, welcoming 500 people into a space intentionally designed for queer freedom and experimentation. It was not just another party. It was an intervention.
Douek, whose background spans architecture and film direction, had already built a career crafting bold visual narratives. He directed award-winning campaigns for Virgin Atlantic and music videos for global pop acts including Little Mix. His creative instinct was always centered around storytelling that provoked emotion and conversation. But despite his success, he felt the absence of truly inclusive nightlife spaces where LGBTQIA+ communities could gather without constraint.
HOWL answered that absence.
When events returned in January 2021 at Colour Factory, attendance surged to between 750 and 1,000 guests. The average HOWL rave now draws 1,500 people, filling iconic London venues such as The Cause, Electrowerkz, Number 90, and Egg.
One of HOWL’s defining features was its gender-inclusive darkroom. It challenged traditional club norms and dismantled rigid binaries within nightlife spaces. Freedom was not theoretical. It was lived.
Then the pandemic hit. Nightlife stopped. But HOWL did not.
Reinvention During Crisis
When lockdowns forced venues to close, Douek pivoted. Instead of abandoning the mission, he translated it.
In 2021, HOWL launched two CBD-infused lubricants formulated for all genders and bodies. The products quickly landed on shelves at Selfridges, selling out their first batch and positioning HOWL as one of the UK’s most disruptive emerging wellness brands.
This was not a surface-level entry into sexual wellness. It was a deliberate expansion of the same ethos that powered the raves. Pleasure belongs to everyone. No gatekeeping. No shame.
By 2024, Douek had made a decisive move. He exited his first company, CAMP Productions, and placed his directing career on hold to focus fully on scaling HOWL as a global pleasure platform.
Record-Breaking Growth and Community Ownership
Since September 2024, Douek has raised over £400,000 in pre-seed investment through angel investors and crowdfunding on Republic. Crucially, this allowed HOWL’s community to become shareholders. Ownership was no longer symbolic. It became structural.
The brand’s momentum accelerated in 2025:
- Winner of Best Sex Lubricant and Emerging Brand of the Year at the XMA and EAN Erotix Awards
- Rapid D2C growth and a successful Amazon launch
- EU distribution secured following a debut at the Ero Spain B2B trade show in Barcelona
- Pride 2025 takeover across three venues, hosting more than 4,000 people on July 5th at Number 90, Hackney Bridge, and Colour Factory
HOWL also partnered with The Standard Hotel for Pride 2025 and is set to launch products in Standard Hotel minibars globally. At Germany’s WHOLE Festival, HOWL served as the main lube supplier, reinforcing its presence within European queer culture. Activations at Body Movements further solidified the brand’s experiential credibility.
Adding to its cultural weight, queer icon Bimini joined HOWL as a shareholder, symbolizing the brand’s deep ties to queer creative leadership.
Culture as Strategy
Douek’s ambition extends beyond product sales. He aims to make HOWL the first sexual wellness brand that fully penetrates cultural mainstream spaces.
Collaborations with fashion designer Luis de Javier and artist Shygirl resulted in exclusive Pleasure Capsule Collections. The HOWL CUBE, developed in partnership with Universal Music, merges viral media, music, and intimacy into a single experiential format.
At its core, HOWL operates across multiple verticals:
- Premium water-based and silicone-based lubricants
- LGBTQ+ raves and large-scale cultural takeovers
- Sex education media through HOWL TV
- Hospitality integrations
- International festival activations
- Community equity participation
This integrated model positions HOWL not simply as a product brand but as a cultural ecosystem.
Pleasure as Political Act
For Douek, pleasure is not indulgent. It is radical.
In a climate where queer, trans, and marginalized communities continue to face scrutiny and exclusion, reclaiming intimacy becomes an act of resistance. HOWL dismantles shame by embedding celebration into everything it does, from product design to party production.
The brand’s language is bold, but its strategy is precise. Build community first. Empower that community through ownership. Normalize conversations about sex through art, music, and education. Then scale globally without compromising values.
The Road Ahead
As HOWL expands into international markets, its mission remains anchored in its founding principle: intimacy should never be policed. It should be celebrated.
Samuel Douek has evolved from creative director to cultural architect. Through HOWL Worldwide, he is reshaping how we understand pleasure, commerce, and collective belonging. What began as a rave for 500 people has become a movement influencing thousands across Europe and beyond.
