LONDON, July 18 — With reports of predatory pickpockets assailing tourists in Paris and Rome -- two of the most popular European destinations in the summer -- a US company is promoting what it calls pickpocket-proof pants designed to foil aggressors.

New York-based Clothing Arts has created a line of travel cargo pants that feature multiple layers of security against ‘fat fingers,’ that includes button flaps, hidden zipper closures, and an inner pocket for smartphones.

Pickpockets would also have to get past three layers of enclosures to get to the passport pocket, where users can keep their valuables. The nylon material is also slash-free, to protect travelers from the most dangerous pickpockets.

Earlier this year, security staff at the Louvre museum in Paris and tour guides at the Vatican walked off the job, both in protest of unsafe working conditions with the alarming rise -- and audacity -- of pickpockets and thugs.

Creator Adam Rapp says he came up with the idea after falling victim to a pickpocket during a trip abroad.

The Convertible Pants, which can be converted into shorts, sell for US$115 (RM366.5) and Clothing Arts ships to 30 countries worldwide.

But Clothings Arts isn’t the first to come up with pickpocket-proof apparel. Scottevest sells a line of tops and vests stitched with up to 24 hidden pockets on the inside, while the Clever Travel Companion sells undergarments sewn with hidden pockets to keep travel documents.

Meanwhile, one easy and budget-friendly way for gents to pickpocket-proof their wallets is to bind them with rubber elastics. The premise: the elastics serve as a bumper, making it more difficult to withdraw the wallet smoothly which in turn alerts victims right away that they're being targeted. – AFP