And for my own anatomy, the support was sometimes too tight and tailored to feel relaxed when lounging on the couch. The scrotum naturally loosens when it’s hot, allowing the testicles to cool, and the pouch doesn’t let this happen. However, I’m still unsure of how well they would breathe in the heat of the summer. The luxuriously soft polyester blend-which is more premium than what’s in most Hanes-rivaled my pricier, cotton-blend Calvin Kleins. I could imagine wearing them for rigorous activities. A glance in the mirror also revealed a secondary side effect: one’s package is pronounced, almost like the underwear doubles as a push-up bra for your pants.Īfter spending a few days with the product, walking, working, Netflixing, and riding my bike, I found that the Hanes pouch design is generally comfortable, and definitely delivers on that promise to support and separate. You notice immediately that something feels different in this sensitive area. Once they landed on a general design, the Hanes team tested various permutations in longer-term fit tests with a focus group of 60 people with various body types to validate and refine the design.ĭonning the underwear myself, there was a definite “ oh” moment as this structure slid into place. A light stretch tape adds elasticity to the stitching. Two mesh panels, which look a lot like the perforated fabric in basketball shorts, slide right up under your scrotum. What the team settled on was a crossover, bra-style design. To get a better look at what was going on with fabric and seams, they did something unconventional even for an underwear company-they asked testers to wear the garments inside out.
#Hanes comfort flex mens boxer briefs professional
Working with professional fit testers, the Hanes atelier created test garments to pursue potential approaches.
#Hanes comfort flex mens boxer briefs skin
Another shared his latent fear that, as he grows older, his scrotum might lose elasticity and he’d sit on it-which can actually happen as men grow older and the collagen in their skin breaks down. However, one friend mentioned occasional chafing in hot weather. None of them complained that their genitalia flopped around under day-to-day conditions. The handful of friends I spoke to for this article shared that they generally wear boxer briefs, which don’t lift anything up but effectively Ken doll your body in place. You don’t want to wear loose boxers to play basketball, because that could be very uncomfortable, but that’s about it. Once you put on just about any pair of underwear, it all pretty much feels figured out. Indeed, I realize this may come as a surprise, but men aren’t thinking about their crotch all day. “There’s not a great consumer awareness around it.” “They’re very expensive, not widely distributed,” says Jaye Powell of these competing pouch products she’s the VP and GM of men’s underwear and socks for Hanesbrands. Brands like Saxx, BN3TH, Sheath, and Shinesty (with the explicitly named Ball Hammock) were differentiating themselves through the pouch. Hanes had been watching trends in the premium and direct-to-consumer underwear market for new trends and noted that pouches were becoming increasingly popular as a point of differentiation.
But its challenge, like any big company making classic products, is one of consistent growth. Hanes is a clear market leader in men’s underwear, boasting a 36% share of the $6.2 billion North American region. On the package, the product promises to “separate and support”-in other words, to lift your genitalia away from your body for a more comfortable fit. As my editor suggested with all the subtlety of Shakespeare, it’s “a bra for your balls.” After talking to the Hanes team and wearing the underwear myself for a few days, I can tell you she’s right.ĭeveloped over the course of two years, the Total Support Pouch is a patent-pending design that looks like a tiny crossover bra inside your boxer briefs.
It’s called the Hanes Comfort Flex Fit Total Support Pouch. Today, Hanes is launching its biggest new product in years.