International Male was a clothing line created by Gene Burkard, a former advertising copywriter at the Milwaukee Journal. Burkard decided to market a tight pair of men's underpants through the mail called the Jock Sock in 1971 via The Advocate and the Los Angeles Free Press. Soon after he developed a national advertising campaign and managed to overcome resistance to gay advertisements by appearing in such publications as: The Los Angeles Times, Playboy and Penthouse magazines. For an interesting article on the history of International Male, including an interview with Burkard, see http://www.gay-sd.com/moments-in-time-never-get-respectable/
In 1971 Burkard incoporated under the name Brawn of California and moved into a factory with 40 sewing machines and a catalog of 22 items.
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