Jake and the Sweat vs Geir Cologne photo shoot in Whistler BC

Sweat Under Gear Man Travis

Continuing in our recap series of the last 2 years, this is forever referred to as the ‘Garage Boy’ shoot. Shortly after the success of the Yannick shoot we decided to do another Sweat Under Gear teaser shoot but this time in a garage. The concept was to be the same in that this was to be another blue collar worker wearing Sweat and preparing to head out from his work place to the Sweat Club.

To secure a model, we put an advert out on Vancouver’s craigslist. It was here that we first came across Nery Monzon and his company MUUM Production. MUUM is company that has a stable of male models, photographers and makeup artists. How can we best describe Nery, a whole lot of Janice Dickinson, a dash of Richard Simmons with some Perez Hilton thrown in.

Nery sent us pictures of one of his models, Travis and told us about a mechanic garage we could use - get this - in Surrey. For those of you who don’t know what or whereSurrey is, Google it, but be very very afraid.

The night of the shoot (we had to wait until the garage closed to customers at 6pm) we started our trek to the deepest darkest regions of Surrey. Being winter in the BC Lower Mainland it was already dark, cold and starting to snow. We pulled into the parking lot, parked the Sweat mobile and the first thing we noticed was what can only be described as crackheads doing whatever it is they do right there out in the open. Oh and then there was the hooker standing on the other side of the street. Nice area. We made the decision to bring everything that was in the vehicle with us as we had visions of coming out of the shoot and finding it broken into and everything missing. Or worse the entire vehicle gone. Surrey has something like 1 car every minute stolen. That We got out of the car, literally stepped over the crackheads and into the garage.

Inside the shop Nery was already running around with makeup people and clothing people and was a just a huge scurry of activity. We were introduced to Travis who was trying to keep warm without his shirt on and about that time we noticed a female model and a bunch of, hmmm, booty clothes hanging around. This was our first introduction the Nery’s little surprises. It seems he had a girlfriend who asked if she could participate in the shoot to beef up her own portfolio. She was/is extremely nice and we thought sure why not, as long as we get our pics of Travis we needed.

She brought about 15 possible outfits and each one was smaller than the first. We settled on one that was the least ‘booty call’ of them all. At least that is what we thought. The premise for her shoot was that she is the pinup girl on the wall calendar of the garage who has come to life and needing her vehicle fixed by the hot mechanic. Okay sure.

We should also mention that this was our very first shoot with photographer Nuno Silva. Nuno is not just a photographer, he is an artist. Whatever concept we throw at him, he takes it that step further and it turns out better than we could have imagined. We will focus more on Nuno in another blog entry in this series.

The camera started snapping, the snow outside was falling and Travis was freezing. We set up a heater next to him to keep warm but his legs turned red from the heat. Good thing for Photoshop. Once we completed the solo shots we brought the female model on to set and the two of them kept each other warm…enough said about that. We wrapped up shoot, stepped back over the crackheads and into the Sweat mobile and back home.

One of the things we love about our customers and fans is that you are not afraid to tell us what you like and what you dislike. We sent these photos out to the blogosphere, some with the female model and some without. Boy did we get an earful about her outfit and the concept of her character in the shoot. We stand by the quality of this shoot considering the idea was thrown at us at the last minute. For the record, we just finished a new shoot with her and you will see her in a much different light Dec 01 when we release them. As for Travis, we have shot with him again and he appears on our Sweat Jockstrap box. This shoot was the first time Travis had ever worn a jockstrap and now he loves them and shows up in the infamous ‘arm wrestle’ shoot wearing it again. Keep wearing those jocks Travis we love seeing you in them!

Monday is all about the office (white collar) shoot and the introduction of the Sweat Man Bouncer.

However, this Saturday we have some new Jake photos to show you.

Sweat Under Gear Man Yannick

This is the first ever Sweat Under Gear shoot. When we started to look for a model we had no idea where to begin, until it donned on us – where are all the big hot men??
bigmuscle.com of course. We wanted to find a local guy and started to search the Vancouver pages of Big Muscle. This is where we came across Yannick. At the time he was living in beautiful Victoria and working in the Navy. Yes, could it get any better? Great looking man in the Navy and his profile stated he would love to do some modeling. We promptly sent Yannick a message and yes it does get better. Lucky for us Yannick was preparing for his first ever bodybuilding competition and would be in Vancouver within a couple weeks to compete.

We knew a photographer that lives across the street from us and we asked him if he would be willing to shoot Yannick. After seeing Yannick’s profile on Big Muscle he of course signed on for the shoot immediately. Christopher C North is no longer a photographer and we often wonder if shooting Yannick was his swan song.

We always imagined a Sweat Under Gear Club and the characters who might inhabit this place of all things manly. The club became (at least in our minds) a place where blue collar and white collar men go after a long day at work to release pent up frustrations – in Sweat Under Gear. They box, fix motorbikes and cars, shower – fun stuff like that. This is still reflected in our website www.sweatundergear.com and a very important aspect of our marketing.

So where do we shoot Yannick? Before releasing the information on the Sweat Under Gear Club we wanted to tease you a bit with the workers at their jobs getting ready to go someplace hot and fun. Not actually revealing what that place was.

During all of this we were also having our home renovated and our contractor told us that next door to his house there was a new townhouse complex going in. He suggested we head over to his place and at 6pm when the workers go home next door that we sneak over there with our cameras and lights and shoot Yannick as a construction worker.

Up to this point we had not actually met Yannick in person and had arranged to pick him up in front of a Starbucks and bring him to the shoot. We pulled up to Starbucks, Yannick hopped in the car and his adorable French Canadian accent said “It has been a long time since I have gotten into a strange man’s car” From that time on we knew we would be friends and that he was perfect for this shoot.

6pm we watched as the workers left for the day and in we snuck to do our shoot. It was a very cold winter night so we brought a heater for Yannick to keep warm in between takes. We might add that Yannick is not the shy type and had no qualms about changing in front of the entire crew.

Over the following week we released the photos to the blogs. Sweat Under Gear had gone viral and within days we were receiving emails from every corner of the planet anxious to purchase our product. We were stunned and extremely happy.

Yannick became so popular that it was a no brainer to put him on the Sweat Sport Brief box. Yannick has shot with us again (we will have that in a future post here), he has danced at events for us and most importantly has remained a friend. We are sure that 2010 will bring another photo shoot with the original ‘Sweat Man’.

Next we will tell you the story of the 'Dirty Garage'. Watch for that this Friday.

The Year that was Sweat!

As 2009 draws to close we are reflecting back on all the amazing models and talented photographers we have had a chance to work with. From now until the end of December we will be showcasing all these people who have given so much to us. We will include shots you have never seen as well as behind the scene stories about the shoot (we have some good ones trust us), the men and the often times mayhem that surrounds our shoots.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the first in our series that we call "The Shot That Was Seen Around The World".

In the meantime here is a montage to wet your appetite for Sweat!

Palm Springs Mega Muscle Sweat Under Gear weekend

More amazing and Sweaty pics from the Mega Muscle weekend in Palm Springs. These photos are by Mark Jenkins. Models are Eric Turner and new discovery John McCallen. Eric is super sexy in those cowboy chaps and a glimpse of his Sweat Under Gear Jock - Ride em cowboy. John thinks he is an angel in the white Sweat Brief, but we all know better than that.

Stores that carry Sweat Under Gear

These hot stores carry Sweat Under Gear.

If you do not see a store near you, then please ask your favourite store to carry Sweat.

More from the Lady GaGa Fashion event

Jake in the Fighter Brief