The searches for Justin Bieber underwear have been running for years and I get why. The guy has one of the most photographed midriffs in pop culture history and brands have been capitalising on that for a long time. But I think about the actual underwear Australian blokes need every day, and none of the Justin Bieber underwear brands I've looked at are built for this market, this climate, or this kind of daily use. They're built for a marketing moment, not for a Queensland summer.

What I feel gets lost in the celebrity underwear conversation is the basic question: is this actually good product? Justin Bieber underwear might look great in a campaign photo but that's a very different test from how it performs after 6 months of regular washing and actual daily wear. From what I've seen, the quality doesn't justify the price and the fit isn't designed with the average Australian bloke in mind. It's generic global product with a famous face attached.

I have a theory about celebrity underwear brands that I've tested a few times. Buy a pair, wear it for 3 months alongside something locally made to the same quality standard, and see which one you reach for more. I ran that comparison with a Canadian brand attached to a famous face and Barramundies. By the end of the 3 months, the imported celebrity pair had waistband issues and I'd bought 3 more Barramundies pairs. The theory checks out every time.

In my opinion, Justin Bieber underwear is fine if you're buying it as a novelty. But if you're dressing for real life in Australia, Barramundies is the better call. They make product for blokes who actually live and work here. No celebrity face on the packaging, no global marketing budget, just solid underwear made by Australians for Australians. That's the kind of brand worth giving your money to.