This started as an idea for a new bridal garter but it is so much more than that now. Then a dear friend in the community passed away. David Menkes “the-go-to leather guy.” The holster design can hold all sorts of trinkets but is mainly built to hold pre-roll canisters. The design is created entirely by Timothy Westbrook, the leather and buckles and velcro is sourced from the remains of David’s studio.
When these pieces run out that will be all of what is left of this part of queer history in NYC.
The holster comes with its own adjustable waist strap but can be attached to any belt, scarf, waist necklace, cummerbund, etc.
From @Queer_Happened_Here instagram
R.I.P. David Samuel Menkes.
After a brief struggle with cancer, prolific leather artist David Samuel Menkes, known as the "go-to-leather guy" in the fields of fashion, fetish, film & theater, tragically passed away on Tuesday, January 14th 2025. With an office & studio at 144 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan's Flatiron District, Menkes quietly crafted for over 40 years some of the most iconic leather pieces for big celebs, such as Lady Gaga's infamous assault rifle bra, while also outfitting much of NYC's LGBTQ+ leather & fetish community.
A New Jersey native, Menkes studied costume design at Carnegie Mellon & began his career by designing looks for off Broadway shows & working for a florist, where he built a giant stuffed bunny for Bianca Jagger’s birthday party at Studio 54. He then transitioned more into fashion, working for brands like Christian Dior, but also started hanging out & being influenced by NYC's underground bar scene, which turned him onto a lifetime of leather.
Menkes told Interview Magazine: "At the time, I was going out at night to the backroom bars & I got into a group called ‘Gay Male S&M Activists,’ which was a kind of support group for men who were into leather & fetish...I could always make clothes. I started sewing around age 15. So I thought, This is the scene of people I’m hanging out with. Why not see if I can make clothes for them too?”
In 1980, he founded David Samuel Menkes Custom Leatherwear, initially running his atelier out of his apartment. News quickly spread about his impeccable skills making custom harnesses, jockstraps & chaps & he was soon creating pieces for Broadway shows, high fashion runways, magazine shoots & more. His work could soon be found all over: From Jennifer Lopez wearing a custom biker cap of his on a cover of Elle to Ellen von Unwerth donning a custom crafted muzzle, to Alec Baldwin in a costume of his for 1998's Macbeth.
But Menkes is most beloved for dressing the local LGBTQ+ leather & fetish community, telling Interview: “I don’t want to dress everybody. I just want to dress the person who wants me to dress them...& I don't want factories working for me. I want to keep it in my hands."
This started as an idea for a new bridal garter but it is so much more than that now. Then a dear friend in the community passed away. David Menkes “the-go-to leather guy.” The holster design can hold all sorts of trinkets but is mainly built to hold pre-roll canisters. The design is created entirely by Timothy Westbrook, the leather and buckles and velcro is sourced from the remains of David’s studio.
When these pieces run out that will be all of what is left of this part of queer history in NYC.
The holster comes with its own adjustable waist strap but can be attached to any belt, scarf, waist necklace, cummerbund, etc.
From @Queer_Happened_Here instagram
R.I.P. David Samuel Menkes.
After a brief struggle with cancer, prolific leather artist David Samuel Menkes, known as the "go-to-leather guy" in the fields of fashion, fetish, film & theater, tragically passed away on Tuesday, January 14th 2025. With an office & studio at 144 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan's Flatiron District, Menkes quietly crafted for over 40 years some of the most iconic leather pieces for big celebs, such as Lady Gaga's infamous assault rifle bra, while also outfitting much of NYC's LGBTQ+ leather & fetish community.
A New Jersey native, Menkes studied costume design at Carnegie Mellon & began his career by designing looks for off Broadway shows & working for a florist, where he built a giant stuffed bunny for Bianca Jagger’s birthday party at Studio 54. He then transitioned more into fashion, working for brands like Christian Dior, but also started hanging out & being influenced by NYC's underground bar scene, which turned him onto a lifetime of leather.
Menkes told Interview Magazine: "At the time, I was going out at night to the backroom bars & I got into a group called ‘Gay Male S&M Activists,’ which was a kind of support group for men who were into leather & fetish...I could always make clothes. I started sewing around age 15. So I thought, This is the scene of people I’m hanging out with. Why not see if I can make clothes for them too?”
In 1980, he founded David Samuel Menkes Custom Leatherwear, initially running his atelier out of his apartment. News quickly spread about his impeccable skills making custom harnesses, jockstraps & chaps & he was soon creating pieces for Broadway shows, high fashion runways, magazine shoots & more. His work could soon be found all over: From Jennifer Lopez wearing a custom biker cap of his on a cover of Elle to Ellen von Unwerth donning a custom crafted muzzle, to Alec Baldwin in a costume of his for 1998's Macbeth.
But Menkes is most beloved for dressing the local LGBTQ+ leather & fetish community, telling Interview: “I don’t want to dress everybody. I just want to dress the person who wants me to dress them...& I don't want factories working for me. I want to keep it in my hands."
