Living Dolls Show 2010

On the 28th August the Bedford in Christchurch came alive with gorgeous guys and girls wearing equally amazing underwear, parading down the 15 metre long catwalk accompanied by great live music and breakdancers pulling some sic moves amongst it all.

Living Dolls is the brain child of Sophia Lee Levy-Kennedy who runs Living Dolls - Elite Models, Talent and Events and also makes all the garments they model! I'm pretty sure CJ and Sophie Nolan also help her out, but man for the number of hands involved in creating all their haute couture they certainly work some serious hours to pump it out. Incredible. And the night itself was a huge success, about 30 girls modeled Sophia's pieces in two parts - the first was a pink, barbie doll influenced fairy land kind of a look called Candy Dolls then the 2nd was more almost goth themed with lots of black and tattoos showing, this one was called Ink Dolls. Some very sexy pieces in there.

nüdel was allowed to make an appearance at the show! We got our little piece of runway time which was SO cool, all the guys did an amazing job. I found most of the models by sticking a poster up in the changing rooms at Les Mills in town, which is where I go (not often enough) and got such a great response. They all had fantastic bodies and cool attitudes too, and with a bit of last minute coaching from Ricky at Bar 5, where we got ready for the show, they impressed the crowd hard and got a brilliant response!

I had to print a few of the old designs so the models had enough to wear, and I even printed a few designs on some singlets which turned out well, to bring the numbers up. I have a total of 8 different options for the undies at the moment and had 11 models so yeah I think the singlets worked well, as I wanted to use all the models that replied to my ad.

The show went smoothly and my pre-show jitters didn't take long to dissolve, they were compounded because I was MCing the gig too, but it turned out fine I think. All the models seemed to handle it like pros, I know they must've been a little nervous but if they were, they did a damn good job of hiding it! So a big thanks to Sophia for having us, it truly was a great night and awesome to see something like this happen in Christchurch. Now I want to do my own show! Will have to get a few more styles going first, but a good goal to work towards. Thank you also to my fantastic models!! You guys stole the show.

Bonita's Birthday Bash

This weekend just gone, there was a seriously cool party which happened down at the Concrete Club on Manchester Street, in Christchurch. My friend Bonita Muntz of Bonita Monique had her birthday shindig which had a theme of leather and lace, unfortunately I wasn't dressed in either as I had prior engagements that didn't really lend themselves to that kind of attire.

Anyhoo, there was a flash ass camera floating around which took some mean photos, like this one. Look, it's someone wearing nüdel! Happy birthday Bonita!

An underwear Lynching

Wow, if David Lynch ever made an underwear commercial, I imagine it would probably look something like this. Except maybe a little darker and probably filmed with a red filter.

Maybe I'm missing something, I was never very good at sitting all the way through Eraserhead without asking a billion questions, so the chances are quite high. As someone said in the comments below this video on youtube - they were waiting for Lady Gaga to appear, same here commenting person! I'm not sure about setting an undie ad in a prison, you could read into it somewhat, like your package feels like it's imprisoned in this garment, or you've always got watch your back when you're wearing them.

We're still looking for male models for the upcoming Living Dolls Show 2010 so if you know of a fella in the Christchurch area who'd be keen, send him our way! morgan@nudel.co.nz for more info, or click through on the Living Dolls link to see what the show's all about. I'll be there too, and I'd love to meet some supporters of nudel. And of course you get to keep the pair you model!

The Living Dolls Show 2010

Here at nudel, not only are we seeking the next amazing designer for a print on the next run, but we're also on the hunt for male models for an awesome upcoming show! The Living Dolls Show 2010 is happening at The Bedford in Christchurch on the 28th August and nudel is right amoungst the thick of it.

The uber talented Sophia Lee and her team put the Living Dolls show on last year for the first time I think and it totally sold out, infact I think they had to turn people away. So this year they're hoping for a two nighter so everyone gets a piece of the action. And it's not just a lingerie show, there's oh so much more - burlesque acts, circus acts, Roller Derby girls hooning around looking awesome, dancers, a live band and yours truly will be taking care of the MC duties.

So if you know of a fella who's comfy enough in his undies to strut his stuff infront a room of excitable people then we'd love to hear from him! Simply email morgan@nudel.co.nz with a pic (preferably in your gruds) and we'll take it from there. You don't have to be an Adonis - I want real-world-bodied men, a little spare tyre ain't going to hurt none, don't you worry. I'll be right there with you and I'm a skinny ninny so we'll all be in this together! Oh yes, don't forget there will be numerous scantily ladies everywhere too, but I'm sure you'll get used to that very quickly indeed.

If you're a girl reading this, then let's get your man involved! Dare him, tempt him, make deal, he'll be amazing.

New design time

Hey there undie fans. Well the time has finally come, the next run is nigh; nudel is now looking for the next amazing New Zealand artist for their design to feature on the next run! Graphic designers, painters, photographers, stencilers, anyone is welcome to submit a piece. We're not running a competition this time, you simply email your best design to morgan@nudel.co.nz and we'll pick our favourite one.

This time round we'll be swapping out the white fabric with grey but sticking with good 'ol black as well. Grey seemed slightly safer for guys who are maybe a little shy of white, so we'll see how that goes, hopefully really well! Mediums by far are the best seller so we'll producing even larger numbers in that size and less of XL most likely and even L. What else, what else...

Make sure you spread the word! We're excited to see some more examples from talented Kiwis nationwide. Until next time :)

nudel commercial

Ladies and Gentlemen it has been much too long since the last post (Feb some time? sheesh) so firstly, apologies for the slackness. Moving office has contributed to that, but relocating didn't take 4 months so there's really no excuse. Now that's out of the way, here's some exciting news - we shot the first ever nudel commercial last week!

Nudel Funeral from Morgan Williams on Vimeo.

Myself and the very talened Simon Waterhouse devised a shoot based around the simple idea of a funeral, this is mostly because I happened to have a real coffin I obtained from a music video shoot I was involved with for band Sleeping Dogs. But also because I wanted to show nudel in a tongue in cheek kind of way, where it took the spotlight, it became the most attractive feature of our poor hero post-mortem.

We shot the entire scene in my new house's main dining room, using only natural lighting with the help of Nick Palmer and his awesome Canon 7D. Thanks heaps Nick! And cheers to all our amazing actors who came looking great in their mourning garb, not really knowing what to expect. The shoot took about 2 hours in total then editing not long at all, with simple desaturation and minimal colour grading on Final Cut Pro. Kristen Spencer was on catering duties and rose to the occasion with a fantastic selection of muffins, pizzas and cheerios. Ha!

The plan is to film a series of videos like this one, where I want to explore the culture and ideology around men's underwear and make them more entertaining than anything else. The next ad will be based around what your Mother used to say, something like: "Make sure you're wearing clean underwear, incase you get hit by a bus." I'm not sure if my Mum ever said that to me, but I've heard of it. Can anyone give me the correct wording?? So anyway, you can imagine what the content of the vid will be. Really looking forward to getting stuck into it and will keep you posted on that one.

Make sure you check out Simon Waterhouse's site: www.pxl.co.nz

Make a sports bra out of men's briefs

As you know, we're all for ridding the world of ugly men's briefs/y-fronts, but we're also about sustainability, so if you're looking for a creative way of destroying your man's tighty whities but also recycling them, then check out this video I found posted on videojug.com. Not exactly sure how pleasant it would be wearing his old gruds so close to your face, but hey bleach is a powerful thing!

Style On A Budget:
Make A Sports Bra Out Of Men's Underwear

Interview on radio breakfast show

I put together this little slide show to accompany an interview I had with Spanky of RDU 98.5FM's Breakfast With Spanky, it features some up to date images and features the musical stylings of UK's very own Dirty Hairy. The interview basically details how nüdel started and some of my ideas behind the concept, focussing on the marketing angle in particular.

You may notice I miss out a few stockists, that's because the interview happened a wee while ago, but I have listed the correct stockists in the video, so in this case seeing is believing! If that makes any sense at all. Anyway, I hope you enjoy :)

Why nüdel is the best Christmas gift

Buying a plant for someone as a gift is great because it's the gift that keeps on giving, and it's the same for nüdel! Underwear is something that we all wear everyday (don't believe those people who go commando - they all don some gruds at some point), that important article of clothing that largely goes unnoticed and often unappreciated. With men's underwear I have to admit, some of it really should go unnoticed, it doesn't do the guy any favours in comfort and stylistically it's an eyesore.

Enter nüdel. Get your man a pair of these sweet as gruds which will give him a boost each morning - that extra little squirt of confidence a lot of guys need but will never admit. He'll know he's easily the best dressed in the office, on the inside. And that's what counts right? What's on the inside? In the same token ladies, you're treating yourself because who else gets to see your man wearing only his underwear? Well hopefully just YOU! nüdel will make your man look good, the flattering form, none of this tighty whitey business or floppy, shapeless boxer carry on, he'll be snuggly packaged, but not too tightly, just enough for support with room to move. Flip him round and check out that ass you knew had potential, nudel caresses those manly curves and hugs his masculine lines to give you the ultimate Christmas present - your man, repackaged and just bursting to be unwrapped.

I used to hate assembly...

But now I love it! Finally the next run - It's Man Made - has made it to the assemblers (QA Design). The elastic will be picked up from Screen Concepts tomorrow morning then it's full steam ahead with sewing the gruds up with plenty of time to get them in stores for the lead up to Christmas. Woo hoo!!

I had the help of my lovely friend Kristen during the printing process this time which made a big difference, especially with the heat pressing to set the ink. But we got through them in record time and I have to say Cathryn Zhang's design came out looking brilliant, it really transfered well to the fabric. When your screen gets its flow, on you stick to that roll because once it's done washing every few transfers sucks ass.

All entries are in

Well now it's down to deciding who's going to win the nüdel competition. I didn't think it would be this difficult to pick one! Apologies for taking so long, but it's really tough! I'll endeavour to have the winner announced by this weekend, so make sure you stay tuned.

Don't forget it's Father's Day so make sure you treat him to the most comfy undies he'll ever wear and buy him a pair of nudel! Remember if you can't make it to one of our fantastic stockists then you can buy online at the nudel website. Just click here.

Catch you real soon for the big announcement!

Is this the last entry?

So today is the very last day for your artist type people to submit your nüdel art competition entry! To be precise, you've got until midnight tonight (that's Monday night - 31st August) so if there are any last minuters out there, pull finger and email your work to comp@nudel.co.nz I'll upload the last of them over the weekend then chose a winner on Monday.

The winner will have their design printed on the next run of nüdel which will be ready in time for Christmas and they will receive 5 pairs of their own to dish out or keep all to themselves. Hey that's one pair for every working day! Sweet. I think that's a pretty cool prize, your art will be on undies being sold nationwide!

This entry below has just come in from Mercia Tawhiri-Kerr called Urbanite Bull, so thought I'd post it along with this 'ere blog. Catch you soon for the results :)

One week left!

Entries for the nüdel artist competition officially close on the 31st of August so if you're an arty type then best you get cracking if you want to be in the running for a line of nüdel printed with your design on it! Imagine that - a limited run of boutique undies with your piece of art on them being distributed around our fair country and worn by a whole bunch of dudes! Now that's hot.

Here goes a few more designs that are up on the comp page, the standard's been set pretty high but don't let that put you off, I know there are more people out there who can create something quite amazing and I want to see it!

more artist entries

For your viewing pleasure, check out some more of the latest submissions for the nüdel artist competition below. I had stacks waiting for me to edit and upload when I got back from England, and was really impressed with the level of talent coming through. Feel free to leave a comment if one stands out, it's going to be really difficult for me to chose a winner and I'll need all the help I can get!

Ryan McKay // Nudel Nature

Christopher Meyers // up and at 'em

Candice Wright // 21st Century Urban Soul

nudel on the catwalk

I just got back from a whirlwind trip in the UK for a mate's wedding, conrgats Sam and Flip! It was a great day and the wedding was beeeautiful.

While I was overseas HEAPS of artists submitted some incredible designs, thanks to all. I've only just had the chance to post them on the nudel comp page, so apologies for the delay in getting them online. Do check them out, the quality of them blew my mind, there are some bloody talented people out there I tell you! Don't forget - the deadline for submissions is the 31st of August so if you haven't already, get creating and email your design to comp@nudel.co.nz - for more info and a design template go to the nudel comp page.

Thought I'd throw up a few pics from the St. Johns Fashionistas show held before I took off to England. The boys did such a great job getting up there in their gruds infront of a room mostly full of ladies! Thanks again to Simon, Scotty and Jonathan.

St. John Fashionista's Charity Lunch

I'd like to think the St. John would be there for me in any dire time of need I may encounter in the future. I haven't had any need for them yet but I know they do some amazing work and often go unnoticed but we'd certainly notice if they weren't there! St. John are putting on a fundraiser called the Fashionista's Charity Lunch, it's on Thursday 30th at the Crowne Plaza First Edition Bar. So basically it's a really nice meal and drinkies with entertainment in the form of a kick ass boutique fashion show. 

nüdel is involved with Fashionistas, we've got a few models strutting their stuff showcasing the couple of designs so far (damn I need more!). It should be really cool, guys wearing undies in the middle of a predominantly female orientated fashion show is a nice break, and what lady doesn't like seeing a dude in his gruds? Well, I probably think of a few but not this time bub! There's also going to be nüdel give aways and we'll have a table set up for people to purchase a pair after the show. I hope I have the balls to wear them as I sell, but I've got to do sound too so maybe it'll be slightly impractical - especially if it's cold. Don't want to hit the 'skip' button on the CD player if you know what I mean.

Will throw up a couple more artist submissions tomorrow so come back for a look :)

Blunty tells it how it is

I long for finding videos on youtube like this one from Australian Blunty. What can I say, the man is a perfect example of someone who tried something new and found he loved what was on the other side! Boxers are dead people. Briefs are last decade, haul your ass forward 10 years and get it into some sweet boxer briefs, you will not be disappointed! I might have to send Blunty some nüdel to try out.

Mission to Auckland

On Thursday I headed to the City of Sails for two days of meetings, cold calling and basically getting nüdel under the noses of some of Auckland's coolest retail stores. I have to say it was a definite success. Just meeting people face to face makes such a big difference when trying to sell your wares - emails and phone calls (even if they go well) are too easy for people to forget/disregard whether they mean to or not. Meeting in person they can see you're a real human with passion for your product, they can hear the fervor in your voice and see the twinkle in your eye. That, or they just want to get this excitable person out of their store and stop their customers from feeling awkward so they'll say yes to anything...

I pounded the pavement for most of Thursday and Friday and got very positive feedback, infact everybody liked nüdel, with only one shop that didn't see it working in their store. I some times wonder whether they just don't grasp my marketing to women idea, but after pushing it and they say "women just don't walk out of here with much guy's stuff at all" then I guess it's not my product, it's their customers. Can't win 'em all! I came away with a nice cross section of retail outlets to stock nüdel - IN.D.F which is a new 'appointment only fashion studio', Jet Store,

Marvel Menswear and lastly Aduki, which I'm really excited about.

One thing that became rapidly apparent as I roamed the inner city streets; with these limited runs of 250 units, I can't really go ahead and take on a whole bunch of stores because I simply won't be able to supply them all. I guess that's the draw back with a boutique type product and this early on in the game. When I can afford to, I'll have to get them made in larger quantities while still maintaining the 250 units with one particular artist's print. 

It was great to see Auckland again (I lived there for about 4 years not long ago), see some great comedy, catch up with mates, visit the CoCo PR family and meet some awesome fashiony entrepreneurs who really inspired me.

Artist competition

I guess art on underwear is what you could a 'subtle exhibition'. There are two things going on, art being displayed and a guy being displayed - to his partner. Who wouldn't want that? The guy looks great IN nüdel and the art look great ON nüdel, this is the sort of art (in both forms) you would show off in an intimate moment. In a way it's all about the partner, they're the one who gets to enjoy looking at this exquisitely packaged man, and then hopefully get to tear them off! But of course the guy lucky enough to wearing them won't be complaining because they're bloody comfy.

I hope the nüdel artist competition will serve to promote some fresh and exciting talent in New Zealand. Maybe if artists take a sneak at what others are submitting online it could inspire them to produce something even more amazing in the next project they take on! I want nudel and Kiwi creativity to become synonymous, with the competition helping to kick start this mission.

nüdel on Good Morning

Well finally the footage from Good Morning arrived in the post! Thank you to Miranda at CoCo PR up in Aucks for sending it down and of course for hooking up nüdel on Good Morning the first place. I'm so stoked nüdel was worn by the best looking/built model there that day, great job Brook! 

Printing is going well, when I press the print once it's dry, clouds of fumes puff up from beneath the irons and while it's not an unpleasant smell, there must be something in it as I always end up getting a head spin. And that's with doors open. Now my technique is well down and I have really increased speed thank god, I'm making my way through the last of the mediums, having finished all Large and there aren't as many small and XL sizes as last time.