Why don’t Matthew McConaughey and his wife, Camila Alves, stop posing without pants? The successful business behind its semi-nude

Matthew McConaughey (Texas, 56 years old) has stripped naked from the waist up many times on screen. In the 2012 Magic Mike movie, in fact, it is difficult to find a scene in which the actor is wearing a t-shirt. However, for a couple of years he has taken to keeping his shirt and, instead, taking off his pants, a custom he shares with his wife, Camila Alves (Minas Gerais, Brazil, 42 years old). “Please don’t keep yours on,” the couple said in an Instagram post in October 2023, in a video in which they toured an agave field riding bareback motorcycles, with their pelvic area pixelated. Some users commented that it cringe, others responded with fire emoticons. The fact is that that post, in reality, was an advertisement, and it managed to get people talking. Since then, posing naked from the waist down has become a recurring gesture of the couple to promote their tequila brand, which is called, ironically, Pants. «No. The world does not need another celebrity tequila. But, by God, the tequila industry does need a touch of fun. And that is precisely what Pants is: healthy and delicious fun,» McConaughey and Alves describe on the website of the drink, which they launched a little more than two years ago. Pants is a “superpremium” organic tequila made from 100% agave tequilana. Why is it called Pants? The Texan and the Brazilian try to explain it this way, after clarifying what this Spanish word means in English: «Putting on your pants is also a colloquial expression that means having guts. Pants tequila represents the value of taking the next step, having fun and not taking things too seriously. Everyone, without distinction, wears pants at some point in their life and, like pants, our tequila is for everyone.» More informationThe actor and the model, married since 2012 and parents of three children, have turned their photos and videos without pants into one of the hallmarks of the brand that becomes viral content every time they are shared. They have done it by posing very elegantly from the waist up and without anything below – other than socks and shoes – during a game of croquet. Also while preparing a barbecue or sunbathing by the pool. “Burnt buns are not fun,” says the message in this last image, which captures the moment before Alves puts sunscreen on her husband’s pixelated butt. «While some liquor brands focus on tradition and legacy, Pants is committed to being the life of the party. Its casual identity is part of its appeal in a market saturated with solemn stories and dusty barrels,» Forbes said in July 2025, when this tequila began its international expansion in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. For now, the rogue tone works. In just over a year, Pants has positioned itself among the three best-selling 750 milliliter tequilas at Total Wines—the largest independent chain of wine and liquor stores in the United States—, only behind Don Julio and Casamigos—founded by George Clooney along with his friends Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman—. In 2024 alone, it sold more than 100,000 cases and expanded its distribution to more than 10,000 points of sale in 44 states in the United States. It is also a success among the most connoisseurs: its Añejo tequila won double gold at the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, beating traditional brands that sell at much higher prices—bottles of Pants cost between 45 and 55 dollars—. «We take Pants very seriously, but at the same time, we have a great time together. It’s something very special for us,» Alves told Forbes four months ago. At first, the tequila bottle or glass appeared more or less subtly in all of his photos without pants. Now, it has become such a recognizable gesture that they don’t even need to show the product they sell. They have photos together naked from the waist down passing the lawnmower, dancing country or recreating the poster for the actor’s successful romantic comedy How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days – although in this case Alves’s long dress does cover her from top to bottom. There is also a making of in which the secret is revealed, and that is that what is actually pixelated are the flesh-colored tights that are attached to the body. “We are green and we have won awards, but we are also casual and have an irreverent energy that attracts people,” McConaughey said in the same interview with Forbes. According to the business publication, the Oscar winner for Dallas Buyers Club (2013) brings “the big ideas and talent to the brand image,” while the model is “deeply involved in daily operations,” collaborating on tasks such as logistics management or the supply chain. «Luckily, it’s not the first time I’ve started a business,» the Brazilian, who also launched her own line of bags in 2008, clarified to Forbes. «But it is the first for Matthew, and we have faced this together with determination. I love working in accounting, logistics, numbers and the administrative part of the business,» she said. This Wednesday, the two shared a photo howling at the full moon on November 5 dressed in warm sweaters and boots, but without pants, of course. It is their way of presenting their new cocktail, called Howl of the Moon, a tequila version of the classic Espresso Martini whose ingredients can be purchased in their online store. «We met over Margaritas, so launching this brand really came full circle,» Alves told People in September 2024. That first meeting, just after McConaughey’s courtship with Penélope Cruz, is also recounted by the actor on the Pants website: «It was late 2006 and I was presiding over the main table at the Hyde Club, on Sunset Boulevard, when I saw her. My mother’s voice echoed in my head: ‘This is not just any woman the one you greet from the other side of the bar, son. Get off your ass and introduce yourself.’ After introducing myself, I made Camila the best Margarita I had ever made and I spoke Spanish like never before, the only problem was that she spoke Portuguese, because she’s Brazilian… but the rhythm of the Latin languages seemed to fit,» he says. He says that despite his grammatical errors, he got a date with her after two failed attempts. «Almost two decades later, she is still the only woman I have ever wanted to make a Margarita for. And that, my friends, is how it all began, with a twist of tequila fate,» he recalls.