COME AS YOU ARE

In January 2025, Dublin L eather Weekend returned for a fabulous celebration of Ireland’s fetish and kink scene. Beatrice Fanucci paid a visit to one of the programme’s most highly anticipated events, speaking to attendees about what the leather community means to them.

Leather clothes, black steel boots, harnesses, puppy masks, biker caps, leashes, bodies, skin. These are the things you’ll see when you walk into a leather event. The things you’ll feel, though… that’s a whole other story.

I was invited to one such event earlier this year, the Dublin Leather Weekend. With Al, the brilliant photographer who shot the photos, I walked into the venue determined to be as inconspicuous as possible. We were there to take photos, ask questions, observe - get to know the leather and kink scene in Ireland through the eyes of those who are part of it. Nothing more than bystanders. But the Leathermen of Ireland and their guests wouldn’t have it. From the very start, we were welcomed in as if we were part of the crowd. Everyone we spoke to was warm and eager to talk to new faces, to make sure we were ok, having fun, making friends.

Surrounded by people that I didn’t know, it was there that I felt one of the strongest senses of community that I’ve ever experienced.

“The Irish leather and kink scene is not just about being okay with self-expression. It’s about creating a safe space for others who are not so sure of themselves,” is what a co-founder of Out in Kink (OinK), one of the first people I spoke to, told me. “A lot of it comes back to having a sense of community and family and a place of belonging when you might not necessarily feel like you belong elsewhere.”

The words were the perfect introduction to a night that seemed determined to prove all of them right.

“It’s a human need to be able to express yourself,” said Michael, a self-described newcomer in the leather and kink scene. “These events are important because they make it so casual. They make it so easy just to do what you feel you need to do to feel good.

“You can express yourself the way you want to in terms of both the way you dress and how you interact with the queer community. It’s quite freeing, because you can feel very restricted when it’s just you and yourself figuring these things out.”

This promotion of self-expression and the freedom that comes with it are at the roots of the kink and leather community. Still today, kink and fetish are taboo topics, often spoken about in hushed tones, something that society often relegates to invisibility. Facing stigma and prejudice is something the entire queer community is very familiar with, but this is especially true for subcultures like leather and kink.

“We are on the fringe of the fringe,” said John, who is Secretary of Leathermen of Ireland. “I remember in the late ‘90s, we were much more underground. We didn’t talk about it. And even Fionn, who is our outgoing Mr Dublin Leather, he was on Ireland AM for International Fetish Day and it’s the usual, ‘Oh is it all whips and chains?’ And we’re like, ‘No, it’s not. We’re ordinary people. We like what we like.’”

Jamie, who was elected Mr Dublin Leather 2025, explained what’s at the core of the community, saying: “One thing I always say about leather when I’m trying to explain the leather culture to people is, it’s kind of a paradox. We cover ourselves up, but by covering ourselves up, we really open our hearts to each other. And there’s a really special connection when you get to be part of this community.”

Jamie has taken on the title in 2025, after last year’s Mr Dublin Leather, Fionn, passed on the sash. Reflecting on how being a representative of the community changed him, Fionn said: “I’ve learned that my voice has a lot more power than I thought it has. When I campaigned last year, a lot of my platform was about consent and the challenges that younger people face joining the scene.

“I’ve really found the power in my voice this year and really grown in a sense of self-confidence in what I can achieve and what I’m able to do. And that I’m worthy and I should take up as much space as I can.”

Last year’s Puppy Ireland, who goes by Puppy Ripley, seemed to have had a similar experience. “On a personal level, I definitely developed my ability to talk to people, to take the initiative and enter conversations, which I never would have done before,” he said.

There’s an empowering feeling that comes with finding a space where you can be fully yourself knowing you won’t be judged. Where the very parts of your identity that society shuns are what unites you to the people around. “I joined the community three years ago, and it was a time where I wasn’t in a great place,” said Pup Reggie, who won the Puppy Ireland title this year. “Being a Pup allowed me to become more confident in myself, to make a lot of new friends, not to worry about what people think of me anymore because I can just be myself in a way that I never could prior to it.”

Speaking about how he wants to pass on the feeling and empower more people, he shared: “After 31 years, I very recently got diagnosed with ADHD, and I started treatment and it has changed my life. When I went public with that online, I got bombarded with messages from a lot of people, mostly kinksters, and most of them were puppies, saying they related to my experiences and the struggles I had growing up with it. And they started asking me for advice. A lot of people asked me for advice, so I realised very quickly that that is something I really want to focus on, because it has made my life so much better.”

“I also really want to focus on consent. The kink community is probably one of the best groups of people I’ve ever meet in regards to consent,” he added.

“I really want to empower pups to be able to stand up for themselves because I know how terrifying it can be from my own personal experience. So I want to try and have actual open conversations about it and foster that kind of environment where pups can feel they have every right to tell someone to f *ck off.”

Even with outsiders like us, this community is determined to create a space where everyone can feel safe and know they won’t be judged.

“It’s all about inclusivity and for people to be whatever they wanna be,” Ian, Mr Bear Ireland 2024, said. “They don’t see just the surface; they look inside you, and they want to see the real you.”

Scarlet, who came from the US to attend Dublin Leather Weekend, said: “No matter where you come from, whether you’re originally from here in Ireland or you come from another country to come to their events, they make you feel at home.”

Joining the crowd, walking around the venue and talking to the people there, we could feel this sense of community, of belonging. The tight bonds these people have formed with one another. The mutual respect and the commitment to creating a space where people can feel free and yet protected. A chosen family, they called it.

“You can’t choose your family. But you choose your friends. You choose your community. And this community, they’re so close-knit and so tight together that we’re a big, big family,” said Seán. “I know that anytime I have a problem, anytime I have a concern, there’s always somebody there willing to listen, willing to help. And it’s just amazing. You never feel like you’re on your own, or you never feel that you have to face some crisis in your life on your own.”

Another participant in the event, Steve, said that the community has become “a lot more welcoming. It’s becoming a lot more accessible, people are open. I’m not just a leatherman. There’s a lot more kinks and fetishes that I’m into. I’m into different scenes, and it’s a lot less judgmental. I can show up to something wearing my leather. I can show up to something wearing my rubber. No one judges me.”

“We welcome everyone from every background,” said Jamie, Mr Dublin Leather 2025. “We all have a commonality, and that’s what makes it so easy to connect with each other, both locally and abroad.

“We want to provide a safe space, a place where you can be fully yourself as an individual. And especially this year, we’re hoping to really project that out and welcome anyone from any background. If you associate with leather culture, we want you here.

“I want to be that friendly face that, whenever anyone comes to one of our events, they see me as a visible beacon. And what I want to project to them is, you can come up to me and you can talk to me, and I will introduce you to everyone in the room. And you’re welcome here and you’re valid, and you fit the vibe.

“If you’re curious, come along. Don’t worry about what gear you’re wearing. We don’t have hard rules. Just come along with an open heart, and we will welcome you in,” he said.

John, Leathermen of Ireland’s secretary, reinforced these words. “Come along to one of our social events. You don’t need to have any leather…Just come along, and we’re very welcoming. We’ve got some great members who’ll be delighted to see you. For our events, any man, woman, trans, bi, come along. We will welcome you with open arms.”

For more information on the Irish leather scene, visit leathermenofireland.ie.