There's a number that changed how we think about everything we make: 92 million. That's how many tons of textile waste the fashion industry generates every single year. Underwear — the most intimate, most frequently replaced garment a man owns — is one of the worst offenders. Cheap elastic that dies after three washes. Fabric that pills by month two. Stitching that unravels before you've memorized the brand name.
The model is simple and cynical: make it cheap, make it disposable, make them buy it again. And again. And again.
The real cost of a $5 pair
When you buy underwear for $5, someone is paying the difference. Usually it's a garment worker in Bangladesh earning $95 a month. Sometimes it's a river in Gujarat running blue with untreated dye. Always it's a landfill somewhere, growing by the ton.
We're not here to lecture. We're here because we think there's a better way to make something you wear every single day.
The KÖRPER approach
Every pair of KÖRPER underwear is designed to last 12 to 18 months of regular use. Not because we don't want your repeat business — we do — but because we believe the best product is one you don't have to think about replacing.
Our MicroModal Air fabric is tested through 50 wash cycles before we approve it. The elastane in our waistbands is rated for 10,000 stretch-recovery cycles. We don't cut corners on thread count, bonding temperature, or elastic tension — because those are the corners that turn a six-month garment into a six-week one.
Less, but better
We'd rather you own four pairs of KÖRPER than a drawer full of underwear you don't trust. Fewer garments, better made, longer lived. That's not a marketing position — it's an environmental one. Every pair that lasts a year instead of three months means three fewer pairs manufactured, shipped, and eventually buried in a landfill.
Our packaging is recycled. Our production runs are small and intentional — we don't overproduce, and we don't do flash sales to dump excess inventory. When a product sells out, it sells out. When it comes back, it comes back better.
What you can do
Wash cold. Hang dry when you can. Skip the fabric softener — our Modal fibers are already softer than anything a chemical coating can achieve, and softener actually breaks down the fibers faster. When a pair finally reaches end of life, cut it up — the MicroModal makes excellent cleaning cloths. We're working on a take-back program for proper recycling, but until then, that's the next best thing.
The planet doesn't need another fast fashion brand. It needs fewer, better things that last. That's what we're building.
