You guys love Philip! So we thought we would share this pic of him in Andrew Christian undies. We hope you enjoy it!
The journey that is UNB started five years ago this month. Each year I try to pinpoint the exact day that UNB was born but always come up short. The formation of UNB came about when I got laid off from my marketing job in 2008. I had worked at another underwear blog briefly and it wasn’t covering what I wanted to know about underwear. So the journey began. I figured it would be a great way to get some great undies and occupy my time for the few months I was out of a job.
Well the economic downturn of 2008 happened and the unemployment lasted a bit longer then I had expected. UNB quickly became a job for me to have an outlet for my creative energy. There wasn’t much pay but it was a lot of fun. I have met some amazing people, many whom I consider my friends, that I never would have met had I not started UNB.
Some of my best memories of the last 5 years:
- There are a few companies who have been there since the beginning and Baskit is one of those. Eric at Baskit took the time to really give me a great education of the industry and was the one person responsible for my first trip to Vegas in 2010. It was a super fast trip. I was in Vegas literally for a day. Flew in at 7 PM and was out the next night at 11 PM. But I got to meet a lot of the people i have been emailing and talking too on the phone. As they say it’s great to do an online friendship but nothing beats face to face. Ever since then I have gone to Vegas to meet with brands. Eric is a great resource for me and the blog.
- I was an underwear lover, and like most, we never really know what it takes to make underwear. I mean the actual production. Alex at Go Softwear took time and spent over an hour explaining the industry from sourcing to production. It was crash course in underwear production. To this day I still draw on that conversation when I’m talking production.
- In 2009 I have met one of my favorite people in the world. It is our Asst Editor Emeritus John. He, i think, responded to a post I did about finding writers/reviewers. Little did I know when he responded, we would work so well together. We built a lot of what UNB is back in 2009-2010. He has had professional obligations that he has taken a step back from the blog but he is still a friend and you will see him on the site from time to time.
- Hosting has always been an issue. When we started we were on blogger. We moved off because the URL never functioned well, so we got our own hosting in March 2009. The jump way made. Things went pretty well for the next two years. Then we hit the magic number and our server hosting started to throttle us and we upgraded to our own server. It was a few weeks of pain for readers and myself, but since then we have had relatively few issues. We hope it stays that way
- Another person I have to thank is Alex here. You know him from the Video reviews and if you follow us on Twitter. He has taken to both those mediums and really spread the word about UNB. He’s consistently gone above and beyond for the blog. He’s been our good will ambassador for quite a while. He recently was named our newest Asst Editor, a position he so rightfully deserved!
- Flash forward a few years and one of the best people I have met is Matt from Designer Drawers. We met a year ago when I drove over from Atlanta to Birmingham. He has been amazing to work with in shoots and models. He has amazing ideas and is one of the reasons the UNB shoots have improved over the last year. It’s a great relationship because he is very outgoing and I’m a little more introverted. Yeah I”m ore of the quiet nerdy guy. Which to me isn’t a bad thing but he comes up with the great ideas and bounce ideas off each other and sometimes I just let him run with it and the results are just amazing.
- One of the most recent memories is the “Who is your favorite underwear model?” post. This was done one night at 10 PM on a Thursday I think, and I figured we’d get a few hundred votes and announce the winner. Well, Philip Fusco and Jon Varak both had people tell them about the post (and who ever you guys are, I owe you undies) and they both started to campaign for the title. They both were super friendly and it never went negative. It was a lot of fun, plus I got to talk to a little to each Philip and Jon. Shortly there after I had a phone conversation with Jon. He really impressed me how down to earth and how he has his priorities in place. Not only is he handsome but he’s super nice. I have death with people in the industry who can be about them and how great they look. Jon was anything but he was surprised he was in the poll and just a joy to talk too! Well the results of the poll were released and we had over 12,000 votes. It blew me away. That has been the biggest thing we have ever done. Granted it wasn’t scientific and guys could vote as much as they wanted!
There are a few memories and people that I had to mention. There are many more people who have helped make UNB a success. I want to thank all those I didn’t mention as well for the success over the last five years. There are too many to mention.
Lastly would be you guys, our readers. Without you none of this would have been possible. You guys are amazing and keep sharing your love of underwear. We are working hard to get the site more personal so you get to know us and hopefully consider us friends as well. We have a lot in the works and plan on telling you about it later this year. The world of men’s underwear is an amazing community and I’m honored to be a part of it.
What motivated you to get into Modeling? What was your big break in the world of underwear modeling?
As a child I used to see all the billboard ads and Abercrombie posters and think about how cool of a job that must be. And I wished I was strong and athletic like those models were. So I started working out and building up my physique, and I was lucky enough to be discovered one day at age 17.
My big break was when I worked with photographer Bill Terry. He pushed me to take photos that I could use to market myself on various social and networking sites. My career wouldn’t be where it is without his guidance.
What have been some of your favorite shots you have done?
I’ve really enjoyed the magazine cover photo shoots I’ve been lucky enough to do. Specifically, DNA Magazine and Jocks Daily were a lot of fun with some really great shots. One of my favorite parts of my career in the modeling and fitness worlds is the fan base that I’ve gained. Hearing someone say that I’ve inspired them in some way never gets old, and shoots such as the DNA Magazine and Jocks Daily allowed me to substantially build my fan base and inspire more people.
You were named our readers favorite model in our unscientific poll. It was a lot of fun to do this, what made campaign to win the title?
The other models that were nominated in this contest are equally talented and equally deserving, so it was an honor to be mentioned among them. My publicist told me that it woud be a great opportunity to ask my friends/fans for support by reaching out on my social networks, and my fans pulled through by voting countless times. I have more than 120,000 Facebook fans, which is unbelievable. They’re the reason I won the Favorite Underwear Model title and I’m veyr grateful for all their support.
The brands you have worked for is the who’s who of the underwear world but is there any brands you want to work with?
I’d love to work with Calvin Klein and Levi’s. They are both iconic, legendary brands that have a massive following and produce excellent men’s clothing. I view Calvin Klein as the “attainable” runway fashion that you can buy and wear on the street, and Levi’s as the “everyday man” or the “man’s man” line that is timeless.
What do you have planned for the future?
I’m blessed that my modeling career is moving at a fast pace currently, and I’d love to keep that momentum. Additionally, I’d like to use my knowledge in fitness and nutrition (as a personal trainer) to gain more exposure as a fitness expert. Inspiring others to be healthy is one of my greatest passions, and I’d like to start doing that as much as I can. I plan to use my YouTube channel a lot more moving forward. I’d like to build up my “subscribers” and produce more fitness videos (and some underwear modeling videos as well). My fans have repeatedly asked me to make more YouTube videos and provide more fitness advice, so I’m excited to deliver that soon!
Find Philip at:
http://www.youtube.com/philipjfusco
www.facebook.com/PhilipFusco
twitter.com/philip_fusco
www.PhilCity.com
Love them or hate them selfies are a staple on the net. Everyone is taking pictures of themselves and posting on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter Evidence of this is just by looking at our Twiter stream and you will see tons of them.
So this got us thinking at what are some things you should do to take a good selfie?
- Have a Clean Mirror to take a picture in – Its hard to take a good picture when the mirror is dirty
- Clean up the clutter – If in the bathroom clean off the counter and don’t have anything distract from your picture
- Pick underwear that accentuates your body – Pick a pair that will show off what you want to show off
- Make sure the picture is in focus – this may seem like a duh tip but there are plenty out of focus
We asked some our Twitter followers for tips as well, here are their tips:
- @drummajorkev – Find a hot guy in his underwear to take them for you
- @mafiamonore – Don’t pad the crotch out with tissue/socks as we can tell!
- @mac12399 – find good lightning and don’t take pics on the bathroom, use your bedroom instead. – Great tip!
- @undiedude – taking photos with directional lighting that comes from overhead helps accentuate pectoral, abdominal, and leg muscles. Neutral bg.
- @phlip_fusco – 1)Embrace how lame you probably look 2)Stop taking yourself so seriously 🙂
With all these tips you should be able to ace the selfie test. We also would love to hear your tips. If you think there are any we should include post a comment, tweet us or leave a comment on facebook.
Today’s Brief Distraction is from UnderGear and Philip Fusco. Remember we are voting till Wednesday for your favorite underwear model. So go vote!
Yesterday was Philip Fuscos Birthday. So we want to wish him a happy belated birthday. This is a picture he did for DNA Magazine featuring aussieBum Underwear