I can sum up what happened to IM/Undergear in one word: Hanover. When they started in San Diego and then expanded to West Hollywood they knew their market and catered to it. When they decided to go more mainstream and turned it over to Hanover -- a company down the road from Amish Country -- they lost their edge. The cutting edge styles became run of the mill and their swimwear that went to the extremes became safe and the underwear was too much for mainstream buyers. Trying to divide with a separate catalog: Undergear, was a valiant attempt, but still marketed by the wrong people.
When they left SD the service went down, the styles suffered and the appeal to the gays dwindled. They knew their market when they only dealt in one market but when Hanover, that deals in dozens of markets, took over they had no idea what the gay or metrosexual man wanted.
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