KimJongIl

Swedes Skittish on the People's Jeans

Filed under: Apparel

HELLO IT'S Noko Jeans! from Noko Jeans on Vimeo.

Novelty isn't enough to keep the latest in Swedish jeans on store shelves. Noko, which debuted last week, is an upscale brand with an unusual twist -- it's made by people who could never partake in the style. The jeans are manufactured in North Korea, where access to jeans is rare at best.

Swedish department store PUB, decided to stop selling the jeans in order to avoid controversy. After all, who'd want to be associated with the land of Kim Jong Il? The department store's management claims it didn't know of the jeans' origin and killed the deal as soon as it learned of the North Korea connection. Sweden is effectively the western world's envoy to Pyongyang.

Rene Stephansen, PUB's director, told The Associated Press, "For us, this is not a question of Noko Jeans - this is a question about a political issue that PUB doesn't want to be associated with." He continued, "This is not the forum for the discussion."

Noko Jeans was developed by three Swedish entrepreneurs who wanted to engage North Korea, end the isolation ... and probably capitalize on the Communist mystique. The jeans are only available in black, and they aren't cheap. One pair will set you back $215 a pop!

The plan was that Noko Jeans would be sold at Aplace, a store within the PUB store, according to Stephansen. Aplace isn't on board with PUB's decision, calling it "a bit cowardly."

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Tags: designer, dprk, fashion, jeans, kim jong il, KimJongIl, north korea, NorthKorea, pub, sweden

No Yachts For North Korean Dictator

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

Looks like controversial North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il won't be getting his hands on a pair of Italian yachts. Italy's Libero-News is reporting that two luxury yachts worth about 13 million were impounded by Italian police in Viareggio. The yachts were headed to China but were confiscated in a sting operation with the appropriate name of Operation Flybridge. An Austrian businessman had paid cash to build the yachts and then the title was transferred to a Chinese company. The police were able to trace the bank accounts to Kim.

Luxury goods have been prohibited from being imported into North Korea since 2006 but that hasn't stopped Kim Jong-Il from getting his hands on various items through similar circuitous methods. The yachts in question will be put up for auction and the money that has been paid for them has been frozen.

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Tags: italy, kim jong il, KimJongIl, yachts

North Korean Fashion Sees "Revolutionary Upsurge"

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

Fashion spending is increasing in some parts of the world ... and where you'd least expect it. According to the Korea Central News Agency, North Korean women have been buying dresses like crazy. I guess when your currency isn't defined by market movements, you can engineer any outcome you like (except in times of famine).

Not exactly known for its propensity for hype, unless it involves ballistic missiles or American defectors, the KCNA reports, "Korean dress shops in Pyongyang are bustling with customers in the current spring season."

In what sounds like a .. um, planned ... statement, a worker in the Ryonghung Korean Dress Shop observes, "All of them [i.e., customers] gasp their admiration for the graceful and fascinating costumes on show in the sample room."

This news report is a traditional tool in the North Korean media, which seeks to portray an image of confidence and self-sufficiency (called "juche") even in the face of reality. The only thing missing was "on the spot guidance" from Kim Jong-Il.

So, broader economic problems aside, North Korea is seeing a "revolutionary upsurge ... which give[s] off national lyricism and aroma in spring."

I read it in the KCNA, so it must be true.

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Tags: dprk, fashion, kim jong il, kim jong-il, KimJong-il, KimJongIl, north korea, NorthKorea, pyongyang