QUEER UNDERWEAR FAVORITES

BY: Andy Shoulders

We know. You didn’t come for the small talk. You just came for the underwear. So without further ado, here are our Top 5 LGBTQ-friendly underwear brands!

TomboyX

In 2012, life and business partners Fran Dunaway and Naomi Gonzalez set out to fill a unique hole in the underwear market – “underwear that anybody could feel comfortable in, regardless of where they fell on the size or gender spectrum.” Their company, TomboyX, takes masculine-style underwear like trunks and boxer briefs and adapts them for women’s bodies, opening up possibilities for those whose tastes fall outside traditional feminine styles. The result is a masculine silhouette and aesthetic that removes the excess fabric around the crotch typically reserved for a certain…anatomy. TomboyX offers a wide range of styles, from 9-inch boxer briefs to bikinis & thong, and the brand is 100% sweatshop-free and eco-friendly.

Andrew Christian

Underwear wunderkind Andrew Christian launched his first designs when he was just out of high school, and since then, he’s been a major player in the gay men’s underwear game. His sexy, edgy styles feature enhancements that lift & support the package, and well-endowed men will appreciate the brand’s large crotch pouches. Trend-conscious guys will love the ultra-soft fabrics and constantly-updated colors & designs. Andrew Christian is probably most known for the Trophy Boy Brief, as well as his near-pornographic advertising videos (which we are absolutely NOT complaining about).

Sloane & Tate

In 2009, Eliza Ladensohn launched Sloane & Tate – a line of sustainabl intimates named after Sloane Rangers and the Tate Modern in London. Her goal was to source materials locally, and to know where they were coming from & who was making them. The core inspiration for Sloane & Tate’s aesthetic is menswear, including boxer briefs with a striped elastic waistband. Sloane & Tate’s focus is slightly androgynous and extremely comfortable underthings, from boxer-style boyshorts to barely-there soft cotton tanks.

2(x)ist

No gay-friendly underwear list would be complete without 2(x)ist – a brand that has taken men’s underwear to a new dimension ever since its debut in 1991. With its body-accentuating cuts, superb quality, and alluring styling, 2(x)ist has established itself as a brand with serious sex appeal. Their design philosophy is simple: using the natural contours of a man’s body along with clean & simple lines, the brand conveys an ideal of sensual sophistication. Provocative marketing has also always been at the forefront of the 2(x)ist brand, and you’ve undoubtedly seen their ads if you’ve ever been to NYC’s Chelsea neighborhood.

 

Calvin Klein

Calvin Klein has been synonymous with sexy underwear ever since we can remember. From the era-defining Mark Wahlberg campaign (which was first featured in Out magazine) to their latest Pride collection, Calvin Klein has consistently been in the forefront when it comes to connecting with the LGBTQ consumer. They were one of the first brands to emblazon their name clearly on the waistbands of their briefs in the early 80s and have it show, which was quickly adopted by the gay community at the time. Also, with the aforementioned Mark Wahlberg ad and subsequently every marketing campaign thereafter, Calvin Klein knows exactly what audience he’s catering to. He’s never outwardly admitted that his ads are homoerotic, but he doesn’t have to.