About a year ago I watched the movie Kinky Boots and found it an entertaining, enlightening and inspiring movie about a shoe designer catering to...cross-dressers, drag queens and any man who wants to dress like a woman. It is a fun British movie and I do recommend it to those who like a good laugh as well as a great marketing idea.
Today, I came across this article on-line and I was completely and udderly (pardon the play on words) baffled by the trend. At first anyway. It makes complete sense though.
Men who enjoy wearing women's clothing cannot do so comfortably because of their size. Their feet are bigger. Their rib cages and skeletal frames are bigger. Try as they might, men just can't fit into women's brassieres.
This is where I say: I wish I could have thought of that. Seriously!
Was it George Costanza or Kramer that came up with the idea of a man bra some 8 years ago? At the time we all laughed and thought it was a joke.Designing lingerie for men. Brilliant!
Business 101. Tapping into a market that never existed. Addressing a market need. A niche that needed to be filled, just like a bra cup that needs to be filled. Ugh, okay BAD joke!
I'm not only curious to find out more about this market. For research purposes - of course. I'm intrigued and amused that this is happening in Japan. Don't get me wrong. Cross-dressing and drag queens are everywhere. I just never would have thought Japanese men would be buying into this.
Excerpt from on-line article:
Since launching two weeks ago on Rakuten, a major Japanese web shopping mall, the Wishroom shop has sold over 300 men's bras for 2,800 yen ($30) each...Wishroom Executive Director Akiko Okunomiya said she was surprised at the number of men who were looking for their inner woman..."I think more and more men are becoming interested in bras. Since we launched the men's bra, we've been getting feedback from customers saying 'wow, we'd been waiting for this for such a long time'," she said.
Watch Kinky Boots and you'll know what I'm talking about.
Posts
