John Sutcliffe (designer) explained

John Sutcliffe (died 1987) was a British fetish clothing designer and publisher of the fetish magazine AtomAge.[1]

In the 1950s he was divorced because his feelings about leather had led to him being diagnosed as mentally ill and treatment failed to change him.[2]

He began his AtomAge fetish clothing business in 1957, registering it as a “manufacturer of weatherproofs for lady pillion riders”.[3] [2]

He was an influence on the leather catsuits worn by Emma Peel in The Avengers, and created the leather catsuit worn by Marianne Faithfull in the 1968 film The Girl on a Motorcycle.[4]

Sutcliffe published AtomAge magazine, a fetish magazine that was an offshoot of his fetish clothing business. The magazine has been called the "underground bible of leather, rubber and vinyl fetish wear throughout the 1970s"[5] [6] and documented Britain's S/M scene.[7] [8] The first AtomAge clothing catalogue was published in 1965 and it expanded into a magazine in 1972.[9] The magazine ended in 1980.[10]

Sutcliffe's work helped inspire Sex, a boutique run by Vivienne Westwood and her then-partner Malcolm McLaren at 430 King's Road, London between 1974 and 1976, which specialized in clothing that defined the look of the punk movement.[11] [1]

In 1982 Sutcliffe published a novel by Jim Dickson called The Story Of Gerda, about bondage and fetishism.[10] [2] A copy of it was sent to the police, and to keep from being prosecuted Sutcliffe agreed to have all stock and AtomAge magazine plates destroyed.[2]

He created a sewing needle for vinyl that improved the ability to stitch and work that material, and a method for attaching a muslin-type fabric to latex, which after that could be securely sewn.[2] He also created a sewing machine specifically for leather and asked Singer to manufacture it, but as remembered by his friend Robert Henley, "Singer were so horrified, they called the police."[1]

Legacy

In 2023 he was inducted into the Leather Hall of Fame.[12]

Further reading

Dressing for Pleasure in Rubber, Vinyl and Leather: The Best of Atomage 1972-1980. Jonny Trunk (author). Damon Murray, Jonny Trunk, and Stephen Sorrell (editors).  United Kingdom: FUEL, 2010.

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: King of kinky. Will. Hodgkinson. 10 September 2010. The Guardian.
  2. Web site: John Sutcliffe: rubber Johnny. 20 September 2014. Dazed.
  3. Web site: Of Human Bondage. 1 October 2010. W Magazine.
  4. Web site: King of kinky. TheGuardian.com. 10 September 2010.
  5. Book: Trunk, Jonny . Dressing for Pleasure in Rubber, Vinyl & Leather: The Best of AtomAge, 1972-1980 . 2010 . FUEL . 978-0-9563562-3-9 . en.
  6. Phelps . Nicole . 2021-03-03 . Kwaidan Editions Fall 2021 Ready-to-Wear Collection . Vogue . en-US . 2021-12-07.
  7. News: Moreland . Quinn . 2017-12-15 . Fever Ray Explains How Ball Gags, Leather Fetishes, and Weird Memes Inspired Her New Album . en . 2021-12-07.
  8. News: Woo . Kin . 2018-04-04 . The Husband-Wife Team Designing Clothes Inspired by David Lynch . en-US . The New York Times . 2021-12-07 . 0362-4331.
  9. News: George . Cassidy . 2020-01-08 . From fetish to fashion: The rise of latex . en . 2021-12-07.
  10. News: King of kinky. Will. Hodgkinson. September 10, 2010. The Guardian.
  11. Web site: PopMatters. Fashionably Anti-Establishment: 'Punk: From Chaos to Couture'. J.C. Maçek III. 6 June 2013.
  12. Web site: LA Leather Getaway by CLAW - Third edition - The Leather Journal. Dave. Rhodes. www.theleatherjournal.com.