Men Can't Buy Their Own Underwear?

We often never realize there’s a gap in the market for a specific service until there’s a new startup which aims to bridge it.

With Buttalks, that’s exactly the case. This venture from Chennai, wants men to ‘diversify their portfolio’. They claim that men never buy underwear for themselves, unless they’re starting a new relationship. And before and after that, their mothers or wives are the ones which take up this task.

Over a phone call with YourStory, Brijesh Devareddy, Co-founder of Buttalks, compared undergarments to toothbrushes and said:

“Most of us just don’t know when to throw them (toothbrushes and undergarments) out… Men tend to own and use an undergarment long after it is discoloured, tattered, stained, etc., as they think it is a product that isn’t seen by others and hence doesn’t matter.”

Brijesh graduated in Product Design from Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune, and is a contemporary sculptor and installation artist.

Buttalks wants to take the underwear world by a storm. Old, stained underwear doesn’t look good if you’re living in a hostel or even in our day to day life. If we work so hard to make sure our clothes look spot on, why stop there?

Based on their research,  they found that men didn’t tend to prioritize underwear, and only bought it at the billing counter, as it’s always strategically placed there. No one pays attention to anything except the size.

A subscription model would be perfect for this segment, as customers could share their preferences and then get a mystery box of undergarments delivered to their homes. The goal was to leverage the help of personal stylists and give customers access to various international and indie brands and help them diversify their ‘portfolio of underwear’.

This company began with an initial investment of Rs. 3 lakh, and revolutionized their marketing using video to express their ethos and positioning.

“We have sent out more than 50 pieces in 10 days even before we went live with ads.”