Origins
The International Person of Leather (IPOL) contest was created in 2014 by Andrew Love, Master Talon, and Jazz with a mission to promote and celebrate the diversity of the Leather community.
Originally, the states in the US were divided into seven regional contests which served as feeders for the international competition. The original IP regions were Northeast, Southeast, Great Lakes, Northwest, Southwest, Rocky Mountain, and Heartland. The original Southwest POL region included New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada (excluding the cities of Reno, Sparks, and Carson City), Hawaii ,and California (south of Fresno).
The first Southwest Person of Leather (SWPOL) regional titleholder was Papa Bear, SWPOL 2015, who went on to win the international contest at Sin in the City and become the first International Person of Leather in 2015. Other past winners of the SWPOL title are:
Papa Bear, 2015
Lady Donna, 2016-2017
Sir Jessie, 2018
Mike Blacksmith, 2019-2020
NerdyPrincess, 2024
Texas and Oklahoma Joins the SWPOL Party
In 2026, the IPOL contest, now owned by SPLF producer Tomo, made some adjustments to the existing POL regions. As a result of these changes, Master Velvet was named the producer of the SWPOL title and the region was changed to add the states of Texas and Oklahoma to the existing roster of states in the SWPOL region.
While originally not in the Southwest region, Texas and Oklahoma have played a large role in the history and evolution of the POL title. The first Heartland POL contest took place at Beyond Vanilla in Dallas, TX. The first HPOL was Master Bill, who unfortunately passed away prior to the completion of his title year. Subsequent years saw the contest being held in Oklahoma, before the contest returned to its Texas roots with the competition being held in Austin, Texas, at the GWNN Bash in both 2023 and 2024.
In addition to the first Heartland contest being held in Texas, the final three winners of HPOL, WrathDaddy, Master Twist, and Master Velvet all hailed from the Lone Star State. Winners of the HPOL contest include:
Master Bill, 2014
slave Adeena, 2015-2016
Andrew Gray, 2017
Strong Hands Mo, 2018
Master Wrath Daddy, 2019-2022
Master Thaddeus Twist, 2023
Master Velvet, 2024
Both slave Adeena and Master Velvet went on to win the international contest cementing the importance of the Heartland region in the POL history.
The Future
Now under the production of Master Velvet, IPOL 2025, the SWPOL is scheduled to bring the fun and camaraderie of POL events back to Big D. The 2026 contest will be held at the Dallas Eagle. It promises to be a weekend that celebrates the rich diversity of our community as we find the next Southwest Person of Leather.