American Made in Maine, proudly worn at airports everywhere

Maine-based company says it’s being inundated with calls after shackled Maduro pictured wearing its blue hoodie

A Maine-based apparel company’s phones have been ringing off the hook after a shackled shackled Nicolás Maduro was snapped wearing one of its hoodies when he was hauled to the Big Apple, the company says.The ousted Venezuelan dictator wore the Origin attire — in the company’s “Patriotic Blue” shade — in a now-infamous photo of him flashing two thumbs up while surrounded by scores of DEA agents after touching down in New York.

It wasn’t clear how the dictator ended up in the hoodie.

“Probably a DEA agent slipped this hoodie on him and said, ‘You’re gonna feel the fabric of freedom on American soil.’ That’s my assumption. I’m taking the liberty to assume,” quipped Origin founder Peter Roberts in a video statement.

“He definitely gave two thumbs up so I think he liked the fabric,” Roberts said of the accused narco-trafficker.

“What I believe happened is they landed in New York. It was cold outside, and they put a hoodie on him.”

Based in Farmington Maine, Origin USA, which began as a manufacturer of jiu-jitsu Gis, now offers everything from blue jeans to boots to hats to belts to ….. At $125 +, the jeans are well past my budget, but good for him. Fascinating story on the man and his company appeared in Downeast Magazine ten years ago. Well worth reading:

Downeast Magazine December 2016

Nothin’ But a Gi Thing

In the woods outside Farmington, a martial-arts champ built a hobby into a lifestyle into a factory.