Allbirds is coming for your underwear drawer.
The cult favorite California brand, best known for its cushy eco-friendly sneakers, quietly launched on Thursday a line of intimates made from a blend of New Zealand-sourced merino wool and eucalyptus tree fiber, with a touch of Spandex for stretch. The collection marks yet “another opportunity to bring Allbirds’s natural materials” to consumers’ closet as shoppers take a closer look at the impact of the garments they purchase.
The Trino Undies collection comprises a bralette, shortie, thong and brief for women and boxers for men imbued with silky-smooth seams and “next-to-skin breathability” that moves with the wearer. The material, Allbirds claims, also staves off dampness and minimizes odors.
“We combined eucalyptus fiber and merino to invent a soft, moisture wicking material your private parts and the planet will love,” Allbirds wrote on its website. “Crafted with premium natural materials, our silky-smooth underwear stays so dry and fresh throughout the day, it’s like going au naturel.”
Prices for the size-inclusive items, which feature warm neutrals with names like “Storm” and “Aloe,” along with the bright coral “Malibu,” start at $16 for a thong and top out at $30 for the bralette. Men’s boxers cost $24 apiece. Women’s underwear spans sizes XS-3XL and the bralette comes in XS-XL, while the men’s boxer runs from S through 2XL.
The proprietary knit reared its head last August when Allbirds debuted several styles of socks—the company’s first foray into the apparel category.
The underwear is carbon neutral, the brand says, through a combination of sustainable practices, such as using natural materials, and buying offsets. As with Allbirds’ shoes, each underwear product page includes the item’s pre-balanced carbon footprint: The production of a Trino shortie, for instance, generates 2.4 kilograms of carbon dioxide; the boxer brief starts at 4 kilograms of carbon dioxide. “Think of this measurement like a nutrition label for your closet,” Allbirds explained of the ratings.
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The brand has made tackling climate change a priority, even introducing in 2019 a “carbon tax” that offsets its emissions. “It’s almost like we’re giving the planet an IOU, then immediately paying it back,” the company said last year of the Allbirds Carbon Fund, which pours money into planet-pleasing initiatives such as planting trees, building solar and wind facilities and recapturing methane from landfill and livestock operations.
On Friday, instead of promoting its underwear, Allbirds posted a message from co-founders Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger on Instagram that acknowledged the disproportionate impact of climate change on black, indigenous and people of color, who have been “forced to bear the brunt of environmental injustice.”
“As the globe rallies around addressing racial injustice, we understand the importance of doing more work at the intersection of social impact and climate pollution,” wrote Brown and Zwillinger, acknowledging that as “two white men” they had privileges that made it easier for them to succeed.
“We have a lot to do, but we promise that we’ll continue working towards the betterment of our planet and all of its people—not just the privileged,” they added. “We don’t have all the answers…but we have a responsibility to do our part, and use our influence to push for broader change. We are committed to doing the work.”