PARIS, Jan 14, 2009 (AFP) - French men now favour boxer-briefs over briefs, bikini briefs and G-strings -- but few men actually buy their own, according to organisers of this week's upcoming international lingerie trade fair.

For the first time last year, sales of boxer-briefs, a generally tighter-fitting version of the baggy boxer short, overtook sales of briefs, with the country's famous underwear manufacturer DIM reporting a historic boxer win in 2009, garnering 50.8 percent of sales.

The boxer-brief was specially popular with 15 to 24-year-olds, 80 percent of whom went for the style, and with over 65-year-olds, 25 percent opting for boxers last year, said the TNS Worldpanel Fashion polling institute in data released for the 18-21 January Lingerie Fair.

But few men actually buy their own underwear.

Three-quarters of purchases for the male's intimate wardrobe were made by women in France last year, the data said.