When I began the endeavor that would become Athletic Articles, my objective was clear: to design underwear ideal for a dynamic, active lifestyle. You’d think this would have already been done—and in a sense, it had. The first pair of underwear was the loincloth, and it did the job… until something else did it better. Humans invent, and refinement is the process of invention.
But refinement doesn’t guarantee a linear trajectory. Sometimes we veer off in a different direction; sometimes we even go backward. In the case of underwear, we moved everywhere at once. In the span of about thirty years, men went from wearing cotton, linen, wool, or silk underpants with buttons and drawstrings to rayon, nylon, and polyethylene briefs with elastic waistbands.
Synthetic fabrics enabled a technical leap forward. They minimized shifting and made underwear more form-fitting, lightweight, and fast drying. But they also took—and still take—for granted one of the foundational functions of underwear: hygiene. Have you ever put on a clean polyester garment only for it to immediately smell? That’s a unique property of synthetic fibers, and a full article in itself.
Instead of refining toward function, the underwear industry chased fashion and finance. Underwear became a branded status symbol, a sex symbol, and a cheap commodity. Don’t get me wrong—a cheap pair of cotton underwear can be a good thing. But I wasn’t interested in making good underwear. I wanted to make the best underwear.
So I returned to refinement. Function would be the garment’s sole purpose—a 21st-century loincloth. I wanted to open my drawer and pull out the same thing every day, regardless of what I’d be doing, and wear it comfortably, confidently, and discreetly. I had streamlined, no-frills designs, but I didn’t have the most important variable: the fabric.
To find the ideal fabric, I created a checklist:
- It had to be made primarily of natural fiber. Polyester creates a good environment for bacteria, retains odor, and doesn’t breathe on its own.
- It had to be lightweight. The lighter the natural fiber, the faster it dries.
- It had to include stretch.
- And, as a bonus, I wanted ethical transparency in its sourcing.
So I delved into natural fiber research. It felt like rediscovering an introduction to biology—this time with real-world application. Along the way, I learned about TENCEL™, which I’ve summarized in parts one and two of this series. Its performance properties and supply-chain transparency aligned with my checklist. But a fiber is useless on its own; I still needed fabric.
After speaking with mills around the world and reviewing thousands of swatches, I found something beyond my expectations. A Portuguese mill was working with TENCEL™ with Micro technology—a highly advanced natural fiber created during the spinneret process of realigning cellulose chains. These fibers are produced with incredible fineness, measuring as small as 0.008 millimeters in diameter. When knitted into fabric, they create a material with silk-like smoothness that’s natural, incredibly lightweight, strong, absorbent, and fast drying. With 8% elastane added, I had found a fabric far beyond “good.” It combined the advancements of science and textile development with the irreplicable technology of nature.
For five years, I haven’t worn anything else. I haven’t needed anything else. I open my drawer and pull out the same thing every day. And thanks to the often meandering process of refinement, you too can have a dynamic, active lifestyle while wearing underwear comfortably, confidently, and discreetly.