NOT for cox

There is one brand that makes me continuously cringe whenever I see it. Cocksox. With my Brand Strategy hat on I say congratulations for picking a niche market and talking directly to them. From a female perspective I say GROSS. But they're not for me. In ANY shape or form. Gay men with tendencies for raciness, this is your brand.



Racy little things with fine fabric and maximum transparency. Not my kinda scene!



The visual of a cock in a sock is just something I can't get past. No more mention of them on this little blog!

The NOSTALGIA box

I've decided to list my observations of underwear categories so I can get my head around new styles. I love a good generalisation, so let's start with nostalgia.

To me, this category has two main points of classification - style and print. These undies are all about letting boys re-live their younger days so it's all about pirate prints and comfy undies.

Some examples:

by Ginch Gonch


by Aussiebum


by PopDuds

Steel, Steel, Everywhere!

Watching a trend unfold is like watching someone fall off their ski's while viewing them from the safety of a chairlift. You can see the first wobble, the slight recovery and then the fully fledged stack. Soon, the slight wobble is now seen by EVERYONE!

CK did it first. You know what I'm talking about. The STEEL revolution. Those silvery waistbands with a feel of steel.





Personally, I know when a trend has reached its limit when the design works its way to Bonds. They are my barometer of a trend done.

1984

Carbon Neutral Underwear

This had to happen. I first saw this movement from Mitch Dowd when they released their organic cotton range.



On closer inspection, they have also introduced a Bamboo range which replaces some of the polyester process with bamboo - a naturally occurring material. My prediction is that this will be short lived. The GREEN FACTOR has been occurring in brands for a while now and I'm WELL over it.

A good ol' Aussie go.

In the world of obvious underwear endorsements, Nadal would be at the top of my list. If there could just be one underwear company that could fix that boy's wedgie, then I think we'd all breathe a sigh of relief.

What I'd forgotten about was that Mojo Underwear decided to have a crack at it. Their three minutes of fame, delivered by Koshie. A nice plug but it was never going to happen boys...

A fresh pair

Saw this last year on Springwise - Diesel have tapped into the insight of the music festival goer by providing a "One hour Happy Shower" service for festival goers, with new fresh pairs of Diesel undies being given away for the fresh change.

Priceless and VERY smart.

A Sean thing

To say I'm a fan of this brand would be an understatement. As a Brand Strategist I have the ability to be highly critical...and I usually am. But these guys have just killed it from the outset.



Every great brand has a story of conception. This is no different. Without Google searching I can tell you that Sean Ashby was sitting on the beach at Bondi (how Aussie is that?!!) and wondering why he couldn't buy the kind of swimwear he really wanted. With 20K he and buddy Guyon started this whole Aussiebum charade.




Since then I have silently watched this brand through website upgrades, new product innovations and new models. Total fan. As an Australian, I'm totally inspired when I can walk into a top London store and see Aussiebum lining the shelves.

Brotherly love.

Invested in these for my bro for Christmas. Steel's in green. CK are a lab of geniuses!



Just don't tell him that I've been photographing these things BEFORE giving them to him!

When I think of underwear...

I think of Mark Whalberg,


Rafael Nadal,


And our very own Pat Rafter.


Any of these that are not like the other one?!!
Who is missing an underwear endorsement here?!

And you can even wash the packaging!

Here's an innovation. Buy a pair of underwear and wash them in the packaging they came in! I saw this about three years ago in a design book in a bookstore and took a nice illegal photo of it. Consequently got banned from the bookstore...

They're called DEVO. They won a heap of packaging awards but there seems to be no trace of them left on the internet.

OBVIOUSLY a designer after a trophy!

Rifstesky What?

So there really should be a limit to naming brands after yourself. Mr Ristefsky and Mr Macheda really ought to stop being so proud. It took me YEARS to re-remember this brand name. I first came across them in 2007 in Melbourne Fashion Week.



I TOTALLY missed this show. We were en route and ended up in the industrial area of Melbourne somewhere. Damn these warehouse shows! Got given two free pairs at Midsumma Festival the next year by the boys themselves and promptly handed them onto the first lucky gay boy I could find.



Even he couldn't pronounce the name...

CK Stalker

It's not often that I look down the backs of people's pants. Actually, that's a lie. Of course I do! And this guy was no exception. Well, he made it easy for me as we were at a music festival and he plonked his brightly coloured Calvins in front of me.

I love how Calvin Klein can go from erotic to entertaining all with the quick flip of a font change. Nice work.

From the keyboard of an Aussie Bum...

Why on earth would a girl have so much interest in men's underwear I hear you say? Well my friends, it comes down to jealously. Why do men get all the funky, sexy and comfortable underwear options in this world?! And no! G-strings are not classifiable as underwear!

To see what all the fuss was about, I bought myself a pair of these:

I repeat: Why do men get all the fun?! Pirate themed underwear! Brilliant!

Anyway, it's 2008, I need a blog! So I have finally decided to consolidate all of my underwear findings in one place so I (a) don't lose them and (b) have a grand reference for everything when I finally fulfill my dream of working for a top underwear brand.

Enjoy.