Jessica Herman

"Does the phrase 'going commando' mean anything to you?"

It's a question that Chicagoan Peter Whitney would ask his business contacts in Europe while researching the potential success of his business concept. For the most part, the phrase was universally understood as going underwear-free.

Dropping the ball on his previous career as a product designer in the computer world, Whitney branched into a new line of design: jeans. On the market since mid-October, Commando Jeans come lined with soft boxer-length fabric, enabling guys to go commando comfortably.

"Every day I'd pull my jeans on and had to put my arm down my pants [to adjust] my boxers," Whitney explains. "I thought that was a silly way to get dressed. And when there's a problem I try to fix it."

Market research led him to two conclusions: Going commando is a trend on college campuses, and according to a government study he found, guys who go commando are more likely to be risk-takers. Sure enough, mothers of college kids and bikers are among the products' biggest supporters so far.

After working with a local crew of tailors, designers and retailers, he opted to have the wares manufactured in Peru for the country's cotton quality and workmanship. He also hired a local artist to design a pair of wings as embellishment on the back pocket, signifying the "free spirit" of going commando.

At $67 a pop, the jeans come in thirty-five sizes and one basic wash. For now he sells via the web site, www.commandojeans.com, but if all goes well, he plans to sell other wares in the future for men and women, including new denim looks. After all, as a descendant of the cotton-gin inventor Eli Whitney, it's kind of in his blood.

(2005-12-27)

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