With the mercury rising and layers of clothing being shed in favor of summer fashions, retailers will be keeping a close eye on what's hot this year - and some online sellers hope that will be the man-bra.

The specially designed bra for men is selling online, breaking the long tradition that says it is the privilege of women to wear lingerie.

Beijing Youth Daily reported some online shops are selling male bras on Taobao.com, China's largest one-stop online marketplace. Other retailers are selling through alternate business platforms.

The bras are believed to be aimed mainly at overweight men, although others, with frills and lace, seem to be aimed at men wanting simply to break established rules.

The indispensable item of female underwear has long been regarded as a feminine icon and the emergence of the male bra is attracting attention and sparking controversy.

After typing in the keywords "male bra" online, more than 30 links to sellers popped up on Taobao.com.

Bras were selling in a wide range of colors, including black, white and pink. And many looked similar to bras aimed at female customers, even though they had been designed with the male body in mind.

One seller said men were wearing bras for a range of reasons.

Some are overweight and need the support the bras offer or chose them to flatten unwanted curves.

Others wear bras to create the impression of large chest muscles.

Man-bras being sold online were grouped into two categories - those imported from Japan and those from elsewhere.

Japan is the birthplace of the male bra and Japanese bras sell for around 295 yuan. Domestically made man-bras sell for about 60 yuan.

One online seller of male bras said the items were not as popular among Chinese men as they were among Japanese men, but he claimed the number of buyers in China was still considerable.

Despite the fact that the items were reportedly selling well online, so far there are not thought to be any physical stores selling the items in Beijing.

However, an employee at a lingerie shop on Changchun Road told Beijing Youth Daily that overweight men and male shoppers with chest diseases had visited the store hoping to buy lingerie.

She warned that physical damage could result from a man wearing women's bras in the long term. Men could suffer from chest deformation and, in severe cases, blood supply and circulation could be impacted, potentially causing future illnesses.

A male bra user surnamed Zhang said looking good was the main reason he began wearing a bra.

"Because of my busty chest, I sweat a lot in the hot summer and my shirts get wet. A bra can at least ease my discomfort," he was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

Zhang said he had been unable to buy a bra designed for men in a store in Beijing and resorted to buying his online.

In Japan, bras appeal mainly to middle-aged men but in China they are most popular among young men who are open-minded to novelties, said online sellers.

Zhang, who is less than 30, said: "I can withstand a lot of pressure, but I bought it with the support of my girlfriend."

He said he has not yet mentioned his bra to his colleagues or parents.

The sale of man-bras has sparked intense discussion online.

A man who said he has breast hyperplasia, which caused his chest to grow unnaturally large, published a post entitled "Should I Wear a Bra?"

Among those who replied to his question were supporters who said bras should not be gender-specific and who said self-confidence and health were the most important issues.

But others voiced their opposition to men wearing bras and said it was perverted and done simply to attract attention.

Some netizens said man-bras were new inventions that filled a demand from the market while others denounced them as the product of sensationalism and hype.

METRO