Will Skims succeed in getting men interested in underwear?

Men and underwear have a relationship that, with a delicate understatement, we could call sub-optimal. In short, the two parameters by which a man chooses to buy his underwear are the shape (briefs, trunks, boxers?) and the brand, ranging from the great classics (Calvin Klein and Versace, occasionally Ralph Lauren, Emporio Armani and Dolce & Gabbana) to the more anonymous options up to the legendary underwear whose elastic bands read Uomo and Navigare, found in every local market in Italy. Now, given that all men on the planet wear underwear, or so one hopes, it is strange how there is a lack of a reference brand for underwear that has the same cultural capital that, for the female public, Spanx, Woldford, La Perla or Victoria's Secret may have. The brand that comes closest to a benchmark for men's underwear is Intimissimi, a veritable titan of the industry with more than 1,300 stores worldwide, which, however high quality it may be, is not necessarily connected to a status or cultural niche. And the hunger for high-end men's underwear does exist: not only is the global market worth 111 billion dollars, but just think of the Dior men's boxer shorts worn by every influencer physically fit enough to expose their abs over the past year. Strangely enough, a possible answer seems to have come from Kim Kardashian who, next Thursday, will launch the men's line of her Skims, a brand of shapewear (i.e. underwear with an extra eye on anatomy and body shape definition) that started out as the classic influencer brand/vanity project and has instead become a worldwide phenomenon esteemed for its quality and the insight behind its commercial and marketing choices.

To present a collection designed for the boys, needless to say, the only celebrities capable of getting the male audience interested in a culturally warm clothing product were called upon: athletes. Neymar Jr, San Francisco 49ers defenceman Nick Bosa the NBA All-Star, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are the faces that graced the campaign shot by Donna Trope, the brand's historic campaign photographer, and who, in the words of Kardashian, «speaks volumes to the way SKIMS has evolved into becoming a brand that can provide comfort for all audiences, not just for women». In fact, it is clear that the attractiveness of a men's line of Skims lies in the fact that it is a brand specialised in a single category, a bit like Sundek and Vilebrequin are the swimwear brands, without necessarily coming from the overpriced proposition of a luxury brand but neither being an expression of that generic anonymity to which so many other brands are subjected, which are in themselves interchangeable, net of their quality. If the branded boxer shorts testify to a certain self-care (many models, for example, wear them to positively impress casting directors), it is also true that the choice of one brand or another is really arbitrary and comes down, at best, to the decorations and logos that each person prefers to wear. And this is because men have so far lacked a brand producing underwear capable of existing as a product in its own right, endowed with a precise and recognisable identity that also has a technical basis other than mere cotton.

But will Skims be able to become that benchmark, to the point where seeing the elastic can trigger one of those discussions about how this brand is the brand? In fact, there is no category of shapewear for men beyond the classic tight-fitting boxer shorts (the writer does not even want to consider those technical shorts that come almost up to the knee and look like temple garments) capable of building a community around it. In fact, according to what the brand has communicated and repeated by Kardashian herself, the community has formed on its own: before the launch of the men's line, men still accounted for 10% of the brand's sales and, beyond the obvious commercial opportunities, the line was created after the many requests received from a male audience asking for specific solutions. Employing the three athletes as faces (and presumably testimonials) means then putting the viral campaigns dedicated to the female audience on an equal footing with the it-girls of the moment and the characters that best attract male attention. Beyond the different target audiences, the essence is the same: men too can now have a genuinely aspirational cult underwear brand, whose campaign launch can become an event and whose products are not just 'things' that one wears carelessly. An important milestone considering how many men are shocked at the thought of a woman actually being passionate about an undergarment. Perhaps Kim will be the one to fill this cultural gap, one boxer brief at a time.