London - Women aren’t the only ones obsessed with owning sexy underwear.
Men can now get in on the act too, thanks to a retailer who specifically creates underwear for the male body.
Australian brand Homme Mystere launched in 2008, but was only recently available to buy online and has since attracted customers from across 30 different countries, including Russia, Canada and America.
While women have always been able to choose from a wide range of styles on the market, before now men haven’t had a whole lot of choice, limited to standard briefs. Providing more choice for men was the motivation for couple Brent and Lara Krause in creating the label.
“Men’s lingerie sits in an undefined territory deemed ‘not exciting enough’ for adult stores and ‘too confronting’ for mainstream retail stores,” explains the Homme Mystere website.
“A growing number of guys are discovering the comfort of lightweight lingerie-style underwear.”
The retailer offers a wide variety of lace-trimmed boxer briefs, suspenders, racy thongs and even bras, known as “manssieres”. All the lingerie pieces look like women’s underwear, but are specifically designed to fit a male body.
“Our goal has always been to offer an alternative style of underwear for men, based on their physique rather than their sexuality,” the website says.
Homme Mystere describes its customer as “male, married and older than 40. He has discerning taste in underwear and wants luxury garments, but does not need to show it off. He wants something new and exciting.”
However, despite many people thinking the designs are meant to cater primarily for the LGBT community, a survey has actually revealed that 90 percent of customers are in heterosexual relationships. In fact, the brand’s campaign features a man wearing the designs posing with a woman.
But the retailer highlights they just want to provide the luxury option for men, regardless if they’re “gay, straight, vegetarian, Republican, Anglican, martian or any other persuasion”.
Explaining why men like to wear sexy lingerie, founder Brent said: “I think bras are just something they (men) like the feel of.”
“I don’t know whether it’s the tightness around the chest or what it is, but it’s definitely the feeling they’re after.”
So, if you are ever looking for “comfortable men’s panties that really do fit, feel great and look sensational” and a break from your usual “tighty whities” this lingerie trend might be for you.
The Independent