Does it come in kevlar?

With violent crime in Mexico increasing, one enterprising fashionista has started selling bullet-resistant clothing, in designer styles:

MEXICO CITY — Exclusive clothing boutiques line Avenida Presidente Masarik here. A Burberry coat? A Corneliani suit? A Gucci scarf? Have enough pesos, and they are yours.

But tucked on a leafy side street in the Polanco neighborhood is a shop unlike the others, one whose bustling business says much about the dire state of security in this country. At Miguel Caballero, named after its Colombian owner, all the garments are bulletproof.

(Jackets at the Mexico City outlet of Miguel Caballero, a Colombian retailer who specializes in bulletproof clothing. The company’s customers include politicians, royalty and movie stars. Photo: Adriana Zehbrauskas / New York Times)

There are bulletproof leather jackets and bulletproof polo shirts. Armored guayabera shirts hang next to protective windbreakers, parkas and even white ruffled tuxedo shirts. Every member of the sales staff has had to take a turn being shot while wearing one of the products, which range from a few hundred dollars to as much as $7,000, so they can attest to the efficacy of the secret fabric.

Article here. Of course, now women will ask, "honey, does this make my butt look fat bulletproof?" :)

New, Improved Kevlar Promises Stronger, Lighter Vests

DuPont scientists have reportedly developed a new, stronger version of kevlar:

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - New Kevlar technology will allow the production of body armor that provides better bullet-stopping power at a lighter weight, the DuPont Co. said Monday.

Using a new woven fabric technology, coupled with a new coating process, DuPont said it has found a way to deliver improved ballistic performance using its existing Kevlar aramid fiber.

"The bottom line is that it stops bullets faster," said Dale Outhous, global business director for DuPont's personal protection unit

According to DuPont, Kevlar XP can stop bullets within the first three layers of an 11-layer body armor vest, allowing the remaining layers to absorb the energy of a bullet. Outhous said a typical vest in use now would have 20 to 40 layers of material, with a minimum of nine layers needed to stop the bullet.

In addition to better penetration protection, the new technology also better dissipates the energy from a bullet, resulting in less blunt force trauma to the wearer from what is called "backface deformation" of a vest, DuPont said. Such trauma typically consists of bruising and minor rib fractures, according to Dr. Deborah Stein of the University of Maryland's Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

Backface deformation can still cause serious injury, depending on where the bullet strikes the wearer's vest. Of course, it's still better than bullet penetration. Vest manufacturers have typically used improvements in ballistic materials to reduce the weight and thickness of the vest in an effort to enhance wearability. The stronger ballistic material allows the lighter, thinner vest to still meet National Institute of Justice (NIJ) standards for ballistic protection.

For those considering purchasing a bullet-resistant vest, NLECTC, the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center, maintains a searchable database of products that have passed NLECTC testing to the NIJ 2005 Interim Requirements for Bullet-Resistant Body Armor here.