by Brooke Varney
WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange.
Believe it or not, WikiLeaks could soon be known as a fashion label. The infamous non-profit website, which publishes secret information, news leaks, and classified media from anonymous sources is planning on opening stores in India in order to raise awareness and funds. Like websites such as Wikipedia, WikiLeaks is funded and run solely on donations in order to keep the site afloat. Iceland-based WikiLeaks representative Olafur Vignir Sigurvinsson told the Times of India, “India is one of the countries where awareness about WikiLeaks is the highest and Julian [Assange, WikiLeaks founder] is excited about the proposition.”
WikiLeaks already sells apparel, including t-shirts and sweatshirts with phrases like “Designated Enemy of the State”, “Leaks Exposing Injustice”, and “Hackers Of the World Unite Against the NSA Surveillance”. In the new stores set to hit Indian malls, customers will be able to peruse “high-end fashion apparel, accessories, household goods, paper goods… that kind of stuff,” with WikiLeaks apparently having “fashion designers in France and in other places who wanted to co-brand their products.” Assange is hoping to achieve the same level of success as clothing featuring the likeness of famous Argentinian Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, which is hugely popular worldwide. Will we see WikiLeaks fashion on runways amongst Gucci and Chanel next year? Only time will tell.
Assange hopes to achieve the success that apparel emblazoned with Che Guevara’s likeness has seen for years around the world.
A selection of t-shirts available on WikiLeaks’ website.