For more than a century, Hanes has supplied Americans with reliable—albeit, slightly boring—underwear. But as Gen Z starts to buy their own bralettes and briefs in the aisles of Target and Walmart, Hanes is shaking things up in an effort to woo them.
Tomorrow, Hanes is launching its most colorful collection of underwear, socks, and basics since it was founded in 1901. Called Hanes Originals, the line will feature saturated fuchsias, reds, and oranges, along with bold patterns like leopard prints, florals, and camouflage. The brand is also updating the style of its underwear, based on the tastes of Gen Z, creating pieces like bike shorts and shorter boxer briefs. The collection reveals the growing buying power of Gen Z and what it will take for heritage brands to appeal to this generation.
Today’s teens and twentysomethings have a lot of choice when it comes to underwear. Brands like Aerie and Victoria’s Secret Pink are still dominant at the mall, but there’s also been a wave of digitally native startups vying for their attention, from Lively to Knix to Harper Wilde. But most Americans still buy their underwear at big-box stores. And there, Hanes reigns supreme thanks, in part, to its low price points. (Underwear starts at $5, and bras start at $10.) Over the decades, Hanes has secured the largest market share in the U.S. underwear sector and is available at Target, Walmart, and Kohl’s. It also has a big business on Amazon and a growing direct-to-consumer business through its own website.
As Hanes was exploring its customer data, it found that the majority of its customers were older and tended to have more traditional tastes when it came to underwear—meaning they like their panties and briefs in plain white. Hanes had occasionally done prints before, but they tended to be nondescript and in muted colors. The brand was missing an opportunity to win over Gen Z, which is currently between the ages of 11 and 26. Among those living at home, they have a lot of influence over family household purchasing decisions. And those who live on their own have less purchasing power than baby boomers did in their 20s, suggesting that they might be amenable to buying inexpensive undies.
“Our main customer is a mom or dad, buying for the family,” says Jane Newman, chief design officer for underwear at HanesBrands, which also owns the brands Champion and Maidenform. “But we wanted to appeal to a younger consumer who didn’t want to be caught wearing their mom’s underwear.”
Newman and her team were tasked with giving Hanes a look that would appeal to teens and twentysomethings. Historically, Hanes’ color palette of white, grey, and, black had appealed to a wide range of consumers, including the younger ones. In the 2000s, for instance, the brand tapped celebrities, including basketball star Michael Jordan and Friends actor Matthew Perry, to model its classic white T-shirts. But through lots of customer research, Hanes has found that Gen Z is in search of something different. “They want to express themselves in terms of what they wear, even if it’s under their clothing,” says Newman. “They want a pop of color in their socks.”
The team explored color and fashion trends on the market. They ultimately created a collection of underwear that is meant to be seen. There are tank bras the come in psychedelic ’70s swirls of orange and pink, and retro flower prints. You could imagine them worn as a crop top with shorts on a hot summer day. Some boxer shorts have neon-colored bands, designed to show with low-rise jeans. Throughout, the Hanes brand name is emblazoned on the bands of boxers and bras in large print. The goal is to make the Hanes label a hip, fashion-forward brand in its own right, which is an ambitious goal for a staid, century-old brand.
Newman says that Hanes’s older customers are very loyal, so the brand isn’t getting rid of the popular styles and neutral colors that appeal to them. And there’s also hope that some of these bolder styles will appeal to older customers as well, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic when consumers of all ages are looking for cheerful clothing. “‘Dopamine dressing’ is still very big,” Newman says, referring to the trend of wearing mood-lifting clothing. “We received a lot of feedback about wanting bolder, stronger color.”
We’ll have to wait and see whether Gen Z likes this new look and embraces Hanes the way previous generations did. But the brand is giving all it can to win them over. “This is one of the biggest launches we have ever done,” Newman says. “We want to bring a modern, youthful energy to the brand.”
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.