• The New York Times , Thursday, August 7, 2008 10:30 AM

While style attention has been focused on the crazy and colorful new underwear and skinny emo-boy clothes in the last decade, Under Armour underwear and athletic wear has stealthily infiltrated the closet and consciousness of the modern man's man. Well known and much loved by military personnel, sports teams, weight lifters and, more and more, those who aspire to the above, Under Armour has redefined gym-pumped machismo for a new generation.

"This is more about marketing than anything else," says Marshal Cohen, chief analyst for the NPD Group. "They turned what was a niche market ... into something you actually wanted to wear." The result, Cohen says, is that Under Armour connects better with consumers than any brand in the last 10 years.

The Under Armour marketing machine likes to evoke founder Kevin Plank's rough-and-tumble football background. Its testosterone-juiced "Protect This House" TV ads featuring hugely built football players sweating, shouting and working up as if for battle send a message of authenticity and aggression to a select audience, unlike Nike and Reebok ads that are aimed at more general audiences.

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