Cashing in on 'higher form of sexiness'

Liu Xiaolu, 33 years old, the soft-spoken founder and chief executive of Neiwai, a lingerie maker in China, jokes the firm's products are meant for frigid women.

The Neiwai brand of cotton lingerie have come to be known for their muted colors and near absence of accessories - plain, if not boring.

But for Shanghai's Liu, creating the polar opposite of "what the likes of Victoria's Secret have been offering" is an exciting, sexy and profitable business.