At the Oscars on Sunday night, John Cena made a bold appearance that seemed to leave him completely nude. However, thanks to some clever Hollywood tricks, he was not actually unclothed.
Concealed behind the envelope he was holding to announce the best costume design winner, the professional wrestler and actor was actually wearing a "modesty garment." These garments, commonly used in the entertainment industry, are designed to cover up actors' private areas when a scene requires them to appear naked.
These garments are often crafted from various materials like yoga mats and leftover costume fabrics. As the focus shifts towards ensuring performers feel safe and comfortable in vulnerable situations, companies specializing in creating modesty garments of different shapes, sizes, and colors have started to emerge, a topic that has also been addressed in recent SAG-AFTRA contract negotiations.
Costume departments often rely on the fashion industry or strapless thongs for modesty garments, but with the emergence of intimacy coordination on sets, there has been a shift towards more specialized development and design of such garments. Jessica Steinrock, CEO of Intimacy Directors and Coordinators, an organization that trains professionals working with actors in intimate scenes, highlighted this trend.
Intimacy coordinators are now hired to oversee scenes involving nudity or simulated sex, acting as intermediaries between actors and production teams.
According to Steinrock, an intimacy coordinator once had to use a part of a padded dinosaur costume as a modesty garment in a sensitive scene. She expressed concern over the lack of care and dignity such makeshift solutions can convey in vulnerable situations.
Some companies, like Intimask in the U.K. and The Modesty Shop in Canada, now specialize in designing garments to help actors feel more at ease in near-nude moments, such as John Cena's at the Oscars. In the U.S., Covvier offers a range of products, including strapless thongs and padded pouches, specifically tailored for contact sex scenes.
Lucy Shapiro, co-founder of Covvier, mentioned that Cena wore a garment similar to the padded pouches her company produces, emphasizing their role in ensuring comfort and professionalism during intimate scenes.
"I've been examining it, and it appears to be sideless underwear stuck on with tape to adhere the fabric to his skin," she said. "I'm guessing it's a spandex garment with a molded soft cup to make sure you don't see too much."
Shapiro added that her business has seen a recent uptick in orders that has coincided with production resuming following the end of the actors strike in November, and perhaps more films and television series depicting sex onscreen.
"We sell to productions — to costume departments and intimacy coordinators — and we were doing well before the strike, but we have been crazy busy since it ended," she said. "The culture around sex and film is changing, finally, and more intimacy coordinators are saying we need this kind of garment to be used."
Despite how little of the body they cover and little fabric they use, modesty garments are often pricey. That's because the industry is new, the businesses are small and the products are specialized, Steinrock noted. For example, a "padded pouch" similar to the one Cena wore costs $62. He was also wearing a type of butt cover, photos of the actor taken backstage reveal.
Eventually, Steinrock of IDC expects prices for such professional garments to come down.
"The emergence of these new companies is thrilling to witness in the early stages. It's fascinating to observe the development of a specialized market catering to the creation of products made from high-quality fabrics, tailored to provide the necessary protection and care for these environments," she expressed with enthusiasm.
