Last week we attended the launch of Almost Naked, a new skivvies and swimwear store on the trendy West Queen West strip. Thumping music, nearly naked models, and local media mingled in the 1400 square foot two story boutique.

Owners Dan Sutcliffe and Jeff Axelrod wanted to bring Canadian and International brands together for a specialty retail store offering the latest in underwear, swimsuits, fitness, loungewear and accessories for men and women.

"The international fashion scene is huge. We love bringing in amazing and creative collections that are generally unknown to Canadians," said Dan Sutcliffe, co-owner of Almost Naked. "Almost Naked is perfect for finding one-of-a-kind pieces that nobody else has."

And one-of-a-kind it is. Imagine your boyfriend in these:


Brands include: Diesel (Italy), Shultz (U.K.), teamm8 (Australia), DT (Australia), Calvin Klein (U.S.) and much more. Almost Naked also boasts the largest collection from renowned tattoo artist Ed Hardy, called Ed Hardy (U.S.), in Toronto. The store exclusively carries the sexy Fred & Ginger (U.K.) collection in North America, recently featured in Vogue U.K. (every piece is handmade!) and offers the largest Canadian collection of provocative Marlies Dekkers designs (Netherlands).

"Women have always loved to wear sexy underwear because it makes them feel good. It's finally become acceptable for straight men to wear hip and sexy boxers and briefs, too. When you're wearing a great pair of underwear, you just feel good," said Jeff Axelrod, co-owner of Almost Naked. "Our store is great for gift occasions too; we encourage men to buy for women and vice-versa."

This gold bikini was a popular item with the ladies in attendance:

But this one from Ed Hardy requires a killer body:


I could see my Guy in these:


Almost Naked is located at 479 Queen Street West. Read my review here or add your own ;)