It's often said you feel good when you look good, and that's exactly what Adonis Underwear aims to provide for everyone. Black and queer-owned, Adonis by Kyhry underwear is becoming one of the leading luxury underwear brands on the market since its inception in 2015. With a full range of product options, designs, and sizes, Adonis is one of the most inclusive underwear brands, providing high-quality designs backed by rave reviews.
Passionate, insightful, and determined are just a few words that describe CEO and founder Kyhry Adonis. Born and raised in Annapolis, Maryland, Kyhry's love for his community and interest in building an empire led him to create a dope brand that has permeated the LGBT community at large while providing representation for all body types in the underwear arena.
In his first exclusive interview ever, Gaye Magazine got a chance to sit down with the mastermind behind the brand and pick his brain regarding the brand's inception, his connection to the community and a brand new Pride/spring release.
So no matter if you prefer a boxer or brief, thong or jockstrap, there's something special for everyone in this collection.
What led you to create the Adonis brand?
"I was having a conversation with my mom... she was visiting my new apartment and we were talking about my interest and likes... and she was like, 'you know you've just always been in underwear. You have been in underwear since you were a child, you need to start an underwear company'...and literally - that's what happened."
What inspired the name 'Adonis'?
"I started to think about how I wanted people to feel, and when I googled Greek gods, I saw Adonis was the God of beauty and desire. That's how I wanted people to feel in the underwear, so that's what led to the name."
Your brand receives a lot of organic support, particularly from the Black LGBT community, what's been your experience with that?
"When I first started I was a boutique brand, it wasn't until like a year or two that I decided to start my brand and design my underwear. So after that, I decided to run Facebook and Google ads, and I was really good at that. But, Facebook ads started to sorta discriminate against me. My images were too raunchy, I guess. Other brands were able to promote their underwear, but I wasn't able to. So basically Facebook blocked me and restricted me. So when that happened I was like 'fuck it. I'm not doing any more paid advertisement, I have enough customers.' So I built the brand up in a way that allowed my customers to promote the brand. I think those are the best people to do it. Those are real people. So I made sure we got reviews and encouraged people to show love and post a pic on social media."
Has the LGBT community always been your target market?
"It's always been the goal. I wanted to target people like me. I always felt that I wasn't represented in advertising - in photos. You know back then, before black lives matter and diversity, inclusion, and all this stuff, underwear brands used white models. And although black customers were supporting them, all the models were white and all of the underwear was designed for them. And I wanted to design things for people like me. Black and gay have always been the target audience for sure."
Did you have any previous experience in fashion design or was this your first entry into design or fashion?
"What a lot of people don't know is that I actually have a graphic design background. I went to college and got my degree in graphic design. I sort of deviated from that into web design, and then I moved into product design and photography. I never had a fashion design background, but when I started Adonis it started as a boutique brand. So we were selling other underwear brands, we didn't have our own brand for the first year.
Your site says your underwear is designed to last a lifetime. Tell us more about what that means.
"At a high level, it's all about the fabrics that you choose. So we choose bamboo fabrics for most of our products. Bamboo fabrics are soft and it gets softer over time with each wash."
Tell us about your new Pride Spring collection?
"Featuring myself as the model, our 2022 pride/spring collection is sexy and fun. There's something for everyone, including jockstraps in classic black, olive green, electric pink, and electric yellow; thongs in sky blue and boxer briefs in electric pink."
Any plans for an underwear fashion show?
"As the metaverse and virtue experiences continue to mature, we plan to explore virtual fashion shows."
Sounds interesting! Would you ever create products for women?
"Several options and new brands are emerging every day that cater to women. I started Adonis 7 years ago because men didn't have as many options for sexy gear or underwear. Individuals who identify as a man will always be our target consumers. We don't plan to deviate from that anytime soon."
Where do you see Adonis in 5 years? 10?
"We will continue to expand our brand beyond underwear and even physical products. We're not in the business of selling underwear, we empower and boost men's confidence through our products. We plan to expand this concept to real estate and other business verticals."
Gayes, if you're looking to support an LGBT-owned business for Pride Month 2022 all while feeling sexy, be sure to check out Adonis' new Pride/Spring underwear collection available now in boxer trunks, briefs, and jockstraps at AdonisUnderwear.com!
You can follow Adonis on their official Instagram page to check out some sexy selfies of guys showing off their underwear.
