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 Bullet-proof and fashionable
    August 12 2008 at 06:45AM Get IOL on your
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By Kanina Foss

For the super-rich and the ultra-important, who face the bothersome risk of being shot at, there's a range of bullet-proof clothing that doesn't require the sacrifice of style for security.

The Miguel Caballero line of armoured outfits is being called the Armani of bullet-proof clothing. It's enough to make James Bond jealous.

The range features trench coats, business suits, suede jackets, leather jackets, raincoats, collared shirts, T-shirts and denim casuals.

'We make bullet-proof fashion'
The protective panels are made from a patented weave of nylon and polyester, which can withstand shots from a 9mm pistol, all the way up to a .44 magnum handgun, a Mini-Uzi or an AK47.
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If you're expecting knives, you can pay extra for stab-proof lining.

High-profile clients include King Abdullah of Jordan, Prince Felipe of Spain, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and actor Stephen Segal.

In Mexico City, there's a posh Miguel Caballero boutique next to the stores of Armani and Louis Vuitton.

Harrods in London has a tailor ready to fit Miguel Caballero clothing 24 hours a day.

"There are hundreds of companies that make bullet-proof vests. We make bullet-proof fashion," said founder and CEO, Miguel Caballero, in an interview with CNN.

The company was founded in Columbia, the country with the highest risk to personal safety.

While a university student in Bogota, Caballero had classmates - mostly the children of politicians - who wore heavy and obvious protective vests.

He started producing high-security fashion, and has since expanded his business into 16 countries.

He told Time magazine his company didn't operate exclusively in dangerous places, but admitted that "they don't need us in Switzerland".

Miguel Caballero is coming to South Africa, and the range will be launched tonight at a glitzy event at Melrose Arch.

Confirmed attendees include Winnie Mandela, Zindzi Mandela, the SA ambassador to Moscow, and a variety of big-shot bankers, businessmen and military personnel.

But bullet-proof clothing in South Africa was not just for the very important, said the event organisers.

They expect any citizen who can afford Miguel Caballero clothing will buy the garments to make life in a crime-ridden country less risky.

Late-night forays to the corner store are less daunting when you're bullet-proof.

But at a cool R20 000 per jacket, Miguel Caballero clothing will remain out of reach of the man on the street.

Ari Ben David is the distributor for SA, Russia and the Middle East.

At Tuesday night's launch, a Miguel Caballero jacket will be auctioned off and the proceeds will go to crime victim Courtney Ellerbeck, who was shot while inside her mother's womb.

The garments are dry-clean only (try not to get blood on them).

In an interview with the BBC, Caballero said anyone who came to work at the company had to test the clothing by being shot at.

"You have to believe in our products," he said.



  • This article was originally published on page 3 of The Star on August 12, 2008

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