Ruben Esparza and I met through a mutual friend (Stuart Sandford) at TOM House in 2015. At that time Ruben was working on the second Queer Biennial, Yooth Lost & Found, which looked at the AIDS scourge by asking “yooth” to respond to it. Ruben and I became chummy pretty quickly. He was trying to bring on creative people to fill out the show, but as a writer, I’d never considered myself a visual artist. We were dancing at Motherload one day when his eyes lit up. He asked if I wanted to recreate a Felix Gonzalez Torres piece at the...

We live in the age of the sneaker. From sneakerheads, to competitive resale culture, to sneaker painting and artwork, there has never been a bigger time for this once commonplace item. Countless designers are trying to capitalize on this cultural phenomenon, but few are managing to say anything new. Then there’s Eytys. Founded by two childhood friends with a mission to create reliable and exceptional wardrobe staples, Eytys (pronounced “Eighties”) is a footwear and apparel brand based in Stockholm, Sweden. The cult sensation first made waves with The Mother design, a plimsoll sneaker with a significantly  thick rubber sole  and minimal...

Rinaldo Hopf is a world renowned artist and long time friend of Tom of Finland Foundation. Before living at TOM House, his large format portrait of Tom was donated to the Foundation by a collector. Ever since it’s hung proudly in the stairwell— the first I ever knew of Hopf. He has done artist residencies all over the world, and continues to travel and make sexually liberated art. I met Rinaldo in 2017, when he came to live at TOM House as the Artist-in-Residence. He’s a charming fellow who is immensely talented with a diverse ouvre. Since 2005, Rinaldo has...

What happens when you combine street art with gay thematics? You land somewhere around Homo Riot, the one man street art project, whose goal is to challenge institutional homophobia, while also inspiring a sense of gay pride. The artist has displayed his work on the streets of every city from New York to Hong Kong, as well as on the walls of major international galleries. In anticipation of the release of Homo Riot apparel on the Tom of Finland Store, we caught up with the man behind the moniker to learn more about the origins of Homo Riot, and how...

Merging pop culture with high-end craftsmanship is no easy task. Just ask Jonathan Johnson, the jewelry artisan based out of Hamburg, who has perfected the technique with handmade gold plated and sterling silver pieces that manage to retain their sense of luxury despite their tongue-in-check designs. Putting a twist on everything from gay iconography, to the practice of jewelry making itself, Johnson’s latest venture is a collaboration with the Tom of Finland Foundation, which see the craftsman translate symbols from the Tom universe into statement jewelry pieces that are at once luxurious and fun. Central to the collection is the...

Henzel Studio is a Swedish luxury rug manufacturer whose ethos is based on the artistic practice of Calle Henzel, founder and creative director. Over the past twenty years, he has translated his artistic practice as painter and collage artist into the medium at hand, positioning Henzel Studio as one of the most progressive luxury rug brands in the world. Their collection Henzel Studio Collaborations expands on the Henzel Studio brand by bringing together some of the most notable names in contemporary art in the creation of limited edition art rugs. To date, they have worked with everyone from Richard Prince,...

Beverly Hills Cowboy is a sexy apparel line conceived out of an equal fascination with cowboys and Beverly Hills culture. The line currently carries form fitting t-shirts with cheeky, in your face phrases and words, like “90% Angel 10% Devil” or “Butch”, as well as briefs with the word “Cowboy” inscribed on the waistband. We caught up with the designer behind the label to learn more about the items available through the Tom of Finland, and a very exciting upcoming collaboration with the Bob Mizer Foundation.

Qualities: Musk and leather on the nose. In the mouth, Terry shows firm, muscular tannins, pleasurable, robust, and well-balanced fruit, with dominant high notes. Submissive, smooth, and silky on the back-end, he lingers on the palate through a long-lasting finish. Not overly sweet, with a slight bite. Smooth and sassy, deep and down to earth. Great legs...

Happy Hour Skateboards began with a horde of Finnish skater boys who look just like you might imagine: messy haired and dressed in streetwear and probably holding a board or a beer. United by their love of skating, the gang also values art & culture, chosen family, and enjoying life to the fullest, just like Tom’s Men. The crew wanted a brand for themselves, and so they created one…  Fast forward a decade and a half— they are working on their second collaboration with Tom of Finland Foundation. The new line features the catchphrase, “Just Cruising”, a subtle play on...

Tom of Finland’s imagery is so iconic, it transcends the confines of wall art. The brawny black and whites images look good on anything (I’ve got a tattoo on my right arm). If you take a trip to TOM House, you’ll see the images everywhere— they instantly transform a space, whether printed on clothes, flatware, or in Finlayson’s case, textiles. Finlayson is the oldest textile brand in Finland and all of Scandinavia, and has been collaborating with Tom of Finland Foundation since 2014. The classic label has a huge diversity of products, but the Tom of Finland collaboration is definitely...

While I was living at TOM House as the artist-in-residence, Dome Karukoski was finishing the Tom of Finland biopic. I had the opportunity to observe some of the final editing process, the arduous attention to detail that filmmakers labor over in the last stages of production. It was really special to be in the House during that time— the residents served as a liaison between the film and Tom’s legacy, making sure that his story was told with integrity. The biopic starts with Touko Laaksonen’s life in Finland during the war, and eventually follows the artist to Los Angeles, where...

Dian Hanson is a woman who needs no introduction. As one of the first female pornographers coming out of the 1970s hippie porn scene, her prolific career has been diverse: from writing reader derived porn, to casting and directing shoots, to editing books and magazines about erotic subjects. Dian first got her start working at sex magazine Puritan, and over the next 25 years, edited magazines including Partner, Oui, Adult Cinema Review, Harvey, Hooker, Juggs and Leg Show. Since joining Taschen in 2001, she has become one of the foremost experts on Tom of Finland, working on everything from compact books, to more ambitious projects, like her Tom of Finland...