San Bernardino, Calif. — Taking a page from Orange County surfwear industries, inland residents are learning to market what makes them distinct.  In their case, it’s fire.

With wildfires raging from Malibu to San Diego, small fashion shops have sprung up in garages and warehouses all across the Inland Empire, creating a burgeoning business in fire-retardant and fireproof fashion. 

“People here are looking for something that’s swanky yet casual — something they could wear to dinner or a movie — but will also protect them if they need to bolt from a wildfire.”

The latest fashion trend features such items as flame-resistant summer dresses, asbestos-laden blue jeans, and women’s jewelry that (when exposed to heat) will melt and form a protective layer of fireproof goop for the glamorous.

Even haute couture is catching on.  Designer Eve-Gaunt Marie believes there’s a strong market for this type of innovative fashion apparel.  “Wherever there’s fear, there’s fashion — and high fashion is no different.”

But will the average Inland Empire consumer buy into it?  And can the concept spread beyond the fringes of this fire-scorched region?

“Absolutely,” says California Fire-Apparel Fashion Industry spokesman, Bernard DiSimone, “There are teenage kids in the Midwest who’ve never experienced a California wildfire firsthand but who like the edgy, sporty image of being engulfed in real flames.  They all want in.  They're going nuts for it.  They say things like: 'It’s so hot, it’s cool!'”