Touko Laaksonen, best known by his pseudonym Tom of Finland was a Finnish artist notable for his highly stylized and erotic fetish art and his influence on late twentieth century gay culture.

in 1968  Laaksonsen created his ongoing character Kake, a dark-haired, mustached leatherman who travelled the world on his motorcycle to "spread the seeds of liberated, mutually satisfying, ecstatically explicit gay sex".  kake’s international fans made him the template for what came to be known as the gay clone look of the 1970s.