'Gowanus Black' Calvin Klein Jacket Seems To Refer To Dirty Canal

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — A new trucker jacket at Calvin Klein sold in "Gowanus Black" has people wondering if the New York chain has named a clothing piece after the infamous black sludge found at the bottom of the canal.

The "Foundation Trucker Jacket" — now on sale for $51.20— is being sold on Calvin Klein's website in both "Gowanus Black" and "Gowanus White." The black option seems to refer to toxic muck found in the bottom 10 feet of the Gowanus Canal, often called black mayonnaise.

"So "Gowanus Black" is a color? As in mayonnaise?" The Gowanus Current, a group making a documentary about the neighborhood, posted on Twitter with a link to the jacket.

The Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, a nonprofit that aims to improve city waterways, also joked about the company's apparent dig at the canal.

"Canoe voyage yesterday was Gowanus vibrant!," the group Tweeted. "Many fish and colorful birds & no one wore black @CalvinKlein contact us! Your model is so sad ..."

The white color's name seems to make less sense, but Brooklyn Paper guessed it may refer to recent efforts to clean up the canal's sludge.

The Environmental Protection Agency are working on a pilot program to scoop up the toxic muck as part of its effort to clean up the waterway. Over the summer, officials used bulkheads to dredge up 11 feet deep of the sludge.

The sediment was used to cover landfills in Pennsylvania and hunks containing too much liquid tar were sent to facilities in New Jersey and burned away. The program will also "cap" the waterway with two feet of sand, clay and other granular materials at the bottom to prevent further contaminants.

Photo from Calvinklein.us