The Campaign

Fabric makers have created many functional materials that, for example, absorb moisture or retain heat. But is a more fundamental solution possible? As an undergarment maker, what could Gunze do? After some experimentation, they decided to remove the stitching in the collar, sleeves and hemline and fold them over to flatten them. It's a big rethink that goes against conventional, commonplace craftsmanship and created a new kind of texture.

Creative Execution

There are lots of new functional fabrics lately, but as an undergarment maker, what could Gunze do? After some experimentation, they removed the stitching and folded over the collar, sleeves and hemline.

Gunze had developed a fabric that never frays, but there was yet another problem: the psychological barrier among consumers who will worry about the fabric fraying. This obstacle hindered the product's success. We then produced a video to provide an extreme example of how the fabric does not fray and communicated Gunze's corporate stance that their "undergarments treat the stress of businesspeople." No sooner had we released the video than people suddenly wanted to relieve their daily stress in any way possible and the video topped the daily and weekly rankings in major online media. We got over 100 instances of media exposure and a ripple effect whose advertising value was worth around 10 times the cost of production. Sales, based on e-commerce sites, jumped up by 215% over the previous year.

There has been little innovation in the undergarments business since the functional undergarments category appeared about a dozen years ago. Gunze used an entirely novel approach to develop and put out a new product.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The physics involved in removing the stitching from and folding over the collar, sleeves and hemline are very simple. The problem comes afterward, because the fabric frays when you fold them over and sew them together. Gunze set out to develop a fabric that will never fray when cut and left alone. They quickly achieved their goal by making a synthetic fiber and setting the cut holes with heat. However, this led to another problem: synthetic fiber is far less comfortable, and when you set the holes with heat, the fabric becomes scratchy. After some experimentation, they figured out where to cut with scissors to prevent fraying and made the ultimate fabric that is fine after any number of washings.