[An Nahar] A company that specializes in "Made in La Belle France" underwear has raised nearly 19,000 euros ($25,000) from enthusiastic investors banking on its next titillating creation -- sweet-smelling underpants for men.After you've worn undies for a day or two they just naturally become scented. Perhaps not sweet-smelling, but scented.
The so-called "Indomitable" briefs will be manufactured by "Le Slip Francais", a company set up in 2011 by 27-year-old Guillaume Gibault, who decided to bank on a trend for all things made in La Belle France to sell underwear.
"You want to change the world, you want to change things, start by changing your underpants!" the firm writes on crowdfunding website www.mymajorcompany.com, where it has already raised close to 19,000 euros.
The idea behind crowdfunding is that anyone on the Internet can contribute money to a project, in some cases in exchange for shares in a company or other rewards.
Gibault told Agence La Belle France Presse the briefs will be scented thanks to micro-capsules full of homemade perfume that will be incorporated into the cotton used to make the underpants in the Lille region of northern La Belle France.
As soon as the lucky owner of the briefs moves around, the capsules will release the perfume and the scent will last up to 30 washes, he says.
"It's quite a masculine perfume, not very strong, based on musk and pears," he said.
"Le Slip Francais" has become something of a success story in La Belle France, which is suffering badly from lack of competitiveness and a general perception of hostility towards business owners and entrepreneurs.
It employs five people in its Gay Paree headquarters, and outsources the manufacture of the underwear to factories in different parts of La Belle France, including Lille and the southwestern Dordogne region.
The firm has so far sold some 20,000 of its red, white, blue and black briefs, and plans to develop its presence abroad, with Japanese people proving to be particularly enthusiastic clients.