Leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities that involve leather garments, such as leather jackets, vests, boots, chaps, harnesses, or other items. Wearing leather garments is one way that participants in this culture self-consciously distinguish themselves from mainstream sexual cultures. Many participants associate leather culture with BDSM practices and its many subcultures. For some, black leather clothing is an erotic fashion that expresses heightened masculinity or the appropriation of sexual power; love of motorcycles, motorcycle clubs and independence; and/or engagement in sexual kink or leather fetishism.
One of three prototype leather pride flags, created by Tony DeBlase in 1989, on display at the Leather Archives & Museum.
Leathermen at Cologne Pride, 2014
Cockring, now closed, was a popular leather and sex club in Amsterdam's Warmoesstraat.
Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, and aquatic animals such as seals and alligators.
A variety of leather products and leather-working tools
Drying of leather in East Timor
Ancient leather tanning in Fes, Morocco
Tanned leather in Marrakech