International Mr. Leather (IML) is an American multi-day convention and competition celebrating the leather, kink, fetish, and BDSM communities. Established in 1979, IML is held annually in Chicago, Illinois over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, drawing thousands of attendees from around the world. As of 2025, over 2,200 contestants from 28 countries have competed in the weekend's contest to earn the title of International Mr. Leather.
Events include speakers, socials, themed dance parties and a leather market. IML contestants are expected to participate in the weekend while also fulfilling contest-related duties. Contestants qualify for the competition by winning an approved leather contest organized by a bar and/or local or regional leather club, or by being sponsored by a leather-related business or organization.
Since 1993, the organizers of IML have also produced and hosted International Mr. Bootblack (IMBB), occurring the same weekend as the main convention. IMBB was created to recognize the service and contributions of bootblacks to the leather and BDSM communities. In 2025, organizers adopted the name IMLBB as an umbrella term for both contests.
Proceeds from IMLBB benefit the Leather Archives & Museum.
History International Mr. Leather is regarded as the world's oldest continuously operating international leather and fetish event, even being dubbed "the granddaddy of all leather events." This contest, like all similar leather contests, was designed to be both an homage and a satire of women's beauty pageants, by giving men their own platform to admire and be admired, specifically by and for gay men involved in the leather and BDSM subcultures.
The forerunner of the competition was the Mr. Gold Coast contest held through the 1970s at Chicago's Gold Coast leather bar, owned by Chuck Renslow and his partner Dom Orejudos. This contest became one of the bar's most popular events, causing the need to relocate the competition to a larger venue by 1979, at which point Renslow decided to change the name to "International Mr. Leather". Flyers and promotional materials for this first IML were sent to every leather bar that Renslow and his associates knew of, not knowing if the historically regional contest would actually be able to attract a global audience. Fortunately, by the contest's second year, it would go on to actually live up to its name.
The inaugural IML competition took place May 18–20, 1979. The event was advertised as "a weekend you won't want to miss" featuring "some of the world's hottest men, representing leather bars and clubs across America and Europe" competing to win prizes worth $5,000 , including a motorcycle. Spectators could purchase a weekend package for $25 that included a shirt designed by Orejudos (under his pseudonym "Etienne"), tickets to various parties and events, and coupons for local shops and bathhouses. Live entertainment included a performance from comedian Pudgy, along with music from Wacker Drive. Standalone tickets to the contest itself were priced at $10 . Orejudos also designed much of the contest's promotional material, including the iconic "Wingman Logo" still used today. David Kloss won the first contest, with Durk Dehner and Jesse Capello as first and second runners-up. Touko Laaksonen, a.k.a. Tom of Finland, volunteered to judge the contest, but had to drop out for health reasons (he later judged the 1983 contest). In 1980, IML introduced the Black and Blue Ball. In 1982, Glynn Sudbery served as press coordinator. By 1984, attendance had increased from 300 to 1,500. The leather pride flag was officially unveiled by its designer Tony DeBlase during IML 11 on May 28, 1989. The flag was quickly incorporated into the design of the sash awarded to subsequent contest winners.
The International Bootblack Competition was added to the IML program in 1993, intended to honor and showcase the hard work performed by bootblacks in the leather community. In 1998, the originally mixed-gender competition was spun off into two separate events: International Mr. Bootblack (IMBB), still produced by IML, and International Ms. Bootblack (IMsBB), now produced by International Ms. Leather, the female equivalent of IML held annually since 1987.
Since 2009, IML proceeds have been placed in a trust to benefit the Leather Archives and Museum (LA&M), the Chicago-based institution dedicated to preserving the history of the leather and fetish subcultures. Co-founded by Renslow and DeBlase, LA&M is also the official custodian of IML records and artwork.
The historic Congress Plaza Hotel has hosted IML guests and festivities every year since 2015, but the contest itself has often been hosted at offsite venues, such as the Auditorium Theatre across the street from the Congress Plaza. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant shutdowns and cancellations of large gatherings throughout the world, in-person IML events in 2020 and 2021 were cancelled. IML resumed in May 2022.
In 2025, the gay men's kink-focused hookup site Recon sponsored a pay-per-view live broadcast of the contest, the first time it had ever been officially broadcast live for a wider audience.
Leather market Each IML contest features a market for leather, kink, and LGBT-related vendors and organizations of all kinds. The market is open for multiple days and routinely draws thousands of visitors. Past and present participants—many of which co-sponsor IML—include Chicago Department of Public Health, Folsom Street Events, Howard Brown Health, Mid America Fists In Action, MIR, Nasty Pig, and Recon.
The leather market also hosts bootblacks in partnership with International Mr. Bootblack.
Rules
Eligibility As of 2024, to qualify for IML, prospective contestants must:
Present as male and be 21 years of age or older. Win a preliminary contest or receive a primary sponsor. Preliminary contest is defined as a bar, local, or regional leather contest that awards its winner entry into IML. Primary sponsor is defined as "a bar, business, club or organization that specializes in the levi/leather, uniform, S&M, western, gear or related lifestyles. Submit an application and registration fee.
Contest criteria Preliminary round Contest finalists are selected following: A preliminary interview with each of the nine judges, up to 8 minutes in length, are held in private (60% of the preliminary score). Stage presence and personality at a Saturday "Pecs and Personality" event (40% of the preliminary score). The judge's highest and lowest scores for each contestant on each criterion are dropped, and the contestant's remaining seven scores are tallied to determine the 20 contestants with the highest combined scores to proceed as finalists at the Sunday IML contest event. The only time that the dropped scores are included in the tally is when there is a tie for the 20th place; the contestants in question have their dropped scores included in the tally but if the stalemate continues then each of the nine judges must vote for only one of the two contestants. Preliminary judging scores are not carried forward. There are also two tally masters.
Final round Each of the 20 finalists is judged at the Sunday IML contest on a scale from 0 to 100 in the following order: Leather image (up to 40 points). Presentation skills that include a contestant speech (up to 40 points). Physical appearance (up to 20 points). The highest and lowest scores for each finalist are dropped, the remaining seven scores are added together, and the top three scores designate the second runner-up, first runner-up, and winner, International Mr. Leather. A tie for the title is resolved by adding to the tally the dropped scores of the two contestants; if the stalemate continues then each of the nine judges must vote for only one of the contestants in question.
Participating countries and territories
As of 2026, twenty-eight countries spanning six continents have officially fielded at least one contestant to compete at IML. Additionally, 44 U.S. states have provided contestants, as have the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico; the only U.S. states that have yet to field a contestant are Delaware, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Similarly, there has yet to be a contestant representing the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.
+CountryRegionFirst CompetedWinsWin Year(s)Ref.Oceania198011980Europe20180Europe199612022South America20170North America198112006South America20150()Asia20190South America20220Europe20070Europe20170Europe200212011Europe198721987, 2001Europe20000Asia19950Europe19900North America20180Europe199311993Oceania19930Europe20000Asia20250Africa20100Europe19880Europe19850Europe20040Asia19950Europe199412003North America1979381979, 1981-1986, 1988-1992, 1994-2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007-2010, 2012-2019, 2023-2026South America20190 Some IML contestants emigrated from countries that have not officially sent contestants to IML (or had not as of the time they competed). For instance, Venezuela-born Gary Iriza (Mr. Palm Springs Leather) won IML 30 in 2008, more than a decade before Venezuela officially sent a contestant (Mr. Leather Venezuela) in 2019. Wins by contestants with international or nonnational preliminary titles (e.g. Mister Leather Europe, Mr. Gay Naturists International Leather) are attributed to the winner's country of residence.
Winners As of 2026, 46 contestants representing eight countries have won IML: the United States (38), Germany (2), Australia (1), Belgium (1), Canada (1), France (1), the Netherlands (1), and the United Kingdom (1).
As of 2026, the Mr Texas Leather and Mr Palm Springs Leather contests have each produced three winners - the most of any contest or sponsor.
The following is a table of IML contest winners. Note that winner's city as used in the table could denote either the winner's hometown, contemporary city of residence, or their preliminary title host city. For example, while 2019 titleholder Jack Thompson is credited as originating from Baltimore, Maryland, he won his preliminary title in Washington, D.C., and he emphasized in interviews that his actual hometown was Berkeley, California.