For Immediate Release - January 16, 2024 - San Francisco, California
Written by Stylist & Fashion Blogger Jamie Lee Kendall
PR contact Jamie Lee Kendall 415-362-8300 or westcoastleathersf@gmail.com
American fashion designer Skip Pas of West Coast Leather partnered with the Metal Hall of Fame to make custom jackets for the Inductees. They will be presented at the Metal Hall of Fame Gala happening January 22, 2025 in Anaheim, California which will be a major event of the season with many stars of metal music and music executives in attendance. It will be a night of fashion and music, which is partly what drew Skip and West Coast Leather to want to partner with the Metal Hall of Fame -- its long history of working closely with the music industry.
After creating the leather jackets, we sat down with the founder and CEO of the Metal Hall of Fame, Pat Gesualdo for an interview.
WCL: Tell us a little bit about your background.
Pat: In addition to being the founder of the Metal Hall of Fame, which inducts legendary bands and music industry executives, in the mid 90’s I served as the Director A&R for an imprint label to a major record company, and in the early 2000’s, was director of the warped tour for Sony Music. I'm the author of "Drum Therapy: Healing with the Drumset." I created a nonprofit organization called D.A.D, and I lecture and perform all over the world.
WCL: How did the Metal Hall of Fame come to be?
Pat: In 2016 Deep Purple got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. When the drummer's wife went up to accept the award on his behalf the camera panned to the audience and everybody was like-half asleep. 10 seconds later, Eazy-E got their award and everyone was so excited. I was so annoyed. I said, "You know what? We need our own show and we are going to call it the Metal Hall of Fame." That was in April and that following January 3,000 miles away, we had our first show.
WCL: What is your favorite thing about working with the Hall of Fame Inductees?
Pat: We are dedicated to preserving and honoring the musicians that have worked so hard for so many decades to keep the music that we love alive and something needed to be done about that.
WCL: Can you tell us a little bit about the selection process to make it into the Hall of Fame?
Pat: All artists are nominated by a fan vote which is done online and then the nominating committee makes a decision from there.
WCL: What are you looking forward to most with the partnership with West Coast Leather and the jackets for the Metal Hall of Fame?
Pat: It's an honor to be able to transcend into the fashion world with such an exciting brand, West Coast Leather.
WCL: What are some of your big plans for 2025 (yourself and the Metal Hall of Fame)?
Pat: Next year is our 10th anniversary and Alice Cooper will be inducted and performing. We are looking forward to doing even more events around the world in person and our fans. This organization is part of the Drums And Disabilities organization (D.A.D.). We bring free therapy programs to special needs people as well as doctors, teachers and schools in over 15 countries.
WCL: Is there anything else that you would like to share with us?
Pat: Because of the LA Wildfires, we are turning this year's Gala into a "Rock Telethon" that will be live-streamed for free on the Facebook page so you can donate directly on the Red Cross website.
From West Coast Leather:
After the event, we will also be interviewing Frankie James, who is on the board of directors for the Metal Hall of Fame and has 30 years of experience in the music industry. Frankie is with Culture Rock Media and he is a major part of the event.
We encourage celebrities and models to contact us prior to the event for a chance to sport the official Metal Hall of Fame Jacke on the red carpet. On January 22, there will be red carpet events, press and media, models, and a before-party at the House of Blues. The designer of the jackets, Skip Pas will be there for the festivities. West Coast Leather model and PR Director Jamie Lee Kendall will also be there to walk the red carpet and to present an award to a winner. Jamie will be in Los Angeles filming more of a movie she has been working on.
The jackets are designed to make you feel like a rockstar and as Skip says, "like you are on a runway." They have many bold details like gold, bright colors, big logos, and a 1970s vibe.
To purchase tickets: 2025 Annual Metal Hall of Fame Gala Tickets, Wed, Jan 22, 2025 at 4:00 PM | Eventbrite
Below are photos of the jacket
Link to the jacket for purchase: Metal Hall of Fame 2025 Awards Jacket – West Coast Leather
