UnderU is a designer men’s underwear retailer offering a huge selection of brands including Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, Ted Baker, Hugo Boss, Diesel and Dolce & Gabbana. We caught up with Alex Sandover from UnderU who was kind enough to answer these questions.
1. Mens designer underwear has become hugely fashionable over the last couple of years, why do you think that is?
Mainly it’s affordable luxury but also men and their partners have woken up to the fact that they need to look good either dressed or undressed.
Men’s designer underwear has also become a fashion accessories for the young, it’s a long standing trend to show the brand of your undies waistband above your trousers.
Men are now interested in how they look, what they wear, what others are wearing. We are not sure if they have been hen pecked into this by partners, mothers, sisters or if its a new natural order.
2. Which brand do you think stands out from the others and why?
The Brands we sell the most of are Emporio Armani, Calvin Klein, D&G, Diesel, Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss. Some of these brands have have ranges and styles which are known through advertising campaigns, some are younger and more fun but mostly they are bought in huge numbers because men know what they are getting, they can rely on the quality and they all have a brand identity which is known and understood.There are some new brands coming onto the scene, like James Tudor and soon to be launched Oiler and Boiler – both of these have something unique – for James Tudor a very different way of getting into and out of your underwear – for Oiler and Boiler the first ever designer underwear brand with a truly affordable line, starting from £9.
3. Which styles are currently the most popular?
The CK 365, The Armani Eagle, The CK New Elements Range and the Diesel Fresh and Brights – all have a fashion line which are available in different colours and fashion prints but all have a basics line, which is available no matter the season or time of year. Basics and Value packs are great and men buy them by the lorry load – they tend to be slightly cheaper, but still with the designer label and in the usual Black and White colours. For all the fashion prints available still top selling styles are in Black or White!
4. What makes UnderU the place to shop men’s underwear?
We only stock men’s underwear and fashion accessories – we buy loads of styles and loads of ranges meaning we usually have the best sellers for longer and we have more variety. Our buyers specialise in men’s fashion lines, meaning we have the most “on trend” underwear available.
We specialise in two demographics – younger men between 24 and 34, who want fashion, need to have something more serious and conservative for business but also want something fun for the weekend and evenings. Are largest market is the 35 – 45 + man – Usually wanting something more conservative, they tend to know what they like and buy regularly.
With these two types of men in mind we aim to only have the best premium, designer and basics underwear available, we do not show underwear on product pages on the model, as we feel that men want to see closely the item that they are looking to buy and in some cases the imagery on other sites can be too “in your face”. So our site is like the Harvey Nichols or the Selfridges of mens underwear, a safe haven where quality and the best online price are guaranteed.
5. 2011 is nearly upon us, is there any developments in the world on underwear that you are getting excited about?
There are some big things happening in 2011 with Calvin Klein, which I am sure as fashion editors you know about already – but our lips have to be sealed. For UnderU we have our international sites launching in the second quarter and we have our new sophisticated brand look being launched. There are also some new brands coming onto the scene in Spring 2011 which will be interesting to see.
Many thanks to Alex – UnderU.