How we make it.
Two years. Seven iterations. Designed in Berlin, tailored in Portugal. The deep story of how it’s made.
The seven iterations.
Two years from the first idea to the first pair we wanted to share. Seven full builds across that span. Not concepts, not sketches. Each prototype was sewn, worn, washed, and refined. The seventh was the first one we shared.
Each iteration changed something specific: the fabric blend, the pouch panel construction, the waistband elastic, the seam architecture, the leg cut. Most changes you would never notice. The point is that we noticed.
We didn’t want a brief that made an argument. We wanted one that disappeared. Disappearance is harder than presence. The earlier prototypes were good. The seventh stopped reminding us it was there.
Not concepts, not sketches. Full builds, worn and refined.
Designing in Berlin.
Designed in Berlin. The studio is where the thinking happens: the principles, the proportions, the patterns. Berlin is a city that takes the everyday seriously, and the design discipline matches.
Engineering and design aren’t separable here. The pouch construction came from a design problem (most briefs sit flat against a body that isn’t flat). The fabric ratio came from a design problem (pure Lyocell has the spec but not the hand feel). The leg cut came from a design problem (briefs ride up). Every line on the brief is the result of someone asking why this and not that?
Comfort is the filter.
Does this make it more comfortable to wear? Not more marketable, not more sustainable. More comfortable. If the answer isn’t clear, we don’t do it.
Engineer, don’t decorate.
We solve at the construction level, not the branding level. Seven iterations before launch. A custom blend developed, not a pre-bought one.
Best of both.
When two approaches each have strengths, find the blend, not the middle ground. Performance fibre and natural hand feel. Engineered support and an understated, natural register.
Tailored in Portugal.
Made in Portugal. Small-batch production. EU labour and environmental standards. The factory has decades of experience with high-end textile work: the same craft that produces Sunspel for Britain or Ron Dorff for France.
The tailoring craft matters at this register. A waistband elastic calibrated by feel, not by spec sheet. Seam tension dialed in by an experienced hand. Every pair fold-checked before it leaves the factory. Slow, deliberate work. The opposite of mass production.
We don’t publicly name the factory. The relationship matters more than the address.
Made well. Made slowly. Made in small batches.
The fabric.
28% Lyocell Refibre · 35% Lyocell · 31% cotton · 6% elastane. A purpose-engineered blend, run in a ratio neither competitor uses.
A fabric you notice when you touch it.
Lyocell.
Naturally smooth, cool against skin, breathable, moisture-managing, durable. Sourced from Lenzing in Austria, among the highest- performing natural fibres in textile production. Not a recent invention; a high-performance natural fibre with few peers.
In ātem the Lyocell does the work: it wicks moisture, holds shape, keeps the brief constant-temperature through a long day.
Cotton.
Pure Lyocell is too silky to feel “there”, almost weightless. Cotton is the haptic anchor. The 31% cotton in the blend is what makes the Lyocell feel good in the hand, not just perform on a spec sheet.
You feel the cotton. The Lyocell does the work.
Refibre.
28% of the Lyocell content is recycled: Refibre, spun from pre-consumer cotton waste at Lenzing. A real sustainability dimension. Stated, never preached.
- Lyocell Refibre28%
- Lyocell35%
- Cotton31%
- Elastane6%
The flex and shape recovery come from a small percentage of synthetic fibre. We name it in the spec; we don’t lead with it.
Care.
Wash 30°C, gentle cycle.
No bleach. No softener. No iron. No dry cleaning.
Wash inside out to protect the red stitch.
The construction.
The pouch.
A separate panel, seamed to lift and hold. No skin-to-skin contact between the thighs, so less friction, less irritation, and it stays dry. Everything sits where it should.
The seams.
No side seams. No back seams. Where seams remain, the technology was chosen seam by seam.
The waistband.
Slim, matte, doesn't curl. The size label is printed inside, not stamped on the band. No oversized brand mark.
The mark.
Most premium underwear puts a fat brand mark on the waistband. We don’t. The only mark on the brief is a single small Fire Red bar-tack on the back centre of the waistband.
Margiela uses four white stitches to mark a label. Their idea was that the wearer notices, no one else does. We took the idea, not the form.
Quality and comfort are for the person wearing them, not the people in the room.
