Bulletproof men’s suit for $3.2 million

By The Standard | Mar. 13, 2014

[highlight]Bulletproof men’s suit blends Bruce Wayne style, Batman-worthy tech[/highlight]

Sartorially, Bruce Wayne certainly had the life. When he wasn’t on the job, he got to wear million-dollar suits, thousand-dollar watches, and ties that cost more than a few hundred bucks. When he switched into Batman mode, he got to flaunt a slick cape, body armor that made him look ripped, and one hell of a belt. (By the way, I’m talking here of the movie reboots, not so much the Adam West days.)

Now, a Zurich-based company known as Suitart has developed a men’s suit that combines a whole lot of Wayne style with an ample dose of “kapow!” It’s called “Diamond Armor,” and for good reason: the suit fabric is embedded with 880 black diamonds; the lapels and stitching feature an additional 600 black diamonds with a total weight of 140 carats; and the jacket buttons are made from steel embedded with even more black beauties — 280 to be precise.

So that’s got the Bruce Wayne extravagance covered. What about the Bat bling?

For starters, the suit is bulletproof. It uses technology invented by Croshield, a company that makes body armor and other bulletproof gear, to achieve what the manufacturers say is a level II protection classification. According to the National Institutes of Justice, this level will protect the wearer from bullets fired from handguns ranging from 9mm pistols to .57 Magnums. Anything stronger than that coming at you, and it’s best to retreat back to the Batmobile.

Speaking of bullets flying around, that’s bound to make any superhero or millionaire playboy sweat a little, so the Diamond Armor suit has built-in air conditioning. According to the Web site for the super suit: “The integrated technology, which can be activated at the push of a button, allows for highest comfort by cooling the wearer down through the humidification of water.” The manufacturers worked with EMPA, a company that has previously made bulletproof vests that use a water-filled “Coolpad” combined with a fan to keep wearers cool.

And, oh yeah. The Diamond Armor suit also won’t need cleaning very often, thanks to the fact that its outer layer is created from a nanotech process that makes it waterproof and dirt resistant. Although if you could afford the suit’s $3.2 million dollar price tag, I don’t think you’d have many concerns over the dry cleaning bill.

“But what about accessories?” I can hear you ask. Good question! The suit comes with a tie woven from 24-carat gold (natch). Also, although not quite an accessory, the suit also features a silk lining printed with a painting by Costa Rican artist Luciano Goizueta. Adding to the spy-cred of the threads, this particular painting appeared in the movie “This Means War.” To check it out, pause the below video at 1:28 and you’ll see it hanging on the wall behind Chris Pine’s head just before he’s darted. Too bad he didn’t have his Diamond Armor suit on (with the lapels turned up, of course).