International Mr. Leather

(Not Pictured)
Daddy Tony - Director of Contest Events
Brad Bartley - Director of Operations
Bob Graves - Vendor Market Director

Billy Lane - Director of Sponsorship
Alex Torres - Lead Sponsorship Coordinator
Bolt - Director of Marketing and Customer Experience
Luiz Surrat - Director of Nightlife and Socials

Master J. Tebias Perry - Director of Engagement and Social Media
Chris Kelley - Art Director
Eric Holland - Director of Web and E-commerce

David Ronneberg - Executive Director of IMLBB
Girl Becky - Executive Director of Bootblacks
Jeff Tucker - Director of Human Resources and Administration

IMLBB has many leatherpeople from all over who make the contest and weekend events possible. We'd like to take some time to introduce you to our executive team!

Check out the portraits we took at MAL so you can put faces to names and give these folks a huge thanks!
👇📸

The Open Shine application is now live on the IML website!

Step forward. Show off your bootblacking skills. Claim your moment!

Apply now:�https://www.internationalmrleather.com/open-shine

#openshine #imlbb2026 #IMLWeekend

Michael Tikili
Contributing Writer
IML 2nd. Runner-Up 2025

|SUBSTRATE| — selected images from the IMLBB Art Department’s upcoming photo campaign.

CHRIS KELLEY
IMLBB Art Director

ZEPHYR MERKUR
IMLBB Analogue Photographer
IML 1st. Runner-Up 2025

House of Leather x International Mr. Leather, the official Saturday Night Off-Hotel event!

Advance Tickets Link:  bit.ly/HOL_IML

Saturday, May 23rd, 2026, 9pm-3am
Advance Tickets Link:  bit.ly/HOL_IML

This is THE official Victory Party. Don’t get left behind—book your package NOW to secure your spot in the center of it all!

After all the heat of the contests, there’s only one place for us to celebrate under one roof. We’ve got not one, but TWO-heavy-hitting International DJs:

DJ ALEJANDRO ALAVARES
DJ SHANE STIEL

First-timers, listen up: this is the absolute climax of the weekend. You do not want to miss the energy when the room is packed and the vibe is electric. We’re bringing the Victory Party back to its roots: MASSIVE. Because size matters!

We’re officially filling the main dance hall —including the balcony—with 1,500 of us for a night that’s going down in the history books!

THE LEGENDARY IMLBB VICTORY PARTY!

The legendary IMLBB Victory Party is taking over Chicago’s iconic House of Blues, and we’re going bigger than ever!

#IMLBB #IMLWeekend #VictoryParty #InternationalMrLeather #HouseOfBlues

CaFE Event Information - IMLBB Art Showcase 2026 Read more about IMLBB Art Showcase 2026 on CaFE

Applications are submitted exclusively through CaFÉ. This is a platform for queer, fetish-informed contemporary art. We can’t wait to see what you bring.

Apply: artist.callforentry.org/festivals_un...

Info: www.internationalmrleather.com/art-show

Theme: Defiant / Restraint
This juried exhibition invites artists to explore eroticism, identity, ritual, power, and paradox.

Cash prizes awarded, including Audience Choice + Director’s Prize opportunities.

Open to artists 18+ in all media, including international artists.

Now Open: IMLBB Art Showcase 2026 — Open Call!

Presented by International Mr. Leather & the Leather Archives & Museum.
May 21–24, 2026 | Chicago

Showcase your work to an international audience of 16,000+ attendees.

Billy Lane - Director of Sponsorship
Bob Graves - Vendor Market Director
Bolt - Director of Marketing and Customer Experience
Eric Holland - Director of Web and E-commerce (or as I call him, the Wizard of Oz).

Returning for 2026 are:

Brad Bartley - Director of Operations
Jeff Tucker - Director of Human Resources and Administration
Master J. Tebias Perry - Director of Engagement and Social Media
Chris Kelley - Director of Art Showcase
Daddy Tony - Director of Contest Events

There is a lot of work that goes into building the vision of IMLBB and I could not do it alone. We have a talented, experienced, diverse, smart volunteer Board of Directors who are responsible for making IML the homecoming celebration it is, every year.

IML was built on the heart and courage to live outside the rules, and that will never change.

Theses aren’t rule changes, they are GUIDELINE changes.
We are all exceptions to some rule - so we’re not going to turn IML into a binary in/out yes/no on/off organization. We are all exceptions that live in the gray - 50 shades of gray.

And yes, we will absolutely make exceptions for one-off situations. So, maybe we end up with 49, or 51 but it will not be another class of 70+. It can’t be.

And people running twice, or making up a title to crown themselves a winner and sewing a sash at home - take space from the ones who have earned their place there.

We have a cast bigger than Les Mis - and it grows every year. And I’m not a fan of building dressing rooms in the alley outside - which is what we’re doing for 2026 (but Tony has assured me they will be glamorous).

In an atmosphere that is increasingly less friendly to the LGBTQIA+ community, we are thrilled to be moving to a bigger theatre for 2026. But all venue space has limitations.

We need to limit the class size to 50 (starting in 2027) because we are extremely challenged finding venues with enough dressing room space. This is about dressing room and bathroom space. Nothing more.

Some minor updates to the contestant rules (which seemed to get a lot of attention) are much less nefarious or strategically Machiavellian than some may have perceived. The reasoning behind these, and additional changes coming for 2027, is incredibly simple.

Early Bird pricing is in effect through January 31st so please take advantage of the discounts.

And this year we are excited to bring some new elements to that mission…

The first update you saw was that tickets went on sale early this year, on Black Friday, so friends and family could give “the gift of IML” for the holidays.