Shaping Up

New lines of slimming undergarments are helping grooms find their peak physique – no gym required

By Nola Sarkisian-Miller
CTW Features

Image courtesy Equmen

The emergence of the male shapewear market was bound to happen. Turns out, like women, men have vanity issues and don’t mind using highly engineered T-shirts and trunks for a little squeeze here and lift there to hide love handles and beer bellies. Companies such as Equmen, Spanx and Underworks have rolled out products in the last year to a receptive and, apparently, eager consumer.

“People have been asking us for years for Spanx for Men ... We even get e-mails from men who have been wearing women's Spanx to improve their appearance and for back support,” says Maggie Adams, a public relations manager for Atlanta-based Spanx. “We kept getting more and more requests and realized it was time to take it seriously and create something for the guys.”

Grooms are one group of men that are an attractive target market for the shapewear brands. Those husbands-to-be who have skimped on workouts want a shortcut to looking as svelte as possible.

“If the guy hasn’t [gotten in shape] before the wedding, he may need help to look better, especially if his bride wants to show him off for her family,” says Michael Flint, co-founder of Equmen, an Aussie company whose products launched in the United States last summer and sell at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Amazon.com.

Flint says the line’s top seller is the white tank top that helps square body mass, push in love handles and pull shoulders back to correct posture. He’s quick to point out that his company focuses on “fitwear” – products that create medical compression to help customers, such as burn victims, with circulation issues and those with back problems. It’s a spin that can resonate better with testosterone-pumped males.

“We have to be careful with terminology,” he says. “We don’t want to intimidate the average guy.”

Spanx’s strategy is to enlist the help of retailers to ensure that customers understand the product and no doubt, its manly virtues. In March, Spanx rolled out its men’s line of cotton compression undershirts exclusively to Neiman Marcus stores nationwide and plans to launch in Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale’s in May.

“[We] ensured the sales associates were prepared to speak to men and women about the benefits of the shirts in an approachable way,” Adams says.

Looking good doesn’t come cheaply, however. Because of the use of high-performance technologies (borrowed from the swim suits used in the past Olympics), shapewear products can cost about $35 to $90 for a mere tank. But the product should last longer than a packet of Hanes Beefy T’s, Flint says, which is good news for grooms managing a wedding budget.

“These shirts are indestructible and are built to last,” he says.

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