Images of Beckham's new underwear released

Images of the much anticipated ‘Bodywear’ line from David Beckham, which is to be sold in H&M stores have been released and although Beck’s looks at his sultry modelling best, the range appears to be vest and pants to us.

The Swedish high-street chain have pulled off a master stroke as no doubt Beckham’s name will help these men’s boxer shorts fly off the shelves, but from the images released so far, it proves a little disappointing, unless you just want bog standard men’s underwear. At an estimated sale price of less than £10, they aren’t exactly asking the earth though.

The range is set to go on sale in the H&M stores on Valentine’s Day, so ladies will have to form an orderly line to snap up the gift for their husbands and boyfriends. Just how the men will react to having to have David Beckham’s name emblazoned across their underwear is anyone’s guess.

Beckham announced the new range he wanted to bring out last year, stating that he “had the idea of doing a bodywear collection for some time now. The push to do something of my own really came as a result of my collaboration with Armani’.

David Beckham modelled for Armani during their 2008 campaign, which saw the infamous ‘bulge’ picture released. During the time the campaign was run, Armani’s gross turnover climbed from £14.1 million to £38.7 million and Beckham thought he would get in on the act himself.

With his team of designers, they have spent time working on the fit, style and fabric to make sure the product is one he can be proud of.

Releasing any product that you put your name to must be a proud event, but we are slightly surprised at the rather ‘basic’ range that we have seen from the images published so far.

Maybe bringing out affordable men’s underwear with the Beckham name on is a masterstroke, we will all have to wait and see.       

Simple steps to follow when buying men's underwear as a gift

With Christmas just around the corner, men’s underwear is a popular and simple gift for a partner or loved one. Buying the right style and fit is not that easy but there is a number of ways to save money when purchasing a festive present.

Buy in bulk! This is the best way to stock up with a particular style, design or brand that has been worn before and is a favourite, before the designer changes trends. Men’s underwear is also an item of clothing that will always be needed, so it makes sense to buy a lot of it when you get the chance.

If buying a brand of underwear that you haven’t come across before - try and have a look at the sizing, seams and stitching so you know the material will last and not fall apart after a few washes. CHECK the size chart – a Medium will vary from brand to brand. You do not want to get home to find your smalls are very much smaller than you wanted!

If you prefer to shop for boxer shorts online, there are plenty of bargains to be had here too. Buying shoes, jeans and suits is best to be done in person, but if there is a particular style or brand of underwear that you have bought previously and been happy with, then you can expect to get the same, quite often for cheaper, from online stores.

Underwear can make a perfect gift that men are always happy to receive!  

Sexy underwear is rarely worn in the bedroom

When you think of buying sexy underwear, you get an image of a bloke purchasing some as a special gift for their girlfriend, wife or in some cases, both! This may be true and women have started buying for their male partners too, but how often is it actually worn for the benefit of the other?

New research has suggested that a lot of the money that is spent on underwear in Britain is by both men and women, but it is not being worn in the bedroom, but rather on nights out with friends instead.

In fact, it was discovered that the average married person in the UK spends £101 a year on sexy underwear, but save it to be worn when hitting the town. It was revealed that women save their skimpiest knickers and bra’s for best, only donning them rarely for their spouses benefit. The same is true for designer men’s underwear, which is commonly kept for a night out with the boys.

It seems that the majority of provocative lingerie and sexy boxer shorts is rarely worn in the marital bedroom, with couples preferring to choose a ‘more comfortable’ and less appealing option of underwear.

Birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day and other special occasions are perhaps the only time they will be worn. A spokesperson for the company who carried out the survey of 1,000 married British couples, believes the results reflect that ‘laziness’ creeps into people’s relationships once they have walked down the aisle. It seems that married people are actually willing to make more of an effort for their friends than they do for their partners.

The poll also highlighted that the majority of men and women who wore their sexiest underwear on a night out were not doing so in the hope of ‘getting lucky’, but instead to feel more sexy and better about themselves.

Urban Alpha celebrate their mens underwear website launch

‘Urban Alpha’, has just launched their new men’s designer underwear website aiming to combine great brands and great prices. To celebrate the launch, they are offering a 10% Discount for simply signing up to their newsletter. Find out more by visiting their website at www.urbanalpha.co.uk.

With more new brands and style additions arriving over the next few months, Urban Alpha will be offering customers a wide selection of great men's underwear.

“The Urban Alpha brand is aimed at the fashion aware male, who knows that looking good starts with what you wear underneath your clothes” says Andrew Pallett, Director at Urban Alpha Ltd.
Through a commitment to customer service and great products, Urban Alpha offers an intuitive shopping experience which makes choosing the right underwear a simple and easy experience.

Knowing your target audience is vital when producing men's underwear

For most men having the right kind of underwear is important to them, offering them a confidence boost that what is underneath the clothes is still stylish and comfortable. With the abundance of different brands, styles, colours, fabrics and fits on the men’s underwear market today, what is it male consumers are really looking for?

It is all about designing and producing underwear for a specific target audience and creating a product and brand that will attract repeat and loyal custom. Whether a fashion house is trying to create a masculine, sexy or athletic range of underwear, the key element has to be comfort and style. By using different materials, from cotton/spandex to more ‘performance’ textiles, being able to offer underwear for men that is comfortable for different occasions whilst also adhering to the brands reputation, is an all-important skill of the trade.

Recognising what makes your target demographic is vital. What is their age range? Where do they live? What are their interests? Identifying these allows designers an insight into their target consumer’s personality to get greater inspiration for producing the next line of fashionable men’s underwear to fly off the shelves.

The flare and motivation required for designing and creating a new range of underwear can be sought from all four corners of the world, decades in history, the arts, sports and many more genres. Taking a style and giving it a ‘tweak’ has been a common fashion trait for all types of garments, but especially underwear.

So, what is it that the modern man is looking for when they purchase underwear? The answer is simple, the same as they have always looked for. Originality, comfort and sexiness!

Rafael Nadal joins the sporting elite to model men's underwear

After recently losing the US Open final to world number one, Novak Djokovic, Spanish tennis sensation Rafael Nadal could be forgiven for retreating into the shadows to lick his wounds after more disappointment at the hands of the Serbian.

However, the world number two from Madrid managed to prove he is still a winner, especially in the men’s underwear department, after his Armani advertising campaign was released.

Showing off his impressive torso and muscular arms, the black and white photos of the 25 year old certainly grab the attention and are sure to have many a women drooling.

One of the pictures featured in the advertising campaign sees Nadal reclining on a wooden floor, face down in a pair of black boxer briefs, whilst another has the Spanish superstar holding a leather jacket in just a pair of dark underwear; maybe he was getting chilly and about to put the jacket on…

The trend seems to have continued to enlist the cream of the crop from the world of sport to publicise a new brand of underwear and Armani are at the forefront of this. In recent years, footballers David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo have posed for the Italian fashion house, but now tennis might be the new market for finding models.

When asked earlier in the year, Nadal seemed positive about the influence his new modelling career could have. He said, “Now that I am working with Armani, it is a new experience. It is a different world that is very positive for me. I enjoy it a lot.”

Other high profile advertising campaigns featuring professional sportsmen include English rugby player Ben Cohen’s Sloggi underwear photo shoots and footballer Freddie Ljungberg’s controversial Calvin Klein billboards, which resulted in some motorists being that distracted that much by the steamy images, they ended up crashing their cars.

Are 'manties' here to replace the traditional boxer short and Y-front?

Boxer shorts and saggy Y-fronts could be yesterday’s choice of underwear for men, as the new popular choice seems to be ‘manties’, the figure-hugging panties for men.

Sales for the small design of brief have climbed by more than a third during the last year, according to M&S and the underwear has become so popular that the Oxford English Dictionary is thinking about adding the term ‘manties’ to its vocabulary.

Celebrities such as David Beckham have driven the push behind the snug briefs after first posing for Armani and then announcing the launch of his own label version. The ‘manties’, which takes its name from ‘man-panties’, has also featured on the catwalks during New York Fashion Week.

In fact, as a new generation of British man has developed an interest in their own appearance a number of words have be born with a more masculine twist. These include eyeliner for men being called ‘guyliner’, male sandals being known as ‘mandals’ and a handbag for men is now a ‘manbag’.

With sales of small men’s briefs growing and being exhibited at internationally renowned fashion shows is this the end for the boxer short, boxer brief and big Y-fronts?

Well probably not! ‘Manties’ are not exactly the most flattering of underwear unless you have the body of an Adonis. Retailers have reacted to this by introducing pants and vest ranges that have a tummy controlling Lycra feature. A number of high street supermarkets and the Spanx brand have launched a product for men, nicknamed ‘Manx’.