I started Debriefs in 2017 because I couldn't find underwear in Australia worth buying twice.
I'd been living in the US and came across MicroModal for the first time. Lenzing MicroModal, specifically. A fibre made from Austrian beechwood that's 3x softer than cotton and 50% more absorbent. I wore it once and the difference was obvious. Not subtle. Not "slightly nicer." A completely different category.
Back in Australia, nothing like it existed. So I built it.
The short version of a long story
I poured my savings into starting an underwear company, which is exactly as glamorous as it sounds. Spent a year on calls at ridiculous hours, firing off emails to factories across four continents. Every advisor I spoke to said the same thing. Manufacture in China, it's cheaper, everyone does it.
I said no. Multiple times. The cheap modal knockoffs coming out of Asia weren't even in the same ballpark as genuine Lenzing MicroModal. They'd feel OK for a wash or two, then pill, lose shape, and end up in landfill. That wasn't what I was building.
Eventually I found a family-run factory in Turkey with decades of textile experience, BCI and GOTS certification, and a solar-powered facility. They weren't the cheapest option. Not even close. But they understood what I was trying to make, and they cared about getting it right.
I wrote the full story of that search in Why Debriefs Are Made in Turkey.
What I actually know
Nine years running an underwear company teaches you things you never expected to have opinions about. Stitching methods. Inseam lengths. How elastane degrades in a tumble dryer. Why some underwear rides up on thick thighs and others don't. The difference between 30-count and 40-count MicroModal knit.
I've tested every fabric combination we've considered. Cotton, bamboo viscose, nylon blends, polyester, and three different grades of modal. I chose Lenzing MicroModal because Lenzing literally invented modal and MicroModal. Nobody knows the fibre better than the company that created it. And nothing else held up after 52 washes the way it does. That's a specific claim and I stand behind it.
I've also read all 1400+ reviews our customers have left. When someone tells me their boxer briefs are still going strong after four years, or that switching from cotton fixed their chafing problem, that feedback shapes how I design and what I write about.
What I write about
I write most of the content on The Brief, our blog. It covers the stuff men genuinely want to know but would never bring up. The questions you'd ask your mates at the pub if it wouldn't make things awkward. Why your underwear rides up by lunchtime. Whether that chafing thing is normal. What fabric actually stops you sweating through your work pants. Nobody talks about this stuff openly, so I write about it instead.
Some of the pieces I've written:
- Cotton vs Bamboo vs Modal. A side-by-side fabric comparison with actual performance data
- Top 5 Breathable Men's Underwear Fabrics. What breathability actually means and which fabrics deliver
- The Uncomfortable Truth About Bamboo Underwear. What the marketing doesn't tell you
- Boxer Briefs Explained. Why inseam length matters more than brand
- The Hidden Costs of Cheap Underwear. What a $5 pair actually costs you over a year
I also write about men's underwear for sport, workwear, and occasionally things that have nothing to do with underwear at all.
Find me
Based in Sydney. Running Debriefs full-time since 2017.
If you want to get in touch, hit me up on Instagram.