NoKo Jeans are black, because North Koreans “usually associate blue jeans with America,” making them “a little bit taboo,” Ohlsson said.
Jeans are not allowed in the North Korean dress code, but the upstarts say they nevertheless hope that one day they can “make clothes that our friends in the country can wear too.”
The jeans were to have gone on sale at trendy Stockholm department store PUB on December 5 but PUB decided at the last minute to halt the sale, saying it did not want to be dragged into a political debate.
The communist state, all but cut off from foreign influence for the past 60 years, “has been isolated for so long and ethically, we thought that any sort of increased contact with the outside world would be good,” Ohlsson told AFP recently.
The entrepreneurs visited North Korea twice and insisted that the working conditions at their Pyongyang-area factory were good.
Rights groups accuse North Korea of systematic and widespread human rights violations, including torture and forced labour.
Well, which of those stylish pieces would you angle for? I’m not one for pendants, but I could certainly use a nice-looking card case and key ring.