When a shop is called Balls and describes its business as men’s lingerie, it’s not out of the question to have visions of fetish latex body suits and silky male thongs. Especially when this particular boutique is in the Mitte district of Berlin, a trendy shopping neighborhood not known for its modesty.

But in fact, Balls is a polished little shop no bigger than a rich man’s walk-in closet, and a place with surprising discretion. “We have a really wild and crazy name, but we sell mainly conservative underwear,” explained the owner and designer Claudia Kleinert.

Balls, open for just under two years, is the male offshoot of its next-door neighbor, Blush, a women’s lingerie store also founded by Ms. Kleinert, who in the past worked for Puma, designing club wear in Germany and, in New York, for the designer Adrienne Vittadini. “On the weekends we have a lot of couples coming by, so it became really obvious that I should offer something for the men coming with » Read more: Balls in Berlin