Underwear, according to Abishek Elango — one of the co-founders of the unisex, body positive, eco-friendly, underwear label Tailor and Circus — is one of the most important garments that are often underestimated.
There is a lack of comfort in both men’s and women’s underwear, he adds.
“Men’s underwear wasn’t soft enough and women’s underwear wasn’t created for the right fit. That is how we started with a unisex product. We work with a fabric called Micromodal made of beechwood (a naturally afforesting tree found in abundance and processed on site) pulp in Austria that, we felt, would be ideal for both genders,” says Abishek, who started the label along with Gaurav Duraisamy and Vasanth Sampath in 2016.
“A whole host of primary sexual conditions that men and women deal with can be avoided by wearing clean underwear with the right fit. Men need to wear underwear that doesn’t chafe and women need anti-microbial underwear that eliminates the need for a panty liner which can cause UTI-related conditions if its use is exceeded by a few hours.”
Underwear is also among the most sexualised commodities, he says, adding that they felt the need to redefine the idea of underwear so it becomes easier for men and women to buy and use.
“Currently the only unisex aspect of Tailor and Circus, he says, is the design. The colours, prints, fabrics and waist bands are the same for men and women, however we have different cuts. We are working on a prototype, like a pair of boxers, that has the same pattern for both men and women, with a slight alteration in fabric,” he explains.
“Our products cover all genders, including people who are transitioning between genders. The fabric is designed to take your shape and adapt to the body with a few wears. This property comes from the elastane element in the fabric (six %). In addition, we also do an anti-microbial wash with no metallic compounds. The anti-microbial property is retained for at least 33 washes.”
Micromodal, they found, was more suitable to Indian climate than cotton, and is highly breathable.
“It has been tested both at source and at our labs. Our prototypes have been tested for different utilities, for athletes, those who stand for long hours, the wheel-chair bound, even for absorption during menstruation and for comfort while using a sanitary napkin.”
Body positivity is also one of the key values driving the label. They have a wide range of sizes, currently going up to the 4XL range.
“One of our goals is to have inclusive representation. Most of our photos feature Indian skin tones, which are highly under-represented, especially in the underwear industry. The body types we represent are as accurate as possible, we don’t edit or Photoshop our images. So things like scars, stretch marks or surgery marks are not hidden,” he explains.
“We also want to desexualize underwear. The hyper-sexualization that the industry has undergone has led to the loss of the comfort factor. Our long-term goal is to move to a body-neutral approach where it is not really our place to tell people to love or hate their bodies, so the body becomes almost irrelevant. Even in body positivity, we are telling women that they have to love their bodies.”
One of the biggest challenges the face along the way are the reactions to their photo campaigns.
“We found that no matter what kind of pictures we post, we always have men posting ridiculous comments, so much so that we had to censor some of them. That is something we never wanted to do. We still get nasty, crude comments just because the photos show women in underwear,” he points out.
“Some men completely reject the photos and say they are disgusting, some say that nobody wants to see this. Industry veterans have told us that what we do is the opposite of what underwear is meant to be, that it is meant to make women look and feel sexier. While we agree with that, we seem not to have not moved on from there. It is challenging to get people to recognize or look at women in underwear without being turned off or feeling uncomfortable. They associate the image with some element of sexuality.”
This, he observes, is the biggest pain point -- of getting people to acknowledge the reality of underwear advertising and the impact it has had, especially on women.
Apart from this, he says, the truth is that low-quality underwear is being sold with high margins because of the involvement of middlemen.
“People tend to ignore or deny it but it is apparent when they use mainstream underwear a few times. They seem to think that it’s okay to have two good pairs that can be worn when there is a chance of someone seeing them in their underwear. Otherwise they are okay with the chafing and the rashes. Uncomfortable underwear affects your mood, your sleep, and your well-being.”
Tailor and Circus underwear is priced at Rs 350 onwards and is available at tailorandcircus.com.
