Hems continues: “I’ll often throw in something a client hasn’t tried and sometimes they come back and say, ‘You have changed my life, I’ve gone out and bought seven pairs of these.’ Men underestimate the effect underwear can have. Getting it spot on can have a massive impact on how you feel about yourself every day. Brands are beginning to wake up to this and are introducing more variety and styles.”
The latest brand to dip its toes into this untapped market is Kim Kardashian’s Skims, which recently expanded its $4bn (£3bn) range of shapewear to the male market.
Men’s shapewear is nothing new. Ancients Greeks wore a form of girdle as far back as 750 BC. Today brands like Colombia’s Leonisa produce a men’s shapewear range, Leo, which includes compression tank tops and padded butt enhancer briefs. The difference between men and women, however, is that men are unlikely to admit they wear shaping garments.
Kim K’s pants may change that. The brand’s launch campaign starred Brazilian footballer Neymar Jr, basketball star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and NFL hotshot Nick Bosa. The range consists of three collections: Cotton, Stretch and Sport. The focus of the range is activewear, rather than body contouring, which sets it aside from the women’s offering and will likely appeal to a wider male audience.
And while Skims underpants shape subtly, other designers have gone all out.
Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
