Continuing our Countdown to the 2012 Olympic Games features, we bring you some of the COOLest uniforms of the games.
The UK team uniforms are designed by Adidas and Stella McCartney and will be worn across 46 sports. Stella recalls her experience, “I’ve been talking to athletes for two years,” she said. “I wanted to ask what matters to them—whether it might psychologically improve their performance to look good, what I needed to do to work around the rules and regulations of each discipline, and all their technical requirements. Some told me, yeah, if I look better it helps. Others said, I don’t care how I look as long as I can shave off a second." Keeping with the 2012 London Games theme of sustainability, the designer used recycled synthetics to create all of the apparel.
Team USA's Olympics kit is designed by Ralph Lauren and Nike. Track and field athletes will wear uniforms that Nike says could shave up to 0.023 seconds off 100-meter sprint times — a difference that could have elevated Walter Dix from bronze to the silver medal at the Beijing Olympics.
The Associated Press reported controversy about the team's opening ceremony uniforms by Ralph Lauren. "Republicans and Democrats railed about the U.S. Olympic Committee's decision to dress the U.S. team in Chinese manufactured berets, blazers and pants while the American textile industry struggles economically with many U.S. workers desperate for jobs" (Source: AP via ESPN online). The Olympics Committee disagreed with the criticism stating, "We're proud of our partnership with Ralph Lauren, an iconic American company, and excited to watch America's finest athletes compete at the upcoming Games in London." Any way you look at it, the designs are COOL.
Image sources:
http://trackfocus.com/usatfpro/nike-unveils-2012-us-track-field-uniforms/attachment/ldn12_rn_pr_doliver_131_mr_large
http://www.thesportsfanjournal.com/columns/ed-the-sports-fan/nike-basketball-reveals-team-usa-uniforms-for-the-2012-london-olympics/
http://inside.nike.com/blogs/nikesoccer/2012/04/16/two-teams-one-jersey
Associated Press
The Olympics kit for the Italian athletes is designed by Emporio Armani. The brand released several beautiful videos showcasing the designs with striking imagery. Among our favorite details of the uniforms is the inclusion of the words to the Italian national anthem featured on the inside of the jackets.
And finally, always a personal Olympics fashion fave of ours are the Netherlands opening ceremony attire. Expertly styled, the uniforms are probably the most wearable ensembles of the games. The Dutch are generally known for their COOL and modern design aesthetic so it's no surprise that their uniforms reflect that.
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