Italian Co. Designs Jeans for Muslims

[MikeN]

ROME - They're high around the waist, wide around the leg and have lots of pockets for holding watches, bracelets, glasses and other knickknacks.

A new line of jeans designed by a small company in northern Italy caters to Muslims seeking to stay comfortable while they pray.

"As far as we know we're the first, at least in Italy," said Luca Corradi, who designed Al Quds jeans.

The bagginess is to ensure the wearer avoids stiffness while bending down repeatedly during prayers. The pockets are for holding all the accessories Muslims have to take off while they worship. And the jeans have green seams — because green is the sacred color of Islam.

Al Quds representatives said a year of research and testing went into the product, with models being asked to try different versions of the jeans while they prayed.

Abdel Hamid Shaari, president of the Islamic Cultural Institute in Milan, said low-priced jeans specifically designed to keep Muslims comfortable could open up a big market in Islamic countries and countries with large Muslim populations.

"This could be a good idea, thinking of the comfort," said Shaari, who used to be a production manager for Italy's Carrera jeans.

"About 90 percent of Muslims, aside from a niche that wants Armani and other top designer-jeans, generally seek jeans that are both resistant and comfortable and not expensive," he said.

Shaari, who is originally from Libya, said Muslims in Tunisia and other North African countries generally wear established brands of jeans or imitations. He said "normal jeans indeed can be slightly stiff to pray and kneel in."

Al Quds — the Arabic name for Jerusalem — has produced an initial 9,500 pairs that it sold to the French retailer Carrefour SA. The retailer has sold an initial batch of about 50 pairs of jeans at a low promotional price of $22.53 in its centers in Italy, company officials said. Corradi said the regular price would be $30.44.

Officials at Carrefour and Al Quds said there was no way to know whether Muslims had bought the jeans.

Al Quds, based in Udine, hopes to make an impact first among Italy's 1.1 million Muslims. If successful, it will reach out to the estimated 18 million Muslims living in Europe.

The company's Web site advertises the jeans as "a new expression for an old tradition."

Corradi said officials from Carrefour had met with representatives from Al Quds and had "reacted with enthusiasm" to the new line. However, it was too soon to tell whether the French company would buy more.

"Let's say we're on the right path," Corradi said.

Carrefour said they did not intend to market the jeans exclusively to Muslims.

"We thought the (model) had an excellent quality-price ratio," said Sonia Augenti, a spokeswoman for Carrefour in Italy. "We target everyone. We do not have a political or religious connotation."

Corradi said the idea for the jeans first came to his friend Giorgio Lotta — a businessman who had never worked in fashion — about a year ago, when he spotted a picture in a newspaper of a sea of jeans-clad Muslims bent down in prayer.

Lotta, now president of Al Quds, studied the market for about a month and concluded there were no jeans designed to keep Muslims comfortable while they pray.

Corradi said the jeans are manufactured at a plant near Karachi, Pakistan that employs about 15,000 people.

"I wanted to respect (the fact) that if these are the first jeans for Islam, they should be built by Muslim hands," he said.

___

On the Net:

http://www.alqudsjeans.com

[Heartworm]

Do they make denim burka's also? Let's make suppressed women look cool!

[damnIam]

Extra pockets and extra baggy to conceal your "keys" yeah right, keys!

[azad]

look dope.

toma açaí

[Guest jeffvyain]

not all muslim women have to cover their heads. sunni muslims are a very legitimate target market, and your attitude is only adding to the problems in this world, and your ignorance is just another example of why other countries hate americans (assuming you are american, which i would say is a valid assumption). you're making us look stupid, man.

and the jeans are nice. i assume the language on those is probably arabic. maybe farsi... either way, they look cool, but their site doesn't tell us their different cuts. if they got some skinny ones i'd sport em.

[triniboy27]

Word. Let's nip the Muslim prejudice in the bud right now, shall we? Before it escalates into a repeat of the 'Asian-hypebeast' drama.

[damnIam]

C'mon man...everybody get picked on sometime...EVERYBODY. The idea of jeans for muslims with extra pockets to conceal things is just fucking hilarious anyway you look at it.

[Seething Tortoise]

Quote:

Word. Let's nip the Muslim prejudice in the bud right now, shall we? Before it escalates into a repeat of the 'Asian-hypebeast' drama.

--- Original message by triniboy27 on Mar 23, 2006 08:28 AM

I'm sure you're aware how easy it is to make something of the pockets for extras etc.

What was the 'Asian-Hypebeast' drama?

[Guest jeffvyain]

damnlam, i actually found your comment funny, just because of the tone you wrote in. it was obviously intended to be a joke. i was referring to the post above yours, where he was obviously being sarcastic, but in a serious manner.

this isn't a political forum, so i won't delve too deep into my beliefs or anything, but america has this thing about forcing what it believes to be right on everyone else, and i wish we could just understand that those people on the other side of the planet that we seem so concerned about believe just as much that they are right, and they have every right to. right and wrong is all relative, and ultimately, it's just not any of our business. we bring problems like terrorism upon ourselves, and comments like the one stated above are perfect examples of that.

sooooo...about those jeans...

Edited by jeffvyain on Mar 23, 2006 at 12:00 PM

Edited by jeffvyain on Mar 23, 2006 at 08:00 PM

[BumbaClot]

didnt work, nevermind

Edited by BumbaClot on Mar 23, 2006 at 12:27 PM

[damnIam]

Yeah, I was joking, I just wanted to bring a little humor to this post before it got too heavy. I fought in the first Gulf War and support our troops completely, however, I have to agree with you...we do bring a lot of trouble on ourselves. I was against the invasion of Iraq by our present administration and truly believe it was a mistake of monumental proportions. I won't stand here and say I am not prejudice because that would be a lie,nobody is perfect or without some prejudice. But I don't purposefully dwell on racism or in any way condone or perpetuate it by my actions. If Muslims need special jeans for praying then by all means someone should make them and sell them, it is the American way right? If we can have jeans taylored for an Ipod then "praying jeans" don't sound that crazy really.

[WhoGotMeIntoThis]

Imagine the honeycombs with all that bending over...

[triniboy27]

Quote:

Quote:

Word. Let's nip the Muslim prejudice in the bud right now, shall we? Before it escalates into a repeat of the 'Asian-hypebeast' drama.

--- Original message by triniboy27 on Mar 23, 2006 08:28 AM

I'm sure you're aware how easy it is to make something of the pockets for extras etc.

What was the 'Asian-Hypebeast' drama?

--- Original message by Tabris on Mar 23, 2006 10:14 AM

Go check SuperTrash for the Supreme lineup post.

And Damnlam, I too wasn't addressing your thread in particular but the one above it. I could definitely see that you were joking - but unfortunately, there's a lot of ppl out there who aren't.

[Guest Guy H]

Sounds like a good idea to me! If it takes off these things will really go off!!

I spent a lot of of money on booze, birds and

fast cars. The rest I just squandered - George Best