That could be the motto for Just One L.A., Nir Zilberman’Äôs hot new West Coast retail outpost specializing in men’Äôs underwear and swimwear.  

Following his gut instinct and inspired by the success of Victoria’Äôs Secret, Zilberman, an Israeli-born former celebrity hair stylist and salon owner, opened L.A.’Äôs first emporium devoted exclusively to men’Äôs intimates and activewear less than twelve months ago. Just last week, he celebrated the opening of a second store right in the heart of West Hollywood.  

Following a wildly successful initial response, the effervescently optimistic Mr. Zilberman is now hoping to create a revolution in men’Äôs underwear by offering men, straight and gay, a place to buy the kind of sexy undergarments he feels they’Äôve secretly been longing for far too long.  

I caught up with Nir on the eve of the opening of his new ’Äòfun-derwear’Äô store in Boystown. Despite the madness of the day, which found him racing between stores, Zilberman was positively zen in the midst of it all. Here the fashion maverick talks about taking risks, giving back and why straight men love square cut swimsuits.  

GayWired.com: So Nir, you went from womenswear to underwear. I understand that before you re-branded, your West Hollywood store carried mostly women’Äôs clothing’Ķ  

Nir Zilberman: Yes’Ķ it was women’Äôs clothing with men’Äôs clothing. Then, I decided no more women’Äôs clothing’Ķ no more men’Äôs clothing. It was only going to be about underwear and activewear for men.  

GW: What inspired the dramatic shift?  

NZ: About a year ago I decided that men’Äôs underwear was becoming a big thing and I pulled all the fashion out [of my store] and became an activewear and swimwear store.

One of the reasons is that I think men now work out’Ķthey go to the gym and they really want to look good. When you wear regular clothes, you pretty much cover your body whereas when you have great underwear and you have a great body, you feel complete.  

I think more men and’Ķ most gay men’Ķ are beginning to get that. Usually gay men always style the new trends and then the straight guys follow them.  

GW: Why take the gamble on this enterprise though?  

NZ: I grew up in a country where being gay is not something you walk down the street and tell people. I’Äôm from Israel where you go into the military and it’Äôs all about being straight and macho.

When I came to America, I decided I’Äôm going to be who I am and I’Äôm going to take risks because without taking risks you’Äôre not going anywhere in life. The only way to be successful is to fall and stand up again and fall and stand up again until you become the person that you want to be.  

I don’Äôt ever fear that something isn’Äôt going to work, because I don’Äôt give a chance for anything to stop me from what I want to do in life.  

GW: So what’Äôs been the response to your funderwear extravaganza since you made the change?  

NZ: Well people love it because we are the first ones that actually brought this concept to Los Angeles. And I’Äôm very happy because we’Äôve tripled our business.  

GW: Well I’Äôd say that’Äôs a good response’Ķ  

NZ: It’Äôs a very good response [Laughs]  

GW: Now you say that you want Just One to become the Victoria’Äôs Secret for men’Ķ  

NZ: Of course. I mean if women can go to one store and find sexy stuff, why don’Äôt we do it for men? People who wanted to buy sexy underwear in the past would buy everything online.

Now we make the experience so safe for them that they can walk into a store and actually feel the fabric, try it on and then they know if they love it. Before, you would go buy underwear and if it didn’Äôt fit, you just lost your money because [most places] don’Äôt take underwear back.

It’Äôs important for people to feel safe about the experience because when it comes to underwear we can feel vulnerable, so you just want make sure that you give them a safe environment to purchase sexy underwear.  

GW: How does your clientele breakdown in terms of gay vs. straight?  

NZ: 80% gay. 20% straight.  

GW: And is the percentage of straight men frequenting your boutique increasing over time?  

NZ: Absolutely. When we started there was not one straight man walking in and now we’Äôre up to 20%.  

GW: Just out of curiosity, what are the straight men buying?  

NZ: Most straight men will buy the sexy square cut. And the jockstrap and the g-string are huge for straight men right now. We sell a lot of g-strings to straight men.  

GW: Interesting. Sort of supports the theory that gay men start the trends if porn is any indication. So tell me about the name Just One L.A. Where does it come from?  

NZ: I’Äôm a little different from most people. If you knew me more you’Äôd know that I wake up in the morning and I love life. I love America. I love everything I do in life. If I have a bad day, from something sour, I make it sweet.  

And I thought the concept of my place was so different from anywhere else in Los Angeles that I would call it Just One.

Another reason is because when you walk into my store, you’Äôre the only one. Our customer service is huge so that when you walk in you are like the king of my store. We kind of have a New York soul in the middle of Los Angeles.  

GW: But shortly you’Äôre going to have more than ’ÄòJust One’Äô store, so to speak. You’Äôre expanding right?  

NZ: We’Äôre having the soft-opening of my second store tonight. Hopefully before Christmas I’Äôll add my third location and then before summer I should have my fourth location.  

GW: And where will you be taking the wonderful world of funderwear to next?  

NZ: Right now we’Äôre looking into opening a store in New York and one in Miami. And then I think we will try to open stores in San Francisco and Hawaii.  

GW: You’Äôve been very involved with organizations like Being Alive for which you’Äôve hosted several events. Why is giving back so important to you?

NZ: I believe that in life, when you give’Ķ you definitely get a million times more back. Between you and me when I give I do it because I feel good. It’Äôs kind of a selfish thing I give because I love to give and I’Äôm just happy that down the road people get benefit out of it.  

If every gay person who owned a business or a store would just do a little thing for the community, our community and people living with HIV and AIDS will have a much a better life out of us making a little difference. To me it’Äôs important. I’Äôm gay and I have a lot of friends who are HIV positive and I feel that I need to help people. This is my goal in life.  

For more on Just One L.A. go to www.justonela.com