The denims look tattered and frayed, but shoppers in Europe and the United States are prepared to pay good money for "distressed" jeans and Sri Lanka is cashing in on this latest fashion statement.

In the industrial town of Avissawella East of the capital Colombo, it takes workers around 13 minutes to cut and sew basic five-pocket denims. They then spend another four days torturing the pants by dyeing, bleaching, and sandpapering them to get a "distressed" look.

Each garment is dyed or dipped around 16 times and sometimes as many as 30 times to achieve the proper torn, tattered look, said Indrajith Kumarasiri, Chief Executive of Sri Lanka's Brandix Denim.

Basic denim jeans cost around $6 to make, but the shabbier "premium" ones cost twice as much. In many ways, premium denims are replacing the little black dress as the wear-anywhere fashion staple.

Overseas buyers such as Levis, Gap and Pierre Cardin are now regular buyers of premium jeans from Sri Lanka where they can be made for as little as $12 a pair, and often sell for over $100.

Buyers have been gradually shifting production out of Europe to low-cost countries such as Sri Lanka,said Ajith Dias, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Joint Apparel Association Forum. Sri Lanka's $3 billion garment industry accounts for more than half its annual $ 7.0 billion of export earnings, and it provides jobs for nearly one million people. Nearly all the garments are shipped to the United States and the European Union.