Lingerie Firm Offers Women 'Liberating' Loincloths

A Japanese lingerie maker is inviting women to liberate themselves from conventional, body-hugging underwear and don loincloths instead.

Loincloths, called "fundoshi" in Japanese, were worn by adult men in the past, but they are now a rarity.

However, Kyoto-based lingerie firm Wacoal has brought them back into fashion, this time for women seeking "emancipation" from the tightness of conventional underwear.

"We wanted young women to have a more sense of freedom and release. And as we tried to come up with the ultimate liberation item for women, we thought of a fundoshi," said Tomoka Okamura, director for Wacoal's Nanafun female loincloths.

"I want more women to experience the unconstrained comfort of fundoshi."

The loincloths for women come in seven different colors and two designs -- plain and chequered. Prices start at $13.

Wacoal has sold more than 5,000 since December, three times more than it had expected, and the company now plans to start selling them in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

 � Copyright 2004-2015 The News Vault. All rights reserved.