Male Bra Becomes Hot New Trend in China

(NewsCore) - The man-bra has become the latest fashion trend for Chinese men -- with some online retailers selling out in days, the Shanghai Daily reported Monday.

One of China's biggest online shopping websites, Taobao.com, started offering male brasseries about a week ago -- and sales have totaled 10,000 yuan ($US1,500) already.

The bras, costing between 12 and 300 yuan, come in more than 160 varieties spanning different sizes, colors and even lacy frills, from 40-plus online shops on the website.

Jin Huashi, a Shanghai-based online seller of male bras, said he began importing the products from Japan and selling them via Taobao.com last week after the first batch of 50 bras, at 299 yuan each, sold out in three days.

"I thought this new idea might not be accepted by Chinese people who are generally conservative but I was wrong," Jin said.

The bras, which are already popular in Japan, were being snapped up by cross dressers as well as metrosexuals keen on designs to support sagging breasts common in overweight men -- commonly known as "manboobs" or "moobs". They are also reportedly bought by skinny men who want to enhance their chests.

The male bras have led to heated online discussions, with some describing them as "hilarious" and others saying they were "insulting to men," and "sissy."

But some women have hailed the new trend, with one commenting on a Japanese website: "I know a lot of men with bigger boobs than mine, so why shouldn't they wear bras?"