Statement on the title “Mr. Leather Switzerland”

Due to current developments and frequent misunderstandings regarding the award of the title “Mr. Leather Switzerland”, we consider a clarification to be necessary and issue the following statement:

“Mr. Leather Switzerland 2017” / “Mr. Leather Switzerland 2018”

The titles “Mr. Leather Switzerland 2017” and “Mr. Leather Switzerland 2018” were not awarded by the association Leathermen of Switzerland. The association is neither responsible for the organisation of the title holder elections nor does it own the rights to the titles.

The Leathermen of Switzerland (LMS) are a leather fetish association focusing on the development and maintenance of the leather community in Switzerland. Its activities are intended to bring like-minded people and friends together. It offers a platform for networking and exchange. The association organizes about 20 events each year in Switzerland and abroad and promotes member initiatives that serve the purpose of the association. The emphasis is on socialising and creating a setting in which interested persons can appear in the local public without feeling constrained.

The LMS promotes and boosts the diversity of the community within Switzerland in addition to the fetish groups of other orientations. Furthermore, it collaborates with other leather fetish groups throughout Europe and cultivates transregional contact.

The LMS clearly positions itself as a non-commercially oriented organisation and does not support any activities of third parties that are incompatible with its objectives. This includes the organisation of events, the appointment of representatives, the awarding of titles, offices, honours or the like, whose objectives are not deeply rooted in the ideas of the leather community.

Election for “Mr. Leather Switzerland 2020”

The association Leathermen of Switzerland (LMS) is not affiliated with the organisation of the “Mr. Leather Switzerland 2020” election announced for October 2019 in Basel.

The Board of the LMS distances itself from the nomination of a new “Mr. Leather Switzerland” as announced. In their opinion, a title holder of this kind would have to be capable of representing the Swiss leather community both internally and externally.

If a title suggests to represent a community as a whole (e.g. geographically), it should be made available to the community in its entirety – regardless of any trademark rights. The awarding of titles and the guidelines for fulfilling its official duties must be broadly supported within the community. An elected representative of the Community is solely accountable to the Community and to himself.

For the generic production of “Mr. Switzerland” titles, which are not rooted in the particular community, we see no legitimation and therefore no need.