El Chapo might have a fashion career once his drug-lord business is over with. The fallout from Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s arrest has had a surreal twist or two in the tale, but the effect on fashion followers is one of the most unexpected. El Chapo’s loud and flamboyant silk shirts that he wore for a pre-arrest chat with actor Sean Penn are becoming one of the latest shirt trends for fashionistas today. TMZ suggests tongue-in-cheek that El Chapo could consider “a new side hustle” of modeling silk shirts.
El Chapo — Felony Fashions… Capture Launches Craze (PHOTOS) https://t.co/IiVMaMa0ti
— TMZ (@TMZ) January 12, 2016
The bizarre story of El Chapo and the shirts began when Sean Penn managed to set up a meeting and interview with the Mexican drug lord at a secret jungle hideout location to conduct an interview for Rolling Stone . The video and photos taken during the interview of Penn and El Chapo show the most wanted man in the world wearing a couple of the silk shirts in various bright patterns.
The photos owned the internet, and it wasn’t long until the clothing company that carries the silk shirts worn by El Chapo realized they were on to something big. Los Angeles-based Barabas spokesman told TMZ that sales skyrocketed when shoppers realized where they could buy their own El Chapo silk shirts. The store decided to make the “most wanted” tag apply to the shirts and used the original El Chapo photos with Sean Penn to promote the campaign.
****Dress Like a Drug Lord: Shirt El Chapo Wore in Sean Penn Meeting Becomes World’s Most Wanted Fashion Item****… https://t.co/eEXMoizG5j
— Good Fight (@GoodFightMin) January 12, 2016
The company’s website now has photos of the most-wanted man wearing the most-wanted silk shirts . One photo shows a disheveled Sean Penn shaking hands with El Chapo in a highly-patterned gray and blue striped silk shirt called, “The Fantasy.” According to Barabas, the shirt is “filled with an abstract design that makes it stand out.” Another photo shows a pic of a model alongside a pic of El Chapo, both wearing the same bright blue shirt dubbed “Crazy Paisley” by the store. The Crazy Paisley shirt is described as “definitely one to wear on a night on the town,” or if you’re a Mexican drug lord, it’s the kind of shirt you wear for “crawling through drug tunnels,” or in the interview that gets you arrested.
La marca Barabas comercializá en 128 dólares, camisas como la que el “Chapo” uso en la fotografía con Sean Penn pic.twitter.com/o9tMpg73rQ
— Cinco Radio (@JavierLopezDiaz) January 12, 2016
The shirts became so wildly popular that the store’s website went down when eager shoppers tried to immediately buy a piece of El Chapo’s fashion.
Not everyone is a fan of Crazy Paisley or The Fantasy. The Daily Star reports that there are those who think that El Chapo’s fashion choices should be as illegal as his drug activities. One Mexican Twitter user, Eder Corona, tweeted that El Chapo’s style advisor should also go to jail.
QUIEN VISTE O ASESORA A El Chapo en su estilo también debería ir a la cárcel, que fea camisa usó con Sean Penn ? pic.twitter.com/n9XDIldTqF
— Eder Corona (@chico_tequila) January 10, 2016
Another Twitter user said that El Chapo has atrocious taste in fashion, as well as being a horrible murderer who’s done terrible things to Mexico.
El Chapo is a horrible murderer who has done terrible things for Mexico and has atrocious taste in fashion pic.twitter.com/JO8qHTkPwE
— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) January 10, 2016
Others are upset because Barabas claims to be all about promoting goodness. The store’s mission statement says their philosophy is “Good Words, Good Thoughts, Good Deeds,” but using a drug lord and murderer as a sales pitch doesn’t really fit in well with the philosophy of goodness the store promotes.
Most people, however, just wish that El Chapo would plan his wardrobe better.
@PerezHilton They needed to arrest El CHAPO for that shirt
— SEAN C TURNER (@SEANCTURNER1) January 12, 2016
[Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP]
