North Korean-made designer jeans label launched in Sweden
By APFriday, December 4, 2009
North Korea-made designer jeans launched in Sweden
STOCKHOLM — North Korea is making an unlikely foray into designer denim as the “Noko Jeans” label is launched in Sweden.
The brand is Swedish but the jeans are manufactured in North Korea, an experiment its creators described as a way to open doors to the reclusive communist country.
More than 1,000 pairs are going on sale online on Friday. Stockholm’s PUB department store says it will start selling the brand this weekend.
Two officials at North Korea’s Embassy in Stockholm confirmed that the jeans are made in the Asian country. They declined to give their names.
The chances of seeing the brand on the streets of Pyongyang are small.
Choi Eun-suk, a professor at Kyungnam University in Seoul, said jeans are banned in North Korea as they are considered a symbol of U.S. imperialism.
