Ah Men Mexican Cruise

West Hollywood : Ah Men, 1978. Quarto, illustrated self-wrappers, pp. 32, mailing label, order form intact, illustrated, a fine copy.

Don Cook founded Ah Men, Shop for Men on Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood in about 1960 (some sources say 1958, the others 1961), the shop successfully trading until the mid 1980s. Located close to the major movie studios, fashion designers and boutiques of Beverly Hills, and movie stars homes in the Hollywood Hills, it was unmistakably aimed at a gay male clientelle, and one of the first overtly gay retailers to have an open shop on a main shopping strip in California. The firm ran a successful catalogue business as well, the brochures illustrated with studio photography and graphic design, often themed along different lines. Ah Men Mexican Cruise is illustrated with trunks, shorts, bathers, kimonos, leisure wear, underwear and other articles suitable for cruising on and off the waters.

A significant fashion catalogue from L.A’s gay community in the seventies.