产紧身连衣裙、吸汗贴身衣等新颍热门产品的休闲装连锁店 优衣库，又从实验室里研发出了科技与时尚结合的新款产品：消耗卡路里的男式内裤。
优衣库由Fast Retailing Co.这家雄心勃勃的公司运营，在日本无处不在，其产品在国外市场也正在迅速扩张。它正在推销一个新的产品系列，据说，简单地套上这个系列的T恤或内裤， 就可以消耗掉更多热量。这一系列产品是由优衣库与纺织公司东丽株式会社(Toray Industries Inc.)和东京大学(University of Tokyo)联合开发的。
这一系列 产品名为“Easy Exe”（轻松运动）。据优衣库的日文网店说，产品上面分布于臀大肌和下背部位的塑料点和线会鼓励穿着者端正姿势，从而形成一种更有效的走路方式。考虑到 消耗热量可能会很费力，材料的设计加进了优衣库部分其他产品也有的吸汗功能。另外，内裤和T恤都只卖1,500日圆（合17美元），没有违背其实用、时 尚、实惠的诺言。
这些产品目前在网上和日本部分实体店铺有售。截至发稿，优衣库没有回应置评请求。
这种消耗热量的产品要 是流行起来，则有可能提振优衣库在日本国内日渐萎缩的销售数字。Fast Retailing公司在本月早些时候说，6月份优衣库专卖店的同店销售额同比下降了5.8%，使它不得不下调整个财年的净利润和收入预期。而一些观察人 士也说，优衣库能不能扩张，或者仅仅是维持它在日本国内已经很强的地位，就看它能不能经常推出一些“HeatTech”贴身衣之类的热门产品。 “HeatTech”让纽约和东京的顾客们在整个冬季都感到温暖，也让Fast Retailing公司在衰退期间过得很舒服。
虽然大多数人都见不到“Easy Exe”系列，但首批顾客的评价显得褒贬不一，其穿着舒适度是仁者见仁，智者见智。一位网名“marchin”的顾客在网店的留言页面欢喜地写道，我觉得 穿起来相当舒服，很高兴优衣库卖的价钱很合理。
并不是所有人都这么兴高采烈。一位匿名人士在网店留言页面写道，我刚刚买了（T恤），但我 习惯不了它的材料，整体上太僵硬，我能感到汗水粘在我身上。他解释说，这在一定程度上是因为他太习惯于优衣库几年前推出的“Body Tech”系列所用的材料。虽然“Body Tech”穿多年后都旧了，但他仍然喜欢穿，只不过这种喜欢并没有延续到优衣库的新款产品上。另外他说，如果袖子还像这么紧，我宁愿它再长点；现在袖子是 不长不短，袖口刚刚位于一个勒得很疼的地方，手臂很难移动，血管像是要堵住了一样。
这是不是也说明，要减肥，就得下苦功夫？
Casual-wear chain store Uniqlo, maker of body-hugging, heat-sucking innerwear among other innovative hits, has emerged from its laboratories with its latest science-meets-fashion concoction: calorie-burning underwear for men.
Operated by the ambitious Fast Retailing Co., Uniqlo is marketing a new line of products that claim to help wearers burn more calories from just suiting up in the T-shirt and underpants. The line was developed by Uniqlo, ubiquitous in Japan and with designs on rapid expansion overseas, in conjunction with fibers company Toray Industries Inc. and the University of Tokyo.
Called the 'Easy Exe' series, after a phonetic shortening of the word 'exercise' in Japanese, the design of plastic dots and lines that traces the gluteus maximus and lower back is said to encourage better posture, which will lead to a more efficient way of walking, according to Uniqlo's Japanese online shop. Recognizing that burning calories can be hard work, the material is designed to have the same perspiration-absorbing feature as some of its other products. And keeping to its fashionably functional but cheap mantra, both the boxers and T-shirts cost 1,500 yen ($17).
The products are currently available online and in select outlets around Japan. Uniqlo didn't respond to requests for comment before publication.
If it does catch on, this calorie-busting product could be a tonic for Uniqlo's wilting domestic sales figures: the company said earlier this month that domestic same-store sales at its Uniqlo stores declined 5.8% in June from a year earlier, prompting it to cut its net profit and revenue outlook for the full fiscal year. And in fact, some observers say Uniqlo's ability to expand or just maintain its already strong presence in Japan does depend on its ability to come up with regular hits such as its 'HeatTech' innerwear, which kept shoppers from New York to Tokyo toasty through the winter months - and the company snug through the recession.
Although the exercise wear is invisible to most onlookers, initial customer reviews appear mixed, with the level of comfort apparently in the eye of the beholder. 'I think it's pretty comfortable to wear,' writes one happy customer on the online store's comments page, who goes by the online handle 'marchin'. 'I am happy that Uniqlo is selling it at a reasonable price.'
Not everyone's so keen. 'I just bought it (the T-shirt) but I can't get used to the material. It's overall quite stiff and I can feel the sweat sticking to me,' writes one anonymous reviewer on the store's comments page, explaining that it's partially because he is too used to the fabric used in Uniqlo's Body Tech series launched several years ago. Even though his Body Tech shirts have gone through several years of wear and tear, he still likes wearing them, a sentiment that he doesn't extend to the company's latest innovation. 'Also, if the sleeves are going to cling this much, I would prefer they would be a little longer. It's just long enough that it ends in a painful spot that makes it difficult to move my arm and feels as though my blood vessels will close.'
A case of no pain, no gain?