The Glamour Games

Dear Readers,

This is the article that was published yesterday in Manic Magazine's latest issue. I'm not the most athletic person on the planet, but I do enjoy watching the Olympics! My favourite disciples are synchronized swimming and gymnastics, which are yours? I'll upload a link to the article in the PRESS section once the issue is made available online. See you soon!

-B

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Two hundred and five nations.  Thirty-one competition venues. Five hundred thousand spectators per day. Twenty six different sports. All is set as stylish London hosts this year’s edition of the Olympic Games for the third time in the British capital’s history!

The Olympic Games have never attracted so much attention from the fashion industry. Could this fashion interest be attributed to the fact that London may be this year’s Olympics host, but let’s keep in mind that the city is, first and foremost, a widely loved fashion capital. With designers flocking to imprint their names on the athletes’ kits and fashion royalty like Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Rosie Huntington Whiteley confirming their attendance to the Games’ closing ceremony, the Games are looking more stylish than ever! London is officially a sartorial battlefield.

At the very forefront of this year’s Glamour Games is British fashion designer Stella McCartney. The fashion god is sponsoring Great Britain’s official Olympic kits as well as a separate collection for the athletes to wear off the field at the very much discussed Olympic Village. The kits, designed by Stella but produced by German sportswear giant Adidas, is sleek and tight-fitting. The numbers are impressive to say the least: a total of nine hundred British athletes shall be sporting nearly six hundred different items! It definitely takes no genius to notice the prominent Union Flag motif, with red and blue being the predominant colours of the British kits. Stella confesses her love for the British flag, describing it as an ‘emblem’ and ‘one of the most beautiful flags in the world’. McCartney’s interpretation of the flag is modern, with red being shifted to the kit is trim and two shades of blue making up the flag instead. Red and blue, confirms the designer, are the colours of a couple of other nations’ flags, so the Union Jack motif helps to make the British Olympiads easily identifiable and, most importantly, look like ‘one voice, one nation’.

The British designer, very excited for the Games themselves, declares that she placed equal emphasis on both form and function during the design process. Making the athletes look good was as important as ensuring that the kit maximised their performance. British athletes appreciated the interplay between the two aspects, admitting that not only do they have confidence in the technology of their kits, but they are also sure that if they look good, they’ll perform better!

Italian fashion label Armani must ring a bell to most of you. Giorgio Armani shall be waving the Italian flag at the London Olympics, having designed a collection of more than fifty items, including trolleys, portable wardrobes, shoes, bermudas and tracksuits for the Italian athletes participating in the Games. Unlike McCartney, Armani did not opt for the colours of the Italian flag, choosing to go for nation’s traditional competition colours, namely white and midnight blue. In a very patriotic nature, Armani’s designs include words from the Italian national anthem, the Mameli hymn, written on the insides of garments like jackets, polo shirts and sweatshirts. Armani declares to be more than honoured to have been chosen for the task, saying that this was a sign of recognition for this work.

The kits of the Italian national sailing team were trusted to fashion front-runners Prada. Having previously sponsored four America’s Cup campaigns, Prada seemed like a natural choice. The label is not only behind the athletes’ uniforms, but it also took care of the uniforms of all technical staff members! Uniforms are blue, slim-fitting and feature a prominent Prada logo on the kit is sleeves. President of the Italian Sailing Federation, Carlo Croce, says that he is more than proud to have Prada on the team. He believes the fashion label became synonymous with the sport and also mentions that their previous sponsoring experiences have granted the brand with priceless knowledge of racing apparel, especially in terms of textile research, manufacturing techniques and fittings.

Ralph Lauren unveiled his two Olympic collections exactly a hundred days before the start of the Games in London. The eight hundred members of the American Olympic team were spoilt with a collection for the closing parade and yet another one for the Olympic Village. The garments created for the closing parade have an evident tennis club vibe to them. Women shall sport white button-up blouses and knee-length skirts, whereas the men’s white button-up shirt shall be accompanied by a sleek pair of white pleat trousers. In order to stick to the colours of the American flag, Lauren added a silk stripe belt in a stunning red, white and navy pattern as well as a matching scarf for the ladies. The collection also includes a selection of re-issued Ralph Lauren numbers from the thirties and forties and accessories like tote bags, hats, towels and sunglasses. The American designer also worked on collections for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, making his Olympics 2012 collections the third of their kind.

On a much smaller scale, another Olympics collection that garnered significant attention is the one designed for the Jamaican team by Cedella Marley, daughter of reggae king Bob Marley, in collaboration with Puma.  During the launch of the collection, Cedella Marley explained how her father was always incredibly influential as a father but also as a musician. The collection does, in fact, pay tribute to the singer, with song lyrics embroidered on the inner part of garment collars as well as Bob Marley patches attached to some of the jackets.

With the enthusiasm spreading to a number of high-street fashion brands, including River Island amongst many others, we cannot help but wonder why the fashion industry is putting so much effort into this year’s edition of the Olympic Games. River Island teamed up with sportswear sponsor Adidas to create the ‘Team GB’ collection in the iconic hues of red, white and blue. On their part, Adidas also worked with the British Fashion Council on a student design competition. The winner, Alexandra Gardner from Nottingham Trent University, saw her Olympics themed collection launched in Adidas stores in mid-May!

 Undoubtedly, as these same designers remarked, the Games are an excellent outlet for some good natured patriotism, however we cannot deny that the event has an enormous audience as well as formidable media coverage. Four million event followers are bound to bring significant commercial potential and income, so it is more than understandable to see designers wanting to leave their mark on the Games. It is a good move. The Olympics are good business.

Will the same unprecedented fashion hype surround the Games four years from now? Who knows? The only thing I am sure about is that I never saw myself as an Olympiad, but now that designer-wear is involved, I might actually give it a thought...