Why Does a Dude Stand to Make One Million Dollars Off "Period Panties?"

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Well, it's happened. A designer—male, mind you—had developed underwear specifically designed for that time of the month. Red Eye chatted with designer Anthony Hall, who used Kickstartr to raise $404,73 for the project (the goal? $10,000.)

Hall, the local designer behind Harebrained Design Inc., says his annual income before the project was about $80,000 to $90,000 and now he anticipates earning close to one million dollars within the next couple of years.

What makes these "Period Panties," exactly? They're in dark colors, and are decked with angry-looking cartoon characters (called "Cramp Stamps") and sayings such as "No Trespassing" and Dangerous Waters."

The irony of a man designing these is not lost on Hall. "I like breaking taboos and pushing buttons," he told Red Eye. "Half of the population menstruates at some point, and it's kind of ridiculous that there's a very sanitized way of talking about it, and I feel like it shouldn't be. I think it's kind of empowering."

Not all women find his message so empowering. In a story on The Gloss, writer Hayley Hoover urges readers to "boycott these sexist panties by buying literally any other kind of underwear." Hoover expresses dismay over this sentence on Hall's Kickstartr page: "Why settle for that old ratty or granny pair that you always wear?" Hoover counters: "If these were created by a woman, I might be into the suggestion that you should treat yourself by wearing comfortable-but-cute underwear during that time of the month to remind yourself that you're hot and worth it. But when a dude– a dude who doesn't menstruate– is spreading the gospel that women should go out of their way to look un-ratty, I get mad. I get really mad."
· Period Panties by Harebrained
· Period Panties Fueled by Fashion Crowdfunding [Red Eye]
· Period Panties Would be Cool if They Weren't So Sexist [The Gloss]