Sweet-smelling shirts could hit Italian fashion

A model is seen during a fashion show in Italy in this June 24, 2007 file photo.

MILAN (Reuters Life!) - Forget having to change your top when it gets too ripe -- an Italian textile maker is readying shirts with strawberry or mint scents as the ultimate wardrobe item.

Tessitura Tainia, which has been weaving since 1933, hopes to launch a collection of blouses and shirts early next year permeated with various smells -- orange, lemon, strawberry, mint and even coffee.

"The concept is to make a shirt that is not only an element for dressing but also of distinction," Matteo Taiana, a manager of one of the company's collections, told Reuters.

Tainia said the smells would be incorporated in the fibres.

"The effect lasts several washes," he said. "We still can't give an exact number as it's still in the testing period, but it's definitely more than 10 washes."