US clothing firm cashing in on 'Steve Jobs' turtleneck shirts?

Did a US clothing firm cash in on the popularity of Steve Jobs when it claimed that the late Apple Inc. co-founder and former CEO was a fan of its mock turtleneck shirts? On his blog on CNET, award-winning creative director Chris Matyszczyk said, "This might be the case with a company called Knitcraft." According to "The Smoking Gun" website, the menswear clothing firm Knitcraft, which produces the expensive St. Croix clothing line, earlier claimed on its site that Jobs was a fan of its turtleneck shirts. However, Knitcraft backtracked on its claim after author Walter Isaacson’s soon-to-be-released biography of Jobs said the famous shirts were created specifically for the Apple co-founder by his Japanese friend and designer Issey Miyake. "Immediately after Jobs’s October 5 death, officials with Knitcraft, which produces the pricey St. Croix clothing line, claimed that Jobs religiously wore its $175 mock turtleneck, which they refer to as 'Style 1990,'" The Smoking Gun said. Earlier, an article in the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal quoted Knitcraft founder Bernhard Brenner as saying that Jobs purchased two dozen turtlenecks annually and occasionally called him to say how much he liked the St. Croix garment. Later, Knitcraft removed on its site the claim that Jobs was a fan of the company's shirts. Even after removing the reference to Jobs, Knitcraft promised to donate $20 for every $175 black "Style 1990" turtleneck shirt to the “ongoing fight against cancer." The report noted that although Knitcraft had backtracked on its claim, sales of the shirt remained brisk. The company's site said the "Style 1990" shirts have gone out of stock but online customers can expect their orders to be shipped by November 7. - VVP, GMA News