The Hoist
South Lambeth Road arches · London’s most famous leather club
For twenty years, beneath the railway arches on South Lambeth Road, the Hoist was London’s most famous leather and fetish club – and one of the best known in Europe. Opened in 1996 by Guy Irwin and his partner Kurt, it ran a strict men-only dress code – leather, rubber, uniform, skin – and a cruise culture that drew fetish men from around the world. It was serious about its scene, and entirely unapologetic about it.
Among its legends was the motorbike mounted high on the wall – famously, that of a serving police officer – a fitting emblem for a club where the uniform cut both ways. After twenty-one years Guy and Kurt closed the Hoist, on 11 December 2016, telling regulars they had simply had enough. It wasn’t forced out; it had reached its end. Another arch went dark.