“冰箱裤”成为韩国女性防暑降温新时尚

正在经历高温酷暑的韩国女性今夏又引领了一个新潮流——冰箱裤。这种裤子由不易起皱的聚酯纤维面料制成，质地轻薄、透气性好、不粘皮肤，而且采用松紧裤腰，穿着很舒适。无论在首尔还是釜山，所有女孩都在穿这种冰箱裤。随着气温不断升高，冰箱裤持续成为各大门户网站的热搜词之一，在网络商店和实体商店都极其畅销。韩国最大的在线裤装商店可可马琳的李先生表示，去年夏天冰箱裤的流行趋势就可窥一斑了，而今年夏天该店70%的销售额都是冰箱裤贡献的。据介绍，冰箱裤价格低廉，黑白款的售价一般为5000韩元（约27元人民币），颜色和图案更丰富的款式价格从7000韩元（约38元人民币）到40000韩元（约219元人民币）不等。受高温天气影响，韩国的用电量在本周一达到历史新高。为了节能环保，韩国政府在19,000个公共机构强制关闭空调。

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.