THE JOURNAL
A British label with big ambitions for your smalls, think tailored boxers, softly cut sweatshirts and refined loungewear.
Unless he is unusually irresistible (or remarkably anti-social), a man is unlikely to be showing his underwear to multiple people on a day-to-day basis. As such, it’s a typically neglected region of the average wardrobe. At this very moment, men’s underwear drawers across the world are stuffed full of things that our mothers would berate us for wearing, in case, you know we ever get hit by a bus.
Is this all sounding somewhat close to home? No need to be ashamed, it’s not just you. Even in recent years, says Hamilton and Hare founder Ms Olivia Francis, the male underwear market has been “unloved”. So much so, she says, that “it was an almost forgotten category, relegated to functional basic”. In launching Hamilton and Hare, a British loungewear brand that is making its debut on MR PORTER this autumn, Ms Francis’ goal was to redress this situation. As such, her new variation on the classic boxer short comes with crucial improvements. Firstly, imitating the original boxing short of the early 1900s, it is neatly tailored – that is, assembled from a unique six-piece pattern that allows for total freedom of movement. Secondly, it comes in a slimmer cut than your typical example, which makes it much more suited to today’s streamlined trouser styles.
“We work with outerwear shirting specialists for our boxers using shirting-grade fabrics and techniques such as double-felled seams for durability and finesse,” says Ms Francis. “I found a Savile Row tailor and persuaded him to help me redesign the shape… The result is a boxer that fits properly around the waist, avoids the ‘baggy nappy’ look, and has a more comfortable and flattering slim-line shape that doesn’t ride up.”
Clearly, the boxer short needed an upgrade. But Ms Francis’ ambitions don’t end there. In fact, the full Hamilton and Hare range features a panoply of casual loungewear in which every item aims to improve on the general formula. T-shirts come with a raglan shoulder to cut a softer silhouette. Sweatshirts are made in a double-layered fabric that makes them extra cosy. Jogging bottoms are neatly tapered with a front-facing seam for a sleek, considered effect. All in all, it’s a good shout for the modern man who wants to supplement his sartorial arsenal with super-comfortable weekend items that are that little bit less – not to put too fine a point on it – sloppy. “We talk about our clothing ‘passing the doorbell test’ – if a delivery guy arrives at the door you shouldn’t be embarrassed to open it because of what you’re wearing,” says Ms Francis. In other words, if you must answer the door in your casuals, now at least you can do it in style.