The Kelpies and Wheel may have helped put Falkirk on the global map but it’s a mystery why fashion conscious residents of Japan are now walking around in t-shirts with the town’s name on them.

The apparel, which for some unknown reason feature the names of Scottish councils, have become a must have brand in Japan after they were launched by Tokyo fashion house Shoo-La-Rue.

Council areas emblazoned on the garments, which are part of the company’s “Cutie Blonde” range, include Falkirk, of course, Clackmannanshire, West Lothian and North Lanarkshire and West Lothian.

Word of the t-shirts reached the western world after a Scottish ex pat spotted people walking around with them and “couldn’t believe” his eyes.

The fashion house created a Falkirk t-shirt claiming it was in the West Lothian area (Picture: Submitted)

placeholder image — The fashion house created a Falkirk t-shirt claiming it was in the West Lothian area (Picture: Submitted)

Strangely, the Falkirk t-shirt has it list as being in “West Lothian” and has an apparently random date of “1879”.

The error prompted Falkirk Library to post a picture with a mocked up t-shirt stating “Falkirk Library, since 1902 – Stirlingshire” to set the record straight, and possibly give the Japanese designers some inspiration for their next creation.

Apparently it is not unprecedented for Japanese brands to employ Western words, phrases or place names on their clothes – sometimes without the benefit of

Most bizarre of all, however, are the Clackmannanshire shirts.

The fashion house created a Falkirk t-shirt claiming it was in the West Lothian area, prompting Falkirk Library to mock up this t-shirt in response (Picture: Submitted)

The local council there – which has itself promoted the slogan “More than you imagine” for the last few years – will no doubt be perplexed as to why the fashion house has emblazoned their shirt with the slogan “clarity precedes success”.