Somewhere in spring 2008 two friends were debating the possibilities of making an Amsterdam Leathermovie which would capture the beauty of the city and the beauty of leather, the men wearing leather and the things leathermen do. While discussing all aspects of such a project the question arose whether Amsterdam’s leathered reputation didn’t deserve a documentary instead of an erotic movie project. But both friends realized that if there was ever going to be a leather movie or a leather documentary, the first thing to do was to find the right storyline.
That’s how I began searching for the past that made Amsterdam so great in the eyes of so many leathermen. Soon enough it became clear that since the emergence of leather in Amsterdam - about 50 years ago - nobody had ever bothered to document the history of the former European leather capital. There was no book, no documentary, no record about how Amsterdam got its leather shine. In fact, when I asked around, people told me that the Amsterdam leatherscene was non-existent.
I decided to go to the public library and to read everything I could find on Leather Amsterdam. Although I felt I had nothing meaningful to say about leather fetishism, at least one thing I could do was try and gather the fragmented pieces of information in one place. I read articles about leathermen, saw videos of past leather events and talked to people who still knew about ‘the old days’. Three months later, the time has come to start disclosing what I have found.
Make no mistake, this Leather Timeline & History Research project is not finished. The release of this website is a start to dive further into the history of Leather Amsterdam. Based on the belief that what happened in our city should not be kept in dusty archives, nor that it should be ‘shown off’ or exploited for personal benefit, the purpose of LTHR.NL is to track down what happened in the leather past and to keep a record of what is left over today. LTHR.NL will publish new articles on a monthly basis and update older ones as soon as new information is available.
Anyone is invited to contribute to this project. Whether it’s by writing an article, donating a photograph or a video clip or just by sharing an anecdote or an opinion, everything is welcome.
In the end, the story of Leather Amsterdam is a compilation of storylines. Some are old and short, others are new and still going on. I believe that if Leather Amsterdam wants to keep its leather shine, it should tell its visitors about its history, its beauty and all the things that are happening in the leather city today. It should be proud of all it has achieved and the fact that its leather spirit is kept alive by a small yet devoted leather tribe.
Who knows, by telling the story of Leather Amsterdam, we might even inspire someone to start his own leather storyline.
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