MeUndies launches comfortable undies for delivery

Online underwear retailer emerges out of LA-based incubator Science

Online shopping and home delivery of groceries have truly made me lazy. But once you know the brands you like, it's so much more efficient to have necessities, like toilet paper, sparkling water and cleaning supplies delivered on a consistent basis. In like vein, why not just have a regular shipment of underwear, undershirts and socks delivered every six months or so? I know I could certainly use that type of service for my three growing sons.

Now you can have that service, at least for adult underwear. MeUndies, a company incubated inside of Santa Monica, Calif-based Science, launched Thursday with a mission to make comfortable, high-quality and affordable underwear that can be delivered to your home on a consistent basis. Science is the Idealab-styled incubator with $10 million in investment, launched by former MySpace CEO Mike Jones.

The online underwear retailer, which manufactures its own underwear for men and women out of its U.S. and Turkish factories, is betting people will pay a membership to have the same undergarmetns shipped consistently to their homes. 

"If you think about underwear, socks, t-shirts, these are things people have to shop for and really shouldn’t have to go to a store for," said Barak Diskin, CEO and co-founder of MeUndies, in an interview with me. "We’re introducing a new membership program, where you sign up to be a member and we’ll deliver you underwear on a replenishment system. You'll get underwear, socks and t-shirts every few months."

All the underwear is available at $16, which includes free shipping. The prices are about 30% to 40% cheaper than underwear sold by Cosabella and Hanky Panky, two comparable underwear retailers, said Diskin.

Additionally, MeUndies provides a 100% guarantee. If you buy every style of underwear and are not satisfied, you can keep the underwear and MeUndies will give you your money back. This guarantee is limited to one per style, but still a nice perk. "I want you to find the product you love," said Diskin. 

And, what makes MeUndies so different? "We took a year to manufacturer our own brand," said Diskin. "We set out to make top-quality underwear and we’re confident that it’s up there with Calvin Klein."

Speaking of Calvin Klein, the mega design and fashion house generates about $500 million in underwear sales alone in the U.S., Diskin said. As for the overall market, the men's underwear market is $5 billion in the U.S., while the market for women is three times as large.

So how does MeUndies plan on getting the word out? MeUndies doesn't want to give away specifics, but it sounds like at some point, we'll be seeing some celebrity endorsements and collaborations with high-end magazines. According to Jonathan Shokrian, the other co-founder who heads up marketing for MeUndies, there will also be a MeUndies model of the month.