GoTo Shop: Boxer shorts, for love

Clothes aren't what make a man. It's the innerwear, or so the makers of one of the country's most popular boxer shorts would want you to believe. And who wouldn't feel good in a cute pair of undies, especially in bleak midwinter?

While the vast majority of the over four dozen designers showcasing their collections for New York Fashion Week's autumn season last week concentrated on slim skirts, flattering trousers and tailored jackets, Joe Boxer paraded its underwear through rippling bodies, proudly displaying their well-toned six-pack abs as they strutted down the catwalk.

For some, the mere thought of Adonis being only an arm's length away can be tantalizing, never mind what sort of underwear he might be donning. Just think about how much air play female lingerie manufacturer Victoria's Secret gets, and how those (who by and large are men) who are usually completely oblivious to the fashion show circuit eagerly await those bra-sporting supermodels flouncing up and down the runways.

But for others, just seeing beautiful people looking happy for a change simply brings out a big smile, although their being only half-clad admittedly only increases the pleasure.

"We had to keep telling (the models) to smile. Smile, smile, smile!" said Colette Landi-Sipperly, marketing vice president at Joe Boxer. "It was really difficult at first to get them to smile. They're just so not used to," she added.

Obviously not. From big-name brands such as Donna Karan to up-and-coming designers such as Carmen Marc Valvo, models sporting haute couture tackle the runway with an aloof scowl atop their perfectly proportioned bodies. All have perfected the fine art of calculated indifference under the spotlight.

Not so during the 16-minute Joe Boxer show. For its runway debut at Bryant Park in Manhattan, the male as well as the smattering of female models were skimpily clad, happy with their lingerie, and happy being beautiful people in front of 400 admirers.

"It's about the universal theme of love, which we all need more of these days ... and that love conquers all, " Landi-Sipperly said, who kept reminding the models to look happy and continue smiling.

But for all its cheerful ease, the show was carefully scheduled to fall on Valentine's Day, a day that competes directly with Christmas as an occasion to buy lingerie for loved ones.

While the latest Fashion Week was an opportunity for designers to parade their lines for the upcoming autumn season, Joe Boxer chose to expand on their chosen theme on the day dedicated to lovers by displaying undergarments in red, pink and other heart-warming colors.

Oddly enough, though, the show that was possibly the most striking at least in performance during the weeklong fashion extravaganza was from a brand that is sold only through Kmart. Since August, the sole distributor for the manufacturer of boxer shorts, lingerie, sleepwear and other items has been the mass retailer.

Moreover, Joe Boxer sales reached over $200 million between August and December, far exceeding Kmart's expectations, according to Landi-Sipperly.

The roaring success of Joe Boxer underwear has been largely due to the power of television, more specifically, to the boogie-ing prowess of Vaughn Lowery.

Clad just in a pair of boxer shorts, the 28-year-old model has made a series of ads for the brand, prancing around to an upbeat thump. The commercials are all a bit risque without being crass, and above all else, it's gigglingly addictive.

"And he's really been a star for the brand," Landi-Sipperly added.

The GQ-esque model with a sense of humor also made an appearance in New York as he concluded the Joe Boxer show by sporting a pair of seemingly million-dollar boxer shorts, like the diamond-encrusted bras that the last model of Victoria's Secret shows always wears as a finale to the lingerie manufacturer's show. Joe Boxer shorts were, of course, not beaded with precious jewels but rather with fake diamonds, as a deliberate spoof on the familiar theme.

But despite the obvious popularity of the boxer shorts, the company has no plans to hold another show during next season's Fashion Week in September, nor does it plan to take its performance to other cities such as Paris and Milan. The company does, however, hope to expand its market outside the United States, especially in Europe. Whether the Joe Boxer dance and smile will follow suit will remain to be seen.

(GoToShop is a biweekly musing on where or where not to spend one's hard-earned paycheck. If there is, indeed, an opposite and equal reaction for every action, then shopping is no exception. The fine art of shopping can be a political statement, a social manifestation, an economic triumph, or simply a dud decision on the part of the consumer.)