INNOVATORS IN LEATHER 

 HISTORY

"It was a mom & pop leather shop doing “normal” leather clothing in the 1960s. By virtue of the neighborhood we were located in we got a lot of business from the lgbt+ community. We used to have a sign that said: "You name it, we make it!" People would take us to task on that. They’d come in and say, "I want a pair of leather pants, but I want them really tight." They got bolder and when they realized they weren't going to get chased out of the store, word got around. We were getting into things that I had never seen and when I realized there was a market for this stuff we created a separate shop. 

   We called it "North" for where we were. "Bound" for what you'd do with it. And "Leather" for what it was made from. And that's how Northbound was born in 1987. It was sort of nondescript and discreet, like a brown paper wrapper on the scene. It didn't raise any eyebrows. At the same time, it was a store dedicated to everything different, subversive, and sexually charged about leather." 

 - George Giaouris (Owner of Northbound Leather)