Founded | October 31, 1994 in New York City, U.S. |
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Headquarters | 259 W. 19th Street, New York City, New York , U.S. |
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Number of employees | 12 [1] (2017) |
Website | store |
Nasty Pig is an American men's fashion brand, based in New York City. The gay-owned company was founded in 1994 by Frederick Kearney and David Lauterstein, who serve as creative director and chief executive officer, respectively.
Nasty Pig initially focused on sportswear catering to the leather subcultures and has expanded into a full clothing line including underwear, jockstraps, jeans, shorts, T-shirts, and swimwear. Nasty Pig ranked on the Inc. 5000 in 2013 and moved into its current flagship store in Chelsea, Manhattan in 2014.
Nasty Pig originally focused on sportswear catering to the leather subculture. [2] The gay-owned brand has since expanded into a full clothing line, including underwear, jockstraps, jeans, shorts, T-shirts, and swimwear, among other accessories, [3] [4] and mostly targets gay men. [5] Sexual fetishism remains an influence; Nasty Pig has carried bondage harnesses and straps, [6] as well as rubber jockstraps and bedding. [7] The company has also sold silk woven neckties displaying the brand's logo "intricately hidden within the weave of the material". [1]
Out 's Stacy Lambe has described the brand's aesthetic as "a refined combo of punk attitude, street graffiti, and high-tech materials". [3] Michael Kleinmann of The Underwear Expert has called Nasty Pig a "masculine sportswear line with an unabashed fetish edge" and "a connection to a raunchy, sexual subculture of some kind". [8] ChicagoPride.com's Ross Forman has described Nasty Pig as "the ultimate edgy clothing brand for the masculine, sexually self-assured male consumers", with "bold stripes and loud colors". [1] The brand's motto is "fun clothing that gets you laid". [5] [9]
We started Nasty Pig because we wanted to create a culture brand that would allow queer people to express their queer identity. In the early nineties so much of our community was defined by the AIDS crisis in one way or another. We wanted to offer something that celebrated our uniqueness as a people.
David Lauterstein, Nasty Pig's co-founder and CEO
Nasty Pig Incorporated was formed on October 31, 1994, by partners Frederick Kearney and David Lauterstein, [1] who continue to serve as creative director and chief executive officer, respectively. [3] The couple met in New York City in 1993 and began selling "re:vision goggles" with refractive lenses to the Club Kids. Profits allowed Kearney and Lauterstein to start sewing and selling clothing from their West 23rd Street apartment. [1] [10] Nasty Pig, named after their dog Piggy, was created in response to stigmas caused by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. [8] [11] According to Lauterstein, the brand was influenced by New York City's hip hop culture and sports, including baseball, basketball, CrossFit, football, mixed martial arts, and weightlifting. [12]
The couple's first "closet-sized" 72-square-foot store, called 're:vision', sold Nasty Pig T-shirts, rubber chaps and superhero sleeveless shirts, and vinyl pants, among other products. [1] [13] Nasty Pigs' first retail clients were the Leatherman and Mr. S in New York City and San Francisco, respectively. The brand grew nationally after being heavily featured at Chicago's International Mr. Leather, an annual fetish and leather conference and contest. According to ChicagoPride.com's Ross Forman, "Nasty Pig gained notoriety for its line of machine-washable Nasty Pig Rubber, highlighted by Nasty Pig Playsheets, and has seemingly gone wild from there. Nasty Pig quickly became the brand-of-choice for the young, fetish scene in New York – and spread worldwide from there." [1] Nasty Pig became "the first sportswear company in their industry to sell branded jockstraps", and the brand's jeans line (NP Jean) became a "best-selling stretch denim style". [1]
Nasty Pig ranked number 3,060 the Inc. 5000, Inc. 's list of the fastest growing U.S. companies, in 2013. [3] [14] The company's 2013 "video lookbook" featured Juliana Huxtable and several "gay nightlife personalities". [15] Nasty Pig relocated to a larger flagship store on West 19th Street in Chelsea, Manhattan in 2014. [3] [16] [17] In 2015, the company's 30-second "Give/Receive" advertisement was considered "too hot for TV" by Time Warner Cable executives. The commercial was scheduled to air on the Cartoon Network, Lifetime, Logo TV, and TBS, but was pulled after four runs on Logo in New York markets. [18] Nasty Pig also advertised during American Horror Story: Freak Show in Los Angeles and New York, [19] before launching its first national advertising campaign in 2015 during RuPaul's Drag Race . [1] [20] [21]
The brand's products have been worn by James Franco, Lady Gaga, and Madonna. [1] Nasty Pig and Versace outfitted Olly Alexander for his 2018 Paper magazine photo shoot. [22] PinkNews , [23] In 2020, Queerty and Slate praised Lauterstein for his advice for navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. [4] [24] He also helped the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene update its 'Safer Sex and COVID-19' guidelines with more specific recommendations for dating and sex during the pandemic. [25] Lauterstein was included in Crain's New York Business' 2020 list of "notable LGBTQ leaders and executives". [26]
In 2013, Nasty Pig launched Shred of Hope, an auction of celebrity-designed "shredder" T-shirts benefitting New York City's Ali Forney Center, the largest LGBT community center in the U.S. Participants included Dustin Lance Black, Keith Boykin, Andy Cohen, Alan Cumming, Isis King, Adam Lambert, Bob Mould, Njena Reddd Foxxx, Mike Ruiz, JD Samson, Dan Savage, Jake Shears, Ally Sheedy, and Michael Stipe. [27]
According to The Advocate , Nasty Pig grew "from a $50 investment to a global name in apparel — one that has had its own indelible role in influencing the worlds of kink, fetish, queer, and even high fashion". [10] The magazine has described the brand as a "trailblazing menswear label". [27] Ross Forman of ChicagoPride.com wrote, "[Kearney and Lauterstein] developed the first gay culture brand, and Nasty Pig hasn't just survived over the years, it has thrived." [1] According to Out , Nasty Pig was among the first companies to "champion hairy, bearded models in its marketing materials, contradicting the era's" male beauty standards. [5]
Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures are subcultures and communities composed of people who have shared experiences, backgrounds, or interests due to common sexual or gender identities. Among the first to argue that members of sexual minorities can also constitute cultural minorities were Adolf Brand, Magnus Hirschfeld, and Leontine Sagan in Germany. These pioneers were later followed by the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis in the United States.
Fetish fashion is any style or appearance in the form of a type of clothing or accessory, created to be extreme, revealing, skimpy, or provocative in a fetishistic manner. These styles are by definition not worn by the majority of people; if everyone wears an item, it cannot have fetishistic, special nature. They are usually made of materials such as leather, latex or synthetic rubber or plastic, nylon, PVC, spandex, fishnet, and stainless steel. Some fetish fashion items include: stiletto heel shoes and boots, hobble skirts, corsets, collars, full-body latex catsuits, stockings, miniskirt, crotchless underwear, jockstraps, diapers, garters, locks, rings, zippers, eyewear, handcuffs, and stylized costumes based on more traditional outfits, such as wedding dresses that are almost completely see-through lace, or lingerie for men.
Leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities that involve leather garments, such as leather jackets, vests, boots, chaps, harnesses, or other items. Wearing leather garments is one way that participants in this culture self-consciously distinguish themselves from mainstream sexual cultures. Many participants associate leather culture with BDSM practices and its many subcultures. For some, black leather clothing is an erotic fashion that expresses heightened masculinity or the appropriation of sexual power; love of motorcycles, motorcycle clubs and independence; and/or engagement in sexual kink or leather fetishism.
A jockstrap, also a jock (male), jill (female), strap, cup, groin guard, pelvic protector (female), supporter, or athletic supporter, is an undergarment for protecting the scrotum and penis or vulva during contact sports or other vigorous physical activity. This article deals chiefly with the genital protective sports gear designed for the male body, colloquially known as a "jock".
Folsom Street Fair (FSF) is an annual BDSM and leather subculture street fair, held in September that concludes San Francisco's "Leather Pride Week". The Folsom Street Fair, sometimes referred to simply as "Folsom", takes place on the last Sunday in September, on Folsom Street between 8th and 13th Streets, in San Francisco's South of Market district.
A gay anthem is a popular song that has become widely popular among, or has become identified with, the gay community, although some of these songs have also become anthems for the wider LGBT community. Not all songs labelled as "gay anthems" were written intentionally to become gay anthems, but those that do are often marked by themes of perseverance, inner strength, acceptance, pride, and unity. Research in 2007 suggested that the song most commonly identified as a gay anthem is "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, and described the song as "a classic emblem of gay culture in the post-Stonewall and AIDS eras".
A gay skinhead, also known as a gayskin or queerskin, is a gay person who identifies with the skinhead subculture. Some gay skinheads have a sexual fetish for skinhead clothing styles.
Jockey International, Inc. is an American manufacturer and retailer of underwear, sleepwear, and sportswear for men, women, and children. The company is based in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Jockey invented the first men's Y-Front brief in 1934 and is a recognized trademark in 120 countries.
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Calvin Klein Inc. is an American fashion house which markets its eponymously branded products worldwide. The company, which became famous for its designer underwear and denim lines in the 1980s, specializes in mass-market ready-to-wear clothing for all genders and age groups as well as leather products, lifestyle accessories and shoes, home furnishings, perfume/cosmetics, eyewear, jewelry and watches in the mid-price segment. Its high-end runway fashion division, which represented the top level of the various Calvin Klein sub-brands, was discontinued in 2019.
Underwear, underclothing, or undergarments are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer clothing from being soiled or damaged by bodily excretions, to lessen the friction of outerwear against the skin, to shape the body, and to provide concealment or support for parts of it. In cold weather, long underwear is sometimes worn to provide additional warmth. Special types of undergarments have religious significance. Some items of clothing are designed as undergarments, while others, such as T-shirts and certain types of shorts, are appropriate both as underwear and outerwear. If made of suitable material or textile, some underwear can serve as nightwear or swimwear, and some undergarments are intended for sexual attraction or visual appeal.
The thong is a garment generally used as either underwear or in some countries, as a swimsuit. It may also be worn for traditional ceremonies or competitions.
John Joseph "Jack" Fritscher is an American author, university professor, historian, and social activist known internationally for his fiction, erotica, and nonfiction analyses of pop culture and gay male culture. An activist prior to the Stonewall riots, he was an out and founding member of the Journal of Popular Culture. Fritscher became highly influential as editor of Drummer magazine.
Underwear fetishism is a sexual fetishism relating to undergarments, and refers to preoccupation with the sexual excitement of certain types of underwear, including panties, stockings, pantyhose, bras, or other items. Some people can experience sexual excitement from wearing, while others get their excitement when observing, handling, or smelling the underwear worn by another, or watching somebody putting underwear on or taking it off.
Easter in Berlin also known as Easter Berlin, founded in 1972, is the biggest leather and fetish event in Europe. It takes place in Berlin every year at Easter.
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