Pair of Thieves delivers a Feel Test

Pair of Thieves gets New Yorkers "In the nude" to describe the transportive feeling of pulling on its super-soft undies.

click to visit article

Would you get naked in front of a video camera and crew? That’s what nearly a dozen New Yorkers did on behalf of Pair of Thieves for a creative “feel test” to capture the undistracted experience of slipping on the brand’s super-soft boxer briefs.

The tastefully edited short video, Feel Test was shot by Ivan Cash, a Forbes “30 Under 30” artist and filmmaker who has brought his innovative eye to such brands as Toyota, Airbnb, Uber, Google and Coca-Cola through his company Cash Studios.  Many of his projects involving real people (non-actors). In October 2022, a casting call went out on social media to adults who were told that they would be participating in “an experiment involving nudity and underwear.” A large response came back from across the U.S., even globally, with some people expressing disappointment that they could not participate because of distance.

The final project features eleven individuals from Brooklyn to Harlem to Morningside Heights (even “Upstate NY”), a diverse group of men and women ranging in age from 20 to 81, and in underwear sizes from XS to XL.

Shot in Redhook, Brooklyn at Shell’s Loft, the video project shows each participant arriving alone before fully stripping. How does it feel to be naked right now? Their answers span from “a little vulnerable” to “liberating,” then each one is offered Pair of Thieves underwear on a silver platter. They’re asked, How do you feel? Some participants felt transported to a place (“Palm Springs”), some compared it to an experience (“Walking in the sand with an old love,” “Like a warm, soft animal up against my butt”), while some were rendered nearly speechless (“This is nice,” “Ahhhhh”).

The full 2:37 video, and shorter :15 and :30 versions, will begin running in January on Pair of Thieves’ social media platforms. Viewers are encouraged to watch fully clothed or otherwise.

“This project is really all about the human connection, how the fit and comfort of well-made clothes make us feel,” explains Alan Stuart, a founder and executive creative director of Pair of Thieves. “Our hypothesis was that in getting people totally naked, it would help them be more open-minded and really focus on one essential piece of clothing, our unequaled undies!”