Colombian Miguel Caballero is one half wizard from Final Fantasy, one half character from The Wire. That’s because he’s known throughout all of South America for creating a range of bulletproof clothes—from trenchcoats to ruffled tuxedo shirts—that have protected the likes of Presidents Hugo Chavez and Álvaro Uribe of Colombia. The pieces range from about a few hundred bucks to about seven large, but can go much higher for custom pieces, like a toreador who wanted to get a bulletproof fighting suit. We would go in, but the blogger’s suit of sweatpants and faded Morrisey t-shirt was too expensive for the off chance a stray bullet enters our apartment, even if we do live in Brooklyn. But for the normal user afraid of walking the streets and getting his chest blown out, what can they expect?

Now, a potential burglar can take a shot at him with a .38-caliber revolver, a 9-millimeter pistol or a submachine gun and still not pierce his lightweight, heat-resistant and quite fashionable coat.

To lower the chance that he is outfitting the bad guys, Mr. Caballero runs background checks on customers, checking their names against lists of fugitives compiled by the United States and Mexican governments. He points out that the clothing is not designed for the kind of warfare that is breaking out in some parts of Mexico, where drug assassins have used rocket launchers and grenades to wipe out rivals.

Well, not until the 2011 line, anyway. Although by then the cartels will have moved up to conventional nuclear warheads which is going to really put a damper in sales.

Right Thing to Wear at the Wrong End of a Gun [NY Times]
Image [Miguel Caballero]