If you’re looking to expand the international contents of your underwear drawer but can’t necessarily fly all over the world in search of the best underpinnings, we’ve got you (skimpily) covered. We’ve scouted 13 international underwear brands from countries like France and Japan that offer everything from men’s cotton basics to lacy sweet nothings for women — all available on Amazon.
From France
Chantelle was founded in France in 1876 and came to fame for creating the first elasticized fabric for corsets.
Simone Perele also got its start from the world of corsets and was founded in Paris in 1948 by Madame Simone Perele, an expert corset maker who wanted to free women from restrictive lingerie and instead create pieces that catered to a woman’s natural shape.
From Japan
Wacoal is among Japan’s most popular lingerie and underwear brands.
From Switzerland
Nobody made a plain, cotton camisole-and-panty set look sexier than Nicole Kidman did in Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. In a pivotal scene, Kidman’s character confesses a sex fantasy she has of a naval officer she once saw on vacation to her husband, played by Tom Cruise (who was also her real-life husband at the time). Wearing just a strappy white cami and white briefs by Swiss brand Hanro, Kidman’s character burns with the memory of that fantasized encounter, while Cruise’s character squirms. Here’s a similar pair of panties.
Zimmerli of Switzerland, which is based in Aaburg, was founded in 1871 and got its start when Pauline Zimmerli-Bäurlin learned to make socks on a new knitting machine. She went on to invent a knitting machine of her own, establishing Zimmerli as a leader in manufacturing ribbed fabric.
From South Korea
