Fashion and Protection together: Bulletproof clothes

It looks just like regular clothes, even stylish, but in fact this suit is hiding an astonishing secret (especially for the guy that has pulled the trigger). That’s right, Miguel Caballero’s line of suits, shirts, and jackets is the first to merge high fashion with even higher security, designing bulletproof clothes to wear every day.

Based in Bogota, Miguel Caballero’s eponymous company constructs clothes which help protect the wearer against bullets, knives and other weapons. Miguel Caballero has been labeled by “Business Week” magazine as “the Armani of Bulletproof Apparel”.
As well as domestic customers such as Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, Mr Caballero has made good use of Colombia’s notoriety to build up an international base - now boasting President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and the Prince of Spain as clients.

Last year the 39-year-old entrepreneur sold an estimated $8 million worth of bulletproof trench coats, business suits, suede jackets, and denim casuals to executives, political leaders, undercover agents, and other VIPs - people who demand more than a bodyguard for protection and don’t like the bulk or SWAT-team look of flak jackets and vests.
“There are hundreds of companies that make bulletproof vests,” Caballero says. “We make bulletproof fashion.”

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Mr Caballero said that the idea of developing this kind of clothes came to him while still at university.
He was inspired when he saw the lack of protective clothing worn by the bodyguards of one of his fellow students.
“All the time, those guys did not use the best, because it was very uncomfortable and very heavy,” he explained.
“They used leather jackets and suede jackets. I came up with a way to put the two characteristics together - security and fashion.”
Miguel Caballero began by making bullet-proof leather and suede jackets, but the company has now expanded to other clothes, including raincoats, blazers, and other tops.
Behind the style, though, is some groundbreaking substance. Instead of heavier Kevlar materials for armored lining, Caballero developed and patented a weave of nylon and polyester that can stand up to gunfire without sacrificing convenience or comfort.
The first Kevlar-based bulletproof leather jacket he created weighed 11 pounds. Today the same garment, with the new material, is just 2.6 pounds.

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Although it seems it would be a great idea to work in such a flourishing company, you might have to think it twice, knowing that almost every employee has received one or two gunshots, as a quality control process obviously…

Sources: CNN Money, LuxuryLaunches