Fetters and the Design of Bondage Objects in Britain During the 1970s and 1980s

This article examines the development of male bondage in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s through an examination of products designed by Jim Stewart, who founded the company Fetters in 1976. Through research using primary written sources, interviews with early customers, users and business partners, and the objects themselves, this paper situates Fetters designs within the broader infrastructures that were essential for the development of the material culture of male BDSM. The research finds that the primary contacts and inspiration came from outside of the emergent gay leather scene, in particular the cult of Houdini and publications that facilitated collecting of esoteric objects. Furthermore, military culture is shown to have influenced the design and mediation of bondage objects in a way that was fundamental to their design and functioning. This analysis therefore highlights some tensions surrounding cultural aspects of sexual identity that were negotiated through the design and development of objects produced at Fetters.