A story in the Sept. 26th edition of The New Yorker caught my eye. Miguel Caballero owns a company that makes bullet-proof clothing. The main offices are in Bogota, Colombia, with branches in Mexico City and Sao Paulo. He has developed a stronger, more flexible version of Kevlar and is using it makes fashionable garments for the fearful. (Just Google "Miguel Caballero)
These items include a leather jacket for sport or motorcycling, a "reporter's" vest (all sorts of oddly-placed pockets) and a polo shirt. The polo shirt comes in navy, red or light blue and costs $3,475. A "Medium" shirt weighs 1.8 kg. Dry clean only!
Other items that have been made to the customers specifications. Steven Seagal ordered a bullet-proof kimono; Sean "P.Diddy" Combs sports a white dinner jack. It was widely rumored that President Obama wore one of Caballero's bullet-proofed suits to his inaguration. Caballero neither confirmed nor denied this.
Other clients include King Abdullah of Jordan; President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela; President Uribe, Colombia, and Prince Felipe of Spain. I think I see a trend here..
And yet, Caballero swears that he doesn't sell garments to the bad guys, i.e. drug lords or other criminals. Before delivery each customers name and order number are sewn into the garment in case of theft from the purchaser.
Caballero noted that Catholic priests in drug-infested countries buy a vest to wear underneath their robes or -- new product alert! - carry an oversized, bullet-proof Bible to be used as a shield! Thus armed, priests feel safe in offering harsh criticisms of drugs and those who traffic in them.
Incidentally, if you are shot within six months of receiving your garment, Caballero will replace it gratis. These garments are ... one-shot items.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment