A Comparison of Men’s Designer Underwear Brands

Designer men’s underwear, pioneered by Calvin Klein, has proved a massive success since its inception in the mid 1980s. Many of the designer brands have followed suit, providing the consumer with a massive and overwhelming choice. Emporio Armani, D&G, Diesel, Ted Baker, Hugo Boss and many other premium brands now have a substantial men’s underwear offering. In this article I will compare the different brands on the basis of; the size of their range, underwear basics, fashion underwear, fit and price.

Calvin Klein offers the largest range of men’s underwear by some way, with an extensive collection of both basic designs (plain white, black, grey) and fashion (vivid colours and prints). They also offer the full set of styles; briefs, trunks, boxer briefs and boxer shorts. Calvin Klein is a true innovator when it comes to men’s underwear and is always bringing out new styles. Following Calvin is D&G and Emporio Armani, who both have a strong basics range and a smaller fashion range. Emporio Armani has a particularly strong branded waistband, their eagle logo extremely bold and identifiable. Diesel is a younger and more ‘street’ brand and hence has an exciting range of vibrant briefs and trunks, but few basics. Ted Baker is similar to Diesel in that it focuses more on the fun and colourful.

Looking at men’s fashion underwear, there are some noticeable differences. A large part of Calvin Klein’s fashion underwear is taken up with prints (as opposed to plain colours), which includes stripes, florals, logos, abstract and retro patterns. A recurring theme from Calvin Klein is to use the branding repeatedly over the main area of fabric. For example, in their Spring Summer 09 range, Calvin Klein has released a style with ‘graphiti branding all over the underwear. D&G fashion is slightly more muted, favouring flat colour to prints. Even their colours are more toned down, using a lot of khaki, burgundy and green. Emporio Armani men’s fashion underwear is even more subtle, staying away from colours altogether and instead using subtle stripes and patterns. Diesel men’s underwear is completely taken up by exciting and youthful colours and prints. Ted Baker is quite similar to Diesel, except for their completely unique novelty men’s underwear which features images of boys toys such as planes and cars.

It is difficult to summarise the difference in fit between the different underwear brands, because they all have varying styles with different fits. Having said that, there are some basic differences we can highlight. If we use Calvin Klein as a benchmark, D&G underwear is slightly tighter fitting and sits lower on the waist. In addition, D&G trunks have a shorter leg. Conversely, Ted Baker underwear sits higher up on the waist, and their trunks have a longer leg than the average. With regards pricing, Ted Baker, Diesel and Calvin Klein are approximately the same whilst D&G and Emporio Armani are slightly more expensive.

It is clear that there are differences between the major men’s underwear brands, which are driven by the differences in the brands’ mission. Calvin Klein, a true lifestyle brand, has a large range of men’s underwear with something to suit all ages and preferences. On the other hand Ted Baker and Diesel are youthful brands and hence their men’s underwear is vibrant and bold. Emporio Armani is a refined brand, offering classic and high quality garments, and their men’s underwear reflects this. D&G strive to create bold pieces of clothing that are sexy and sometimes outrageous. Their men’s underwear is tight fitting and low rise, which creates a very sexy look in accordance with the brands vision.