Cool Devils, Hot Angels, ripping up underwear, briefs loaded with a condom pouch… Recently I received a package in the mail containing a sample of men’s briefs from 2wink. Light blue with white borders, the fit is very sexy!Intrigued by it all, I couldn’t resist asking at least a few questions! First of all, I wanted to know the correct pronunciation of 2wink, which, I found out, is ‘to wink’ and not ‘twink’!
Secondly, I was very curious about the founder of 2wink, Carl McNeill:
So, where do you come from?
I was born and bred in Perth, Western Australia, and, so, proud to have our garments manufactured here in Perth. This was a massive challenge as the infrastructure for doing this is primarily based in the larger cities of Melbourne or Sydney.
Tell me something about your background…
I was a high school dropout but always had an entrepreneurial background. My true love is in design and being creative but have no formal qualifications in this area or marketing experience, just a desire to get in there and have a go! Creating 2wink Australia has been a massive learning curve, but I feel just now it’s coming of age, found its niche and beginning to challenge other major brands.
Where do you get your ideas from?
Our Australia-made products are all themed based; i.e., Hot Angel, Cool Devil, Space Cadet, Loaded Gen2. (Mechanic, Predator, Apprentice, Outback—these 4 our coming soon.) The actual cuts are standard, briefs, boxers and bikinis. Let’s face it: it’s difficult to invent a new cut of underwear as it’s all been done. I select a theme and work from there; for example, Space Cadet is based upon the colors in Buzz Lightyear, the cartoon figure. Hot Angel and Cool Devil were based upon Evil versus Good, and the colors reflect this. Loaded Gen2 (represents generation two) as we currently have this design but improved it: the waistband was influenced by the Coke’a’Cola design and oversize in width. Loaded are the jocks with an inside secrete pocket which hides a condom.
Tell me about the 2wink kind of guy or the 2wink look…
This has been a real challenge, but I feel over the past four years I’ve completed my apprenticeship. Only now with our Australian-made themes are we truly beginning to really get our look and style. We aim for the younger fashion conscious market that looks for a point of difference. I also feel by bringing our manufacturing from China to Australia that the market has appreciated it as a point of difference, and it’s been popular with the US, UK and Asian markets.
Photo Cool Devil & slideshow Copyright 2wink.
