A little history on America’s largest underwear stores

A little history on America’s largest underwear stores

In the beginning: At the turn of the 20th century, Steven Lien— the underwear boss and our fearless leader— was traveling throughout Europe and came to the realization that Europeans love underwear! Not just any type of underwear though… high-quality, men’s underwear.

Underwear in all sorts of cuts and sizes. Made from a multitude of fabrics like Modal, Cotton, Silk and Wool. More interestingly, the purveyors of these undergarments were brands that American’s knew: Armani, Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Versace, ect… Why weren’t they providing this important category in North America? Who knows…

After years of world travel and a desire to return to his love of retail, Steven founded underU4men in 2006. Ah we were babies…

Our first store landed on the busy streets of downtown Portland, Oregon on Broadway in the historic Morgan Buildi    

One of the first stores of its kind back in the day. Very rare it was to find a standalone self-branded boutique that focused just on men’s underwear. A whole 700 square feet, and 20 brands. underU4men quickly generated a following of aficionados that valued quality, materials, and comfort. A few years that little store that could moved a few blocks up the street and turned into our Flagship location with 3,000 square feet and over 60 brands of underwear, gymwear and swimwear.

Then came Seattle. Now while our Portland is our flagship and includes My Barber on the mezzanine level plus our Travel Gay Portland office, Our Seattle boutique is inspired by the many intimate apparel shops of Europe that inspired the launch of our company. This location is a testament to that heritage.

Located at the North end of Broadway on Capitol Hill you will discover the historic Loveless building with it’s “Charles Dickens” charm that brings together a number amazing small shops, at the center is underU4men— complete with fireplace!

We hope you swing by one of our stores if you’re ever in our neck of the woods. But if not, you can always shop online.

-underU4men