Sri Lanka is cashing in on the demand by United States and European buyers who are willing to pay big bucks for "distressed" jeans.

Workers in the industrial town of Avissawella take about 13 minutes to sew basic five-pocket jeans, then spend four days dying, bleaching and sandpapering them to get a battered look.

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

"We earn more money by making denims look dirty and torn, the classic clean look doesn't bring us much," Kumarasiri told AFP during a visit to the 10-million-U.S.-dollar plant, which can make over three million pairs of jeans a year.

Basic denim jeans cost around six dollars 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," he said.

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 dollars a pair, and often sell for over 100 dollars.