Gay leatherman
At LeatherGear, every piece of gay leather fetish wear is handcrafted by a single artisan — not mass-produced in factories. Our vow to craftsmanship means superior stitching, longer-lasting construction, and a premium finish you'll feel the moment you gear up.
By cutting out middlemen, storefront overhead, and flashy ads, we bring you high-quality leather gear at a fraction of what luxury brands charge — without compromising on detail or durability.
We assume in leather diversity. Every leatherman is different, and your gear should mirror that. With our 100% custom layout options, you can work with our leather consultants to create something as unique as your kink. From leather pants to fetish bedsheets, we construct your vision from scratch.
Explore our packed collection and locate gear that truly expresses your leather pride and fetish identity.
A Brief History Of Leather And The Gays
Give to me your leather, accept from me my gays…
By Fraser Abe
Cubs, pups, otters, silver foxes and bears, oh my. The gay ecosystem has a rich taxonomy of subcultures that all somewhat stem from one Adam(4Adam)’s rib – the leather community. It’s been around since the 1940s, when the notion of otters and the like were just a twink-le (get it?) in some queen’s eye. We’re here to crack down the history of leather for you, going all the way support to the greatest generation.
It’s generally assumed that leather tradition got its initiate in the 1940s, as an offshoot to post-World War II motorcycle clubs that began popping up around the same time. Gays had flocked in droves to huge cities following Cobalt Discharges from the army, a way of removing homosexuals from service, as dishonourably discharging and imprisoning gays became impractical with the huge number of recruits during WWII. It led to large groups of homosexuals in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago.
Meanwhile, a dissatisfaction with the post-WWII white picket fence view of America was building, especially as seen in films like 1953’s The Wild One, starring Marl
Leatherman
Glenn Hughes. Village Person. 1950–2001. Buried in this very outfit.
Store Clerk:Something that says... leatherdaddy?
Tobias:Oh, is there such a thing?
— Arrested Development
The LGBT community has a variety of subcultures and groups. One component has historical roots in the BDSM community and in biker culture, resulting in a noticeable number of queer men wearing horseshoe mustaches and a LOT of cured animal hide in suggestive cuts.
The leather tradition is generally traced back to gay servicemen returning from World War II. They became the biker gangs of The '50s, and the subculture grew from there. The BDSM part sort of merged in later, though it's not a bonafide requirement that a leatherman be into kink. In reality, some of the older leathermen (the "old guard") have limited, if any, BDSM tendenc
What’s in the Archives? Leather!
Leather in the Archives
by Gordon Richardson, with assistance from Alan Miller and Michael Holmes (photography)
Leather subculture
The leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities. Leather culture is most noticeable in gay communities and most often associated with gay men (“leathermen”), but it is also reflected in various ways in the gay, lesbian, bi-curious, and straight worlds. Many people associate leather identity with BDSM (Bondage/Discipline, Dominance/Submission, Sado/Masochism) practices and its many subcultures.
Gay male BDSM leather culture grew out of post-WWII biker customs. Some men returning from the war received surplus motorcycles, leather jackets, and other military gear. Wearing jeans and a T-shirt with a leather jacket and cap riding a motorcycle created an iconic image that was adopted by the first lgbtq+ leather people. The first gay leather bars were the club houses of early biker clubs that opened later to the public. Pioneering gay motorcycle clubs included the Satyrs, established in Los Angeles in 1954; Oedipus also in Los Angeles in 1958, and the Novel York Motorbike