Men's Shapewear Is Here, But Will Men Actually Wear It? We Asked Them.

Love it or hate it, it looks like shapewear is here to stay.

Like the corsets of yore, today’s shapewear is meant to smooth out the body, giving the wearer a more lifted, cinched-in silhouette. Celebrities who’ve posted behind-the-scenes Spanx selfies include Katy Perry, Padma Lakshmi, Karlie Kloss and Chrissy Teigen.

The compression and shapewear market size has grown substantially in the last few years. Some market experts predict it will grow from $4.8 billion in 2023 to $5.17 billion in 2024, at a compound annual growth rate of 7.8%.

But not everyone’s a fan. “Spanx are a sausage casing that hides your fat in your spleen,” actor and comedian Nancy Lee joked in 2017. (To be fair, shapewear is considerably more comfortable these days.)

For years, Spanx was the big name in the game, but Skims, launched by Kim Kardashian in 2019 and marketed as a “solution-oriented” sculpting shapewear, was valued at $4 billion in 2023.

Skims’ latest gamble? Shapewear for guys. (Understandable, given that men’s underwear is a $5.7 billion market, with sales up 2% over the past year, according to Circana consumer tracking data.)

In October, the company launched Skims Mens, a lineup that includes briefs, undershirts, boxers and leggings. Prices range from $16 to $54, depending on the item, and the sizes are extensive and body inclusive.

“Twenty percent of our traffic, and 10% of our customers, are already men,” Skims co-founder Jens Grede told GQ at the time. “That means we’ve had 50 million men coming to [the] site over the last few months.”

The company’s initial ad campaign for the line featured high-profile athletes ― soccer star Neymar Jr., the NFL’s Nick Bosa and NBA All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ― all tugging up their shirts to