Stance (a company famously known for its socks) is entering into a new product category: men's underwear.
Stance is starting with two types of underwear: boxer briefs and boxer shorts. They're focused on three primary features: a new "relaxed fabric" derived from milk protein, feather seam construction, and better waistbands.
I switched between both models for a week. And I honestly did notice a significant difference in Stances underwear's comfort.
I normally wear cotton Polo Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein boxer briefs and sometimes they ride up during the day or the waistband is a little too tight. I've never really minded these things, but when I tried Stance's underwear there was an obvious difference.
Both models of Stance's underwear use a new type of fabric made with milk protein. And while you may be thinking, That's gross, it actually makes the underwear extremely soft with a relaxed fit — so that means that they don't ride up while walking or moving around, and the waistband doesn't move at all throughout the day. Stance calls the material its "Butter Blend."
In a press release, Stance explained further how it found and used the milk protein, aka casein, "In our quest to find new materials to use in our socks, we came across some fibers derived from milk casein. We loved the feel and properties of the fibers but we found they were entirely too soft for hosiery," said Taylor Shupe, chief product officer at Stance. "We were so stoked on this material that we began to explore other uses and decided it was the perfect fabric to create an underwear line that is as uncommon as our socks."
Stance also took some inspiration from its crazy sock designs to come up with some creative designs that are different from the ubiquitous, black, whites, and grays.
Guys don't buy underwear enough and that's an issue.
Stance's CEO Jeff Kearl told BuzzFeed some common issues that he thinks guys face with their underwear are "waistbands folding over, the legs riding up, and finding the right fit."
I polled my male co-workers and asked them about some problems they experience with their underwear and they were similar:
• "The pouch is always too small and suffocates your junk."
• "Shopping for the kind that has support — like, how do you do that?"
• "I was sick of never having clean underwear, so I bought so much that now I never run out."
• "Boxer briefs riding up in the leg."
• "Everything about the crotchal area."
During my test, Stance fixed a lot of these issues. Although if you're exclusively a briefs fan you might want to wait...
So there you have it: If you're in the market for some new underwear you should give Stance a try. They're super comfortable and on par with a lot of the higher-end designer underwear that cost about the same.
They go on sale next week, on Nov. 12, at retailers across America and of course on Stance's website. They'll cost between $28 and $36 in sizes XS–XL (28–38). Boys sizes will arrive in spring 2016.
Disclosure: Stance provided the boxers and briefs to BuzzFeed for review, free of charge.