Demand for $128 shirts worn by 'El Chapo' is crippling the unknown retailer who makes them
Guzman, who was arrested last month, was photographed wearing the $128 shirts - made by LA company Barabas Men - in a highly publicized Rolling Stone interview.
Shortly after the interview was published, the phones at Barabas started ringing off the hook, the company's vice president, Tatiana Kivachook, told the Los Angeles Times.
Suddenly hundreds of orders were coming in for the shirts, but the company only had the capacity to fill 10 to 20 orders a day.
"It's actually been extremely rough. From one point, of course we're very, very excited, but our business was paralyzed through the first week because of all the interviews and demand," Kivachook told Mashable. "In the second week, we were trying to move and fill in the orders, and get extra people and extra hands now in the third week. Honestly it was insane, no one could expect it."
The company's website crashed and employees worked overtime to try and fill demand.
Barabas has recently renamed the shirts to reflect their newfound publicity.
One shirt is now called the "El Chapo" Fantasy button-down and the other is the "El Chapo" Crazy Paisley button-down. Both shirts are on backorder through the first week of February, and they are being sold on eBay for as much as $250.