Most wanted shirt: L.A. company profiting off El Chapo's fashion
LOS ANGELES -- The most wanted man and his most wanted shirt? An apparel company in Los Angeles surely thinks so.
Barabas, a Los Angeles-area company that describes itself as a premium apparel brand, is cashing in on the fashion of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
El Chapo escaped from a Mexican prison in July for the second time. In October, the then-fugitive drug lord had a secret meeting with American actor Sean Penn and Mexican actress Kate del Castillo. He was recaptured by Mexican authorities on January 8.
Penn detailed his visit with El Chapo in a highly controversial Rolling Stone Magazine article the day after the capture. For authentication purposes, a photo of the actor shaking hands with El Chapo was taken during their visit.
In the photo, El Chapo wears a blue and gray collared shirt with two darker solid blue panels down the front. And in a later video interview, he wears a different blue shirt with a distinct pattern. Both shirts appear to be the same ones the Los Angeles store sells.
Barabas has wasted no time linking its shirts with the iconic drug lord. On their website, they advertise the shirt which retails for $128, alongside the Rolling Stone photo of Penn with El Chapo. "Most Wanted Shirt," the advertisement reads.
On its Facebook page, Barabas advertises the shirt as its "famous El Chapo shirt."
Posted by Barabas Men on Monday, January 11, 2016
Although it is unclear how El Chapo got the shirt, a spokesperson for the company told CBS News in an email: "We don't know how El Chapo got a hold of the shirt; however, we can speculate that it was purchased in one of the boutiques in Mexico. Our major customer base is in boutique stores all around USA and Mexico."
The company said sales for the shirt have skyrocketed. The website was crashing due to heavy unexpected traffic, spokesperson Tatiana Kivachook said.
"We had to do emergency upgrade to our server just to get us back and running," she said.
As of right now, Barabas is taking back-orders for the shirt, which are expected to be shipped at the beginning of February.
On its site, the company describes its "fashion philosophy," as in "current mode."
"What makes something in current mode? To be current is to know what is happening in the world we live in," the company writes.
The Los Angeles company doesn't seem to be the only one cashing in on El Chapo's fame.
Piñateria Ramirez, a Mexican piñata shop on the Mexico-Texas border, has created an El Chapo piñata. The creator of the piñata posted it to Facebook, writing in Spanish, "Mission accomplished." The maker told Spanish website Expreso.press that the piñatas will sell between 500 to 1,000 pesos. The equivalent to about $27 to $55.
Posted by Piñateria Ramirez on Wednesday, January 13, 2016
While the drug lord has become somewhat of a folk hero image, Mexican authorities estimate he is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people.