How Pockies Turned Underwear With Pockets Into A ‘Couch Couture’ Leisurewear Brand
By PAGE Editor
What began as a joke between university roommates has quietly evolved into a growing European lifestyle label. The Amsterdam-based brand Pockies started with a simple observation: if people spend their downtime in underwear, why shouldn’t it have pockets?
More than a decade later, that irreverent idea has grown into a full-fledged apparel brand rooted in what its founders call “couch couture”—a playful approach to clothing designed for life outside the pressures of work.
From A Couch Conversation To A Cult Product
For co-founder Michiel Dicker, the brand’s origin story is almost too simple.
“I studied history, just like my co-founder,” Dicker explains. “Eleven years ago we invented underwear with pockets—hence the name Pockies. At the beginning it was just boxer shorts with pockets.”
The idea emerged during student life in Amsterdam, where long stretches of downtime often meant lounging around the apartment in nothing more than underwear.
Co-founder Karel Bosman—known to friends as Charlie—recalls the moment with a laugh.
“We were all sitting around the house waiting for something to happen,” Bosman says. “Everyone was just hanging out on the couch in their underwear, and Michiel said, ‘Maybe underwear should have pockets.’ It sounds ridiculous, but it also made complete sense. If you’re not wearing pants, you still want somewhere to put your phone.”
The product struck a chord. Boxer shorts with discreet pockets quickly became the brand’s signature item, proving that even the smallest functional tweak could turn a novelty into a conversation piece.
Learning The Fashion Business The Hard Way
Despite early traction, the founders admit they initially knew very little about the mechanics of the fashion industry.
“We were pretty stubborn at first,” Bosman says. “People from the industry would offer advice and we’d say, ‘No thanks, we’ll figure it out ourselves.’”
For several years, Pockies remained a side project while the founders finished their studies. They experimented with patterns, sold products online, and gradually built a community around the brand’s laid-back sensibility.
“It took us about five years before we really understood how the industry works,” Dicker says. “Things like margins, seasonal calendars, trade shows—it was overwhelming at the beginning.”
The shift came when the founders began working with agents and wholesale partners who helped them understand the traditional rhythms of the fashion business.
“There’s a blueprint for how this industry works,” Bosman says. “Once we started listening to people and following some of those rules, everything started to click.”
The Pandemic That Expanded The Brand
Ironically, the brand’s next phase of growth arrived during the global shift toward at-home living.
“When COVID hit, everyone was sitting at home,” Dicker says. “Nobody was wearing pants.”
The moment perfectly aligned with Pockies’ ethos.
The founders expanded from underwear into pajamas and loungewear, eventually developing broader seasonal collections that extended the idea of comfort beyond the couch.
“Underwear is hidden,” Bosman explains. “If you make a great T-shirt or hoodie, people become walking billboards for your brand.”
By 2022, the company had launched a wholesale business and began presenting full collections across spring/summer and fall/winter seasons.
‘Couch Couture’ Becomes A Lifestyle
Today, Pockies describes its aesthetic as clothing designed for the moments when work stops and life begins.
Bosman calls it “couch couture”—pieces built around leisure, comfort and humor rather than strict fashion conventions.
Recent collections reflect that broader lifestyle narrative. One of the brand’s latest themes, Forever Weekend, imagines clothing for every moment between Friday evening and Sunday night—from a casual terrace drink to a sleepy Saturday morning trip to the market.
“Ten years ago our world was basically lying on a couch with no money,” Bosman says. “Now the brand is about the entire time when you’re not working—your leisure, your weekend.”
The storytelling continues in upcoming collections, including a countryside-inspired line titled Here for the Rainy Days, which draws on British cottage culture and traditional hunting jackets—reimagined with relaxed silhouettes and playful details.
Expanding Beyond Underwear
The brand’s most successful product remains its original boxer short, particularly a leopard-print version that has become a best-seller.
But apparel is increasingly driving the business. One recent standout is a khaki bomber-style hunting jacket that Bosman says has performed particularly well in wholesale preorders.
“For us it was reassuring,” he says. “If people buy outerwear from you, it means they see you as a real brand.”
The expansion is also supported by a stronger design infrastructure. After early experiments with product development, the company hired a dedicated designer who helped professionalize the process of working with factories and developing full collections.
“That changed everything,” Bosman says. “Now we can turn our ideas into products much more easily.”
Playfulness As A Strategy
While many contemporary streetwear labels lean toward seriousness or exclusivity, Pockies intentionally leans in the opposite direction.
The brand has experimented with unconventional campaigns and collaborations—including the launch of a tongue-in-cheek spicy garlic mayonnaise presented like a luxury perfume.
“It’s completely ridiculous,” Bosman admits. “But that’s the point. We don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
That irreverence is also reflected in the company’s broader positioning within the market.
“We’re somewhere in the higher end of mid-market streetwear,” Bosman says. “But most brands in that space take themselves very seriously. We’re just a little more relaxed about it.”
The Next Step: Retail
After years of focusing on e-commerce and wholesale, the founders are now considering opening their first physical store in Amsterdam.
The idea has surfaced repeatedly over the past several years, though finding the right location has proven challenging.
“There are only a handful of streets where you really want to be,” Bosman says. “But if we do it, the goal would be to show people what the perfect Pockies presentation looks like.”
For a brand that began with a casual observation about underwear on a couch, the move into retail would mark another step in its evolution—from a clever product idea into a fully realized lifestyle label.
Or as Bosman puts it: “We might not have a lot of money yet—but we definitely have a lot more direction.”
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What began as a tongue-in-cheek idea—underwear with pockets—has evolved into Pockies, a growing lifestyle label redefining “couch couture” through playful, comfort-driven collections built around the modern concept of leisure.