You’ll have seen social media sensation (and HERO 30 cover star) Noah Beck in his underwear thousands of times already. Scroll through TikTok for more than five minutes and – oh! – there’s Noah shirtless dancing poolside in LA. Accidentally becoming a billboard for the Calvin Klein boxers peeking out from the waistband of his jeans, now Noah has switched out the CKs for his own underwear brand: Iphis.

Launched last summer, Iphis is a genderless underwear line designed to promote inclusivity and foster a community of like-minded people. Beginning with the most intimate garment, Noah plans to evolve Iphis in multiple directions, organically building a brand that reflects an ethos of acceptance and diversity. “[I want to foster] a community that encourages acceptance,” Noah tells us below, “the world needs more of it, there is too much categorising of people. If you’re a good human you’re a good human and, if you want to buy Iphis you can because it’s for everyone.”

Alongside an exclusive shoot photographed by HERO Editor-in-Chief Fabien Kruszelnicki, we sat down with Noah to discuss the future of Iphis, the pathway to building a brand and most importantly, whether he’s a boxers or briefs kind of guy.

Ella Joyce: Hey Noah! It’s a new year and an exciting one for you. How do you reflect on 2023?
Noah Beck: It flew by, that’s the biggest thing I’ll take away from 2023. Ever since I started what I’m doing now, it all seems like it’s been one big year and it’s crazy. Starting the brand in the middle of the year was the birth of my baby which had been in the works for two years, it was amazing to finally get that up and running, and see people’s responses.

Continuing to have fun in the fashion side of things only helps my understanding and getting to have relationships with people who are doing similar things to me or with people who are in positions where I strive to be is amazing. It’s nice to have people who can put their arms around me and guide me in the right direction. I made a lot of friends and peers in 2023 that continue to amaze me, people I never thought I’d get the chance to say hi to are now people I can text and check in on. Overall it was a great year – hectic, but all smiles.

EJ: And with that comes Iphis, can you tell us about how the idea for the brand came about?
NB: Basically, it was just an excuse for me to pose shirtless more. [laughs] I wish it had a cooler story but it stemmed from that premise, I always have my shirt off doing dances or taking photos and I’m a constant billboard for these other underwear brands so I thought, “What if I organically promoted my own brand by starting an underwear company?” Starting my own underwear company was a step in the right direction but eventually, I want to turn this into a brand that’s bigger than underwear. In 2024 we’re starting to drop new products which I’m really excited about.

“Basically, it was just an excuse for me to pose shirtless more. I wish it had a cooler story but it stemmed from that premise…”

EJ: And what made you land on the name Iphis?
NB: Iphis is a story from Greek mythology and it’s really interesting. It’s a story of a guy who wanted a son but then ended up having a daughter, he raised the daughter as if she a his son and then the daughter ended up falling in love with a girl.

It’s a story of gender fluidity and love conquering all, it just made sense for the brand because we wanted it to be genderless. I can’t lie, picking the name was probably one of the hardest things. I wanted something I could immediately see on a waistband or the tags in my clothing and Iphis did that for me. After researching the story behind it, that was the selling point – it was too good to be true.

EJ: You’re keen to emphasise a genderless ethos through the brand, how do you want to encourage this?
I’m not naive to the fact that my demographic skews a bit more on the female side of things, it’s probably 70/30. But over the last year, I’ve seen it change tremendously, I’ve had guys in their 50s come up to me and say they’ve seen me play soccer which is crazy to hear. It’s opened my eyes to the fact that my followers are every size, race, and gender, I want everyone to feel like they can buy a piece and feel like they’re part of something. One of the main ethos of our brand is fostering a community that encourages acceptance – the world just needs more of it, there is too much categorising of people. If you’re a good human you’re a good human and, if you want to buy Iphis you can because it’s for everyone. [laughs]

EJ: And the campaign was cast using an open call – how did that work?
NB: It was amazing. I joined this world during the pandemic so I never did any meet and greets, I didn’t understand the pull of throwing up an Instagram story a couple of days in advance and saying, “I’ll be here.” I was genuinely nervous no one would show up because what were the odds that none of my followers were in New York?

We showed up two or three hours early to help set up the place and there was already a line which is nuts. Talking to everyone when they came in and asking them where they were from was crazy, some people had flown in for it and that boggled my mind, that is insane. It goes to show how amazing this brand can be and I think it’s cool to see that people would fly out for you and the brand. We’re shooting with the winners of that casting call later this month, the experience was amazing.

“The sky is the limit, right now we’re just having fun with it and I’m excited to see how people respond to the new products”

EJ: What challenges have you faced starting Iphis? How did you want to approach building a brand?
NB: You have to ask a lot of questions and be vulnerable, you have to be a sponge because there are people who went to school for this and are very educated on these things whereas I’m not and I’m throwing myself into it. It was years of preparation, it started with an idea and then I made sure I was asking questions, talking to people, and looking things up about how and where to start. I have an amazing team that helped me get into contact with the right people.

The biggest thing was asking questions and not being afraid to look stupid because there are some terms I just don’t understand. I would rather look dumb in the moment and grasp the information than have to ask later and make a mistake down the line. Knowing where to start and then ultimately finding the right people to guide you in the right direction is key. There have been some wrinkles that need to be ironed out but it’s part of the process.

EJ: Where do you tend to draw your references from?
NB: I love Pinterest, I’m a big Pinterest guy – I can’t stress this enough. I have a board for everything. I have boards for stuff I’ll wear in spring, summer and winter and it’s the same with this brand. I started to look at how other brands marketed their underwear, how they shot their products, how their websites look and I started to compile all these different things to create something new that is authentic and very original. The most fun part for me is the creative side, having a vision and seeing it come out in the product or a campaign shoot – that is the most rewarding part.

EJ: So what’s your ultimate goal for Iphis?
NB: It’s something we’ve been juggling for the past few months because we’re still a very new brand and every day we’re learning. We’re releasing new products this year and we’re going to see how it goes. Ultimately, I want to get into clothing but I don’t know if there’s a specific niche we want to go into right now, I think we’re just going to play it by ear and eventually branch off to do other lines that are attached to Iphis, maybe there is a sports line in the future or high-end outerwear. The sky is the limit, right now we’re just having fun with it and I’m excited to see how people respond to the new products in 2024.

Things move so quickly in this space so you never can predict it, I didn’t expect to be this deep into fashion yet here I am and I love it. I’m hoping to get into acting this year, that is a big goal of mine.

EJ: Finally, the big question: boxers or briefs?
NB: I’m very much a boxer brief guy and an occasional boxer but you won’t catch me wearing briefs all the time. Boxer briefs are my go-to.

Revisit our HERO 30 in-conversation between Noah Beck and Jeremy O. Harris.