Sweatpants went from the track to the sofa to the catwalk, and underwear followed the same route. Before Calvin Klein turned briefs into a status symbol, "underwear" meant a vest and long johns — baggy, functional, forgettable. Cuts have got smaller, more supportive and more considered ever since, and the jockstrap is the logical endpoint: the most athletic underwear shape there is, now worn for reasons that have nothing to do with sport.

Underwear research has repeatedly found that most men now choose their own underwear rather than leaving it to somebody else — a real shift from a generation ago. Comfort tops the list of reasons, but a meaningful share of men also admit to buying underwear for how the branded waistband looks above the jeans. Put those two things together and you get a market that keeps growing, evolving and trying new shapes — and the fashion jockstrap has been one of the biggest beneficiaries.

The jockstrap isn't a new idea dressed up in fashion language. It's one of the oldest underwear designs still in production, dating back to 1874, when it was built as protective gear for cyclists on Boston's cobbled streets. What's changed is who wears it and why. Read the full history of the jockstrap to see how a Victorian cycling accessory became one of the most recognisable silhouettes in men's underwear.

Gym culture hasn't slowed down, and neither has demand for kit that keeps up with it. A properly built jockstrap — wide, non-restrictive leg bands, a supportive contoured pouch, breathable mesh — does a job a standard brief simply can't during a heavy session. STRIKE PRO and PUMP! both design training-first jockstraps for exactly this reason, and they're consistently among our best sellers.

Men's underwear spent decades being designed to disappear. That's changed — briefs, trunks and thongs have all got bolder, and the jockstrap sits at the sharp end of that shift. The open-back design and structured front pouch make it the most deliberately confident silhouette in the category, and brands like PUMP! and TEAMM8 lean into that with mesh, sheer panels and statement colourways rather than apologising for it.

A well-fitted jockstrap keeps everything in place the way a brief does, without the extra fabric of a boxer that bunches, rides up or needs adjusting. The open back means there's nothing trapping heat where you don't want it — which is exactly why so many men now wear jockstraps as daily underwear rather than saving them for training.

Underwear has been getting smaller for a hundred years — from the long john to the boxer to the brief to the hipster — and the jockstrap is where that logic ends: exactly enough fabric for support, structure and modesty, and nothing more. It's usually the most affordable style in a range, too, since less material and construction time means the saving gets passed on.

There's a more honest reason underneath all the others: the fashion jockstrap is one of the best-looking pieces of underwear a man can own. The proportions work, the silhouette photographs well, and unlike most "trends", it's been doing exactly this since 1874.