International Mr. Leather: 25 Years of Champions

Las Vegas and Chicago: Nazca Plains and The Leather Archives & Museum, 2004.
First Edition.

28cm x 35cm. 208 pages, colour illustrations. Pictorial wrappers.

A thoroughly illustrated year-by-year chronicle of the world’s premier gay leather contest, founded by Chuck Resnlow in Chicago in 1979. Australia entered the IML story early: Patrick Brooks, the winner of IML 1980, became the first non-American titleholder and remains one of the most competition’s most controversial champsions. Brooks and his sponsor reportedly believed that winning the titled conferred hosting rights for the following year’s event, and briefly announced plans for IML 1981 to be held in Sydney before organisers clarified that the contest would remain in Chicago. Despite this misunderstanding, the Australian leather scene flourished, with Mr. Australia Leather contests continuing through the 1980s and 1990s, regularly sending representatives to IML. Notably, Australians achieved two runner-up finishes: Brent Lacey, Mr. Laird Leather Image (Melbourne), placed second in 1993, and Andrew Lennon, Mr. Mephisto Leather (Sydney), placed second in 1998. Bean’s volume documents these milestones among hundreds of photographs and profiles of titleholders, capturing a global leather brotherhood that prominently included Australia from its earliest days. Unrecorded in Australian institutional collections.

Very minor shelf wear. Near Fine Condition.

AU$550.00

1 in stock