“冰箱褲”成爲韓國女性防暑降溫新時尚

正在經歷高溫酷暑的韓國女性今夏又引領了一個新潮流——冰箱褲。這種褲子由不易起皺的聚酯纖維面料製成，質地輕薄、透氣性好、不粘皮膚，而且採用鬆緊褲腰，穿着很舒適。無論在首爾還是釜山，所有女孩都在穿這種冰箱褲。隨着氣溫不斷升高，冰箱褲持續成爲各大門戶網站的熱搜詞之一，在網絡商店和實體商店都極其暢銷。韓國最大的在線褲裝商店可可馬琳的李先生表示，去年夏天冰箱褲的流行趨勢就可窺一斑了，而今年夏天該店70%的銷售額都是冰箱褲貢獻的。據介紹，冰箱褲價格低廉，黑白款的售價一般爲5000韓元（約27元人民幣），顏色和圖案更豐富的款式價格從7000韓元（約38元人民幣）到40000韓元（約219元人民幣）不等。受高溫天氣影響，韓國的用電量在本週一達到歷史新高。爲了節能環保，韓國政府在19,000個公共機構強制關閉空調。

Is South Korea's government's power-saving campaign, which has included drastic measures like turning off air conditioners at 19,000 public organizations, to blame for the rise of "refrigerator pants?"

Like much of Northeast Asia, South Korea is enduring a massive heat wave -- the country nearly had a blackout Monday with power demand reaching record heights -- and South Koreans have been scrambling to keep cool as best they can.

Unlike, say, the past 20 fashion trends that all South Koreans embraced and discarded before anyone else knew they were a thing (neon skinny jeans, winged sneakers, lightning-bolt-shaped plastic earrings, platform Converses), the latest hottest fashion trend is based on the "cooling" functionality.

The result? Thin, light and wildly patterned "refrigerator pants," which are what all the girls in Seoul and Busan are wearing this summer.

Made from wrinkle-free polyester fabrics, refrigerator pants are flying off the shelves at online and offline shopping malls as the heat surges on.

"We started seeing the trend last summer, and this summer, around 70% of our sales are coming from these refrigerator pants," says Seung-won Lee, a representative for Coco Marlene, South Korea's largest online pants and leggings store.

A third of the store's sales, which Lee says total between $5-6 million each year, can be attributed to the refrigerator pants, which led to the store ranking number one on the shopping section of Naver, Korea's largest online portal.

It continues to be one of the most searched fashion items on most portals.

Local newspaper JoongAng Daily reported sales of refrigerator pants jumped 95% on Auction, and sales of baggy pants in general jumped 57% on Gmarket (both major online shopping malls) in June compared to last summer.

"I started wearing them last summer and I have been this summer as well, and the reason I like them so much is because of the light fabric -- you can still wear long pants in this heat," says Suzy Kim, 30, who purchased hers at the Dongdaemun shopping district.

"They're airy and don't stick and I also like the comfortable elastic waist."

Prices are cheap, starting around ₩5,000 ($4.50) for black and white pants and ranging from around ₩7,000 ($6) to ₩40,000 ($36) for more colorful (read: even more gaudy) versions.