Warrior underwear loved by Robert De Niro, Billy Joel, and Madonna’s dancers are now available to purchase.

Back in 2002, Osaka-born Shiro Nogi quit his day job and joined his father’s sewing business, where he began experimenting with underpants, aiming to increase their comfort and breathability. After four years of testing, he came up with “Hohtai Pants” (“Bandage Pants“), made from the same material used to make bandages.

In 2008, the family business, Login, released a line of bandage pants designed to look like samurai armour, which catapulted it to global stardom. Soon, everyone from actor Robert De Niro through to singer Billy Joel and even celebrity chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, the owner of the swanky Nobu restaurant chain, was wearing bandage pants, and Madonna’s dancers even wore them on her 2015 world tour.

©Madonna REBEL HEART TOUR 2015

Due to their immense popularity, the Kacchu Pants or “Japanese Armour Pants” were only released intermittently in limited quantities, with the last run appearing in 2010. Now, after numerous requests from customers and stockists for them to resell the product, the Armour Pants are making their triumphant return, with an improved design to make them even better than before.

The new pants have a shorter hem length for easier wearability, and take their inspiration from the first generation’s “new armour” look, seen on warriors entering a battle.

The unique screen printing technology that embeds gold and silver foil on the bandage material has now been altered slightly to create more of a frayed look, which better resembles the worn-out armour seen on warriors triumphantly returning after a successful battle.

It’s a perfect analogy for modern-day office warriors returning home after a day of battling egos and paperwork, and there are four designs to choose from, with each one faithfully reproducing the armour that belonged to the following warlords:

▼ Left to right: Takeda Shingen, Sanada Masayuki, Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu

These are the same warlords featured in the original 2008 collection, and the company says it’s happy to “revive the soul of the Sengoku warlords” and hopes we all get satisfaction from channeling their fighting spirit too.

The Warrior Armour Bandage Pants are a great way to give us a boost of courage throughout the day, and they’re currently being pre-sold at around the 10,000-yen (US$66.10) price mark at the Isetan Shinjuku Main Store Men’s Building from 27 March, followed by Login’s online store and other department stores around Japan.

Related: Isetan Shinjuku
Source, images: PR Times
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