Adam Ant wore his onstage. Malcolm McLaren & Vivienne Westwood put a picture of it on a T-Shirt. Sylvain Sylvain (New York Dolls) owned one in silver leather.
The leather Head Mask is a garment that featured consistently in The London Leatherman ‘Exotica’ mail order catalogues from 1971 through to the 1990s, available predominately in black leather it was also offered in silver and in red leather too.
The new for 2021 LW19 Head Mask
Page from the The London Leatherman ‘Exotica’ Catalogue 1974 featuring the LW11 & LW19 mask with detachable blindfold.
A true underground fetish item that clients would order from Ken (Heddle Magson) discretely, until, like many The London Leatherman designed items it made its way into the public eye, taking on a life of it’s own in the mid-1970s, a life that included being worn on stage by Adam Ant for his first gig at the ICA in May 1977 in London and being featured on T-shirts designed by Malcolm McLaren & Vivienne Westwood that are today held in the V&A and The Met Museum collections (scroll to bottom of page for pictures).
Here we wanted to address the legend that follows The London Leatherman mask, the association to the boutique SEX, the influence it had on Malcolm McLaren & Vivienne Westwood and Alan Selby (who later founded Mr. S Leather) and the implications that a The London Leatherman mask was worn by the convicted criminal named by the press as the Cambridge rapist. We feel the best way to do this is to share with you the article that featured in the Sunday Mirror in 1975. See the scan and relevant text below:
Page 4. Sunday Mirror, May 11, 1975
By George Martin, Terry Willows and Chris Hampson.
The trail of the Cambridge rapist led last week to the world of London’s ‘kinky gear’ shops.
There on Friday, Sunday Mirror reporters bought two black leather hoods from separate shops. Identical to the one worn by the rapist. Not many of these masks have been sold in Britain and police believe that the Cambridge maniac bought his mask from one of the same sources.
The man who makes the sinister hoods is 37 year old Heddle Magson. He runs a shop called The London Leatherman in Queenstown Road, Battersea.
He supplies them to two shops in Chelsea, as well as running an export and mail order business. Mr. Magson estimates that he has sold about 100 since Christmas.
The hoods cost £10.25 each- with or without a zip across the mouth- complete with detachable Lone Ranger type eye masks. These hoods cover the head, with eye slits, a shaped nose space, mouth slit and laces up the back. Mr. Magson, tall and slim with a ring in his left ear, said: “I’ve already had the police here. I gave them two names. I went through the records for them. I didn’t let them go through my files. I have a kind of doctor relationship with my clients. I treat my business with confidentiality.” One of our hoods was brought from Magson’s shop and with it he gave us two brochures.
One- Exotica- consists of bizarre leatherwear.
Mr. Magson said “The names I gave to police were of clients in the Cambridge area.”
Does Mr. Magson not worry that he may unwittingly be selling such equipment to mentally unbalanced people such as the rapist?
He replied: “How does one make that judgement?”
‘Normal guy’
“He doesn’t have two heads and five legs. In genuine circumstances he could be an absolutely normal guy.”
One of the other shops selling the hood, in Kings Road, Chelsea, simply has the word “SEX” in 3ft.- high mauve letters above the door.
The manager, Mr. Michael Collins, said: “I have sold a dozen hoods in eight months. I can’t remember much about most of the people. But there was one chap who bought one a couple of months ago. He was short and dressed in a black leather jacket, dark trousers and black boots. He was carrying a motor-cyclist’s crash helmet. Last week he came in again and bought a rubber hood with no eye slits and only a rubber tube to breathe through the mouth.”
Half a mile away at another shop in New Kings Road, Mr. Alan Selby said: “I know most of my customers personally. One is a millionaire and managing director of one of the best know firms in the land. I’ve met his wife too. They use my gear for their private sex. I have never, as far as I know, sold a mask to someone from the Cambridge area.” ….. (end text).
The London Leatherman LW11 Head Mask made front page news in May 1975. It was thought at the time that the criminal may have worn a LLM mask, he didn’t.
Adam Ant wearing The London Leatherman LW19 Head Mask and The London Leatherman LB9 Ring Clipper Bikini with Zip, May 1977.
Michael Collins, Manager of the boutique SEX as interviewed for the Sunday Mirror newspaper wearing a version of the T-shirt designed by McLaren & Westwood featuring the LW19 Head Mask. Photographer Homer Sykes
Steve Jones (right) wearing the T-shirt by Maclaren & Westwood featuring image of The London Leatherman Head Mask LW19 in Oslo 1977. Steve is also wearing The London Leatherman jeans. Photographer Henrik Laurvik.
Photo credit: Christie’s. The LW19 Head Mask in silver leather, once owned by Sylvain Sylvain.
Today we produce both the LW11 (zip mouth) and the LW19 (soft lip) Head Masks hand made to the same specifications as the mask offered in 1975 with upgraded detailing for 2023.
The Head Masks are available to order via WWW.THELONDONLEATHERMAN.COM