Tasmania has been put on the map in London, in the most colloquial of ways.

A G-string bearing a map of Tasmania is on display at the London Design Museum, provoking both embarrassed and amused reaction. The skimpy undies are part of a matching set designed by Melbourne lawyer Peter Brohier which features a map of mainland Australia on a T-shirt.

Exhibition curator Thomas Heatherwick was unaware of the ribald connotation when he spent $50 on the G-string and T-shirt at Melbourne's Victoria Markets.

When an Australian friend revealed the "Map of Tassie" joke, Heatherwick was convinced it would be a perfect piece for the museum's Conran Foundation Collection.
"I laughed and thought it made it an even better design," Heatherwick said.

"I wondered who would spot it and who wouldn't. Most UK people haven't, some look at it and smile and think 'mmm, that's a coincidence, it fits perfectly there'. But Australians have noticed.

"Peter wanted to put as big a map on a T-shirt as possible but couldn't fit Tasmania on, but thought of the knickers. It works perfectly, the fact it has that other connotation is very funny. "I tried to put on an exhibition of creativity and that's creative. It's a practical solution to a design problem."

Heatherwick received the museum's annual £30,000 ($70,800) grant from design guru Terence Conran to buy whatever he wanted for the exhibition.

He spent it on 980 innovative designs from around the world, from Japanese toilet seat covers to Australian banknotes and an avocado peeler picked up in Sydney.

Brohier believes his T and G ensemble is a perfect way for Australians overseas to show off their home. Those from Hobart, however, might have to exercise some modesty.


"Australians who wear it while travelling abroad can show people where they live, can point out their home town," Brohier said. "Some can flash the top of Bass Strait if they want. Any further south ... I won't go there."

The detailed map was drawn by Brohier's father in 1966 using centuries-old techniques with pen, ink and ruler. Brohier considers his T-shirt map is a serious piece of Australiana.

The eastern states feature in intricate detail on the front, with the west wrapping around to the back, but he was determined not to let his home state suffer its perennial fate of being overlooked.

"It demonstrates the need not to leave Tasmania off the map," he said.