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Maine company in the spotlight after Maduro apparently wore one of their hoodies
“Probably a DEA agent slipped this hoodie on him and said, ‘You’re going to feel the fabric of freedom on American soil.’”
The CEO of a Maine apparel company said his phone “blew up” after deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was apparently photographed wearing one of their hoodies upon arriving in New York over the weekend.
The U.S. captured Maduro, Venezuela’s president, and his wife in a staggering nighttime military operation Saturday, charging the ousted leader with drug and weapons offenses. Before long, social media was flush with images that appeared to show Maduro wearing an ORIGIN hoodie in the shade “Patriot Blue,” surrounded by Drug Enforcement Administration agents.
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In one photo, Maduro appears to be giving the camera a double thumbs up.
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“I had to start putting the pieces together: Why is this dude wearing an Origin Patriot Blue hoodie?” Pete Roberts, the company’s founder and CEO, said in a video Sunday. “And the irony in this is that this wave, this logo here on the shirt Maduro is wearing, this is the ‘Wave of Freedom.’”
Farmington-based ORIGIN began as a way to help revitalize a struggling New England manufacturing community, he explained, and its “Wave of Freedom” logo represents a commitment to building back.
Roberts also offered his theory on how Maduro came to be wearing a hoodie made by a smaller brand from Maine.
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“Probably a DEA agent slipped this hoodie on him and said, ‘You’re going to feel the fabric of freedom on American soil,’” he quipped. “That’s my assumption, and I’m taking the liberty to assume.”
Writing on Facebook, ORIGIN co-founder and retired Navy SEAL Jocko Willink further noted the brand has supporters “in every branch of service and every agency of the government.”
According to ORIGIN’s product description, the hoodie offers a “triple chill effect” to wick away moisture and cool athletes down — an element Roberts said he found “really curious and interesting,” given the chilly weather in New York.
“So maybe they wanted him to feel comfortable or a little uncomfortable. I’m not quite sure,” Roberts said. “But he definitely gave two thumbs up, so I think he liked the fabric.”
Still, he told News Center Maine ORIGIN isn’t looking to politicize the Maduro photo op and is “just trying to use it for brand awareness and to get people back into our store.”
The brand’s website traffic jumped about 300% Sunday, and sales were up roughly 200%, Roberts told the news outlet.
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“It would be really hard for a company out of Maine to get, let’s call it, a billion eyes on our brand,” he said. “And so, that’s a real positive as a brand, as a movement. We would never have been able to create that.”
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