By Dane Steele Green // Steele Luxury Travel
It is the world’s premier leather extravaganza and Chicago’s third largest annual event. Polish up your leather and buff up your rubber—the International Mr. Leather competition, IML itself, rips the Windy City a new one on May 25-28.
Surrounded by the sumptuousness of the Hyatt Regency Chicago (so much for being “underground”), things kick off with the opening ceremonies, wherein contestants and judges officially see just what it is they are up against. Preliminary rounds can be vicious: Appearance and presence are taken in to account on May 25 and physiques are tallied on the 26. Those rounds cull the herd so that by the 27, the day of the actual contest, only 20 finalists remain.
Judges—and they are puissant—include European import Eric Guttierez, Mr. Leather France and International Mr. Leather for 2011; respected BDSM intellectual Andrea Zanin (aka, the “Sex Geek”); homoerotic illustrator Ira C. Smith; and VP of Marketing & Public Relations for the Nasty Pig fetishistic clothing line, Dave Hughes. For those not in the leather/fetish community, the seriousness of IML, and MrBB, can seem a little “extreme,” but have no doubt, this is serious business. Those who judge the event are roundly regarded as authorities; participants can spend years preparing.
In case you’re curious, “leather image” counts for 40% of a participant’s score, presentation another 40% and physical appearance the final 20%. Running concurrently with IML is MrBB, or the International Mr. Bootblack competition. Contestants take up positions in the IML Leather Market at which they perform bootblacking (that is, fetishised shoe shining) and judged accordingly. Winners are whisked off to the House of Blues for their victory dance and the official start of their reign. Things go out with a bang on May 28 with the traditional IML final blowout “sweat disco,” the Black and Blue Ball. Of course it would be called that.
For spectators, beginners, and note-takers for next year’s competition, the IML Leather Market—one of the largest leather/fetish emporiums on the planet—runs throughout the competition and brings everyone up to speed on the leather life. There is also the not-to-be-missed roast of Guttierez at the Leather Archives and Museum (yes, it exists) on May 24. Gird your loins for that one.
Go to http://www.imrl.com/ for more information or contact Steele Luxury Travel to secure your flights and hotel at [email protected] or call 646-688-2274.