“They act like they just inhaled catnip.”

Among animal lovers, you’ve got to figure that dog people have it easier than cat people. With their straightforward personalities, dogs are pretty easy to win over with a scratch behind the ears or a treat to eat. Cats, meanwhile, are famous for their capricious nature, which can turn attempts to befriend them into a series of futile failures as you try to stumble upon the specific desires of the individual kitty you’re dealing with.

The Japanese Internet thinks it may have found a way to skip the trial and error and take a straighter path to feline friendship, though, by first making a trip to Uniqlo’s sister brand, GU. Compared to Uniqlo, GU’s designs tend to be a little trendier and their prices a little lower, as it’s a more decidedly youth-oriented brand.

However, it’s not the design, price, or even the warmth of GU’s Fleece-lining Denim Skirt that’s earning it a spike in interest right now. Instead, it’s a Twitter post trumpeting the skirt’s ability to make cats want to cozy up to you.

The garment won’t have cats stampeding towards you in the streets, but according to Twitter user @ryichispa, when she wore GU’s Fleece-lining Denim Skirt to a cat cafe, the kitties were clinging to her skirt to an “obsessive” degree. Looking through the reviews for the skirt on GU’s online shop, @ryichispa says that she found a similar testimonial from another shopper, who in their review wrote “For some reason cats love this skirt. They act like they just inhaled catnip [when I wear it].”

This actually isn’t the first time cat fans in Japan have discovered purportedly cat-attracting denim, as a few years back there was a pair of jeans that some said had the same effect. The maker of those jeans? Once again, GU.

It’s worth noting that none of the claims of cat-affinity mention the cats clawing up the denim, so the alleged attraction doesn’t appear to be based on any sort of satisfying scratching post-like texture to the fabric. And while pet cats have been known to enjoy playing with their own owners’ jeans when they’re not being worn, that’s presumably because the material retains their owners’ scent, which the pets associate with the friendship, protection, and/or food they’re provided with. In the case of the GU skirt and jeans, though, the wearers said their popularity was boosted at cat cafes, where they presumably wouldn’t have had any strong preexisting bond with the animals.

Sticking with the smell theory, though, it’s possible that there’s some quality to the dye or other treatment substances that GU uses which, while imperceptible to human noses, is something that cats can notice and enjoy. However, if it really is something in the dye that makes the kitties go wild, that raises the question of whether the substance is shared across all three colors the Fleece-lining Denim Skirt is offered in, or if it’s specific to just one shade. If you’re interested in field-testing the skirt, though, it’s available for 2,990 yen (US$19.95) through the GU online store here.

Source: GU, Hachima Kiko, Twitter/@ryichispa
Top image: GU
Insert images: GU
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