David Beckham models Emporio Armani

Underwear sales soar as football's hottest 'golden balls' models for Armani, says Hilary Alexander

David Beckham may have shed bitter tears when he was dropped from the England squad, but he’ll be laughing all the way to the bank over his new career as an underwear model.

	Model moment: David Beckham poses in Emporio Armani underwear as sales soar

Selfridges in Oxford Street, London, have reported an astonishing 150% rise in sales of men’s briefs after the first day’s sales, following this week’s launch of the new Emporio Armani underwear line, modeled by Beckham and revealing his extraordinary physique.

Fans are apparently flocking to the store to drool over wall-mounted black and white photographs of the sports icon, nicknamed “Golden Balls” by his wife Victoria, reclining provocatively in nothing but his smalls.

Victoria, when questioned recently on video about these larger-than-life posters of her hubby, by the International Herald Tribune’s Suzy Menkes, answered: “ I am proud to see his penis 25 foot long.”

The male underwear industry, currently worth pounds sterling 674 million, has been boosted by a wave of male celebrities posing in skintight Y-fronts, including the Essex model, David Gandy, Hollywood actor Djimom Hounsou for CK Steel and Freddie Ljungberg for Calvin Klein.

David Walker Smith, head of menswear at Selfridges, said: “David is still Britain’s number one male icon. The combination of a semi-naked David Beckham and a new style of Emporio Armani underwear is a golden match.”

Maybe Jeremy Paxman should run and get his hands on a pair before they sell out!