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Athletes traveling to Beijing for the Olympics next month will be equipped with uniforms for every occasion. Besides specifically designed sport uniforms, most will also have clothing to represent their nation as a unified team. These formal and/or leisure uniforms are used for official functions, press conferences, and the opening (formal) and closing (leisure) ceremonies.
The Team USA uniforms will bear the design of Polo Ralph Lauren. The leisure uniforms have a definite preppy look. The formal uniforms are a surprise, and won’t be seen until the opening ceremonies August 8th.
The most controversial team uniforms so far are the designs from Hudson’s Bay Company for Canada. The designs feature both Canadian and Chinese symbols and text. See a gallery of the Canadian uniforms here. The response from the public has not been positive. People object to the way the uniforms look and the fact that they are manufactured in China.
The Olympic rules state that no country can wear the same uniform design in two consecutive Olympics. See more new designs for 2008 after the jump.
Germany unveiled its Olympic uniforms in Dusseldorf in April.
The Australian team’s formal uniforms are provided by Sportscraft with shoes by Mileno. The suits are made from lightweight Italian wool, designed for the heat of Beijing. See more pictures in this gallery.
The Japanese formal uniforms were modeled by athletes in Tokyo two months ago.
The Russian team’s retro-style uniforms are designed by Direct Design and produced by Bosco Sport. A representative of Bosco Sport said the uniforms are meant to evoke the legend of the Russian Fire Bird, which is a story akin to the Chinese Phoenix. They are also meant to evoke the Khrushchev era.
The Olympic committee of Spain held a fashion show in Madrid featuring Olympic athletes to introduce their uniforms in April.
Which national team uniforms do you think are the most fashionable? Thursday, we’ll take a look at the designs of individual sports uniforms, which have nothing to do with fashion and everything to do with performance.
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Shhh…super secret special for blog readers.
Comments (31)
Comment
I think the Aussies wearing suits made from Italian wool is almost as scandalous as the “made in China” Canadian uniforms (which look like bad pajamas).
reCaptcha: born mishap
posted by Tom on 7-8-2008 at 7:52 am
The Olympics have always had a tension between two attitudes. On the one side, there is fierce nationalism and competition. On the other side, there is a sense of global brotherhood when the nations of the world come together.
So while one person could believe the uniforms must be designed and manufactured at home with local textiles, another person could be proud of the global input.
recaptcha: appealing held
posted by Miss Cellania on 7-8-2008 at 8:07 am
For some reason, Canadians can’t seem to find their Olympic uniform groove ever since Roots switched to the US uniforms at the last Olympics. I think (from visual observations only) that the Canadian Roots uniforms from years past were definitely the most fashionable and generated the most sales pre- and post-Olympics.
posted by Kate on 7-8-2008 at 8:08 am
I love Canada - but those uniforms look like pajamas…the colors are ugly and they are just overall bad…sorry Canada! and the fact they are made in China is a real tweaker…yikes!
posted by donner on 7-8-2008 at 9:10 am
Why must all the women’s formal uniforms look like flight attendant uniforms? Nothing against flight attendants, but I think even they would agree they don’t wear the most stylish outfits…
posted by Lindsey on 7-8-2008 at 9:22 am
I think in order to make the olympics suck less, the athletes should have to compete in these outfits.
Either that or they should compete the way the original olympians competed: naked and drenched in extra virgin olive oil (or, possibly, the cooking fat which best represents the athlete’s home country)
posted by Florida on 7-8-2008 at 9:50 am
Yikes! Badly done, Canada. There are many wonderful things about our neighbors to the north, but these uniforms are definitely not one of them!
They are eye-catching though–and they’ll probably end up in a lot of photos for this. Maybe it’s a good choice, exposure-wise? Kind of the Bjork swan dress school of thought?
posted by kate on 7-8-2008 at 9:54 am
I just want to point out that HBC, the company that is responsible for Canada’s hideous costumes (decidedly un-uniform), is American. There is sabotage in there somewhere :P
posted by Isabel of Montreal on 7-8-2008 at 10:06 am
Kate, I agree that once Roots started doing other countries Olympic apparel the Canadian stuff wasn’t as good. I used to look forward to seeing what they were. It’s a shame they are no longer making any Olympic apparel. I am looking forward to visiting Roots in Edmonton in a couple of weeks though.
posted by K on 7-8-2008 at 11:52 am
I applaud the Canadians for having their country name also in the Olympic host country’s name. It might help the team to be a crowd favorite.
Um, the clothing design is another issue. I don’t recall blue and green being colors included on Canada’s flag. And the designs on some of the clothing are so fine that it makes the red look pink.
posted by MJG on 7-8-2008 at 12:11 pm
LOL Lindsey - I thought the same thing too. They look like they should be serving Olympians on their flight to China!
posted by CK on 7-8-2008 at 12:24 pm
Am I the only person who actually likes the Canadian uniforms. I think they look cool and different. I also like the way they show appreciation for Chinese arts and design.
Miss C.: Before reading your awesome post, I never really paid attention to the uniforms at all. Thanks!
posted by redbeki on 7-8-2008 at 1:59 pm
The article linked on the word “Canada” makes me think that Canada was going for more of a conceptual design than visual appeal. However, their “B-tube” piece just sounds like a “Survivor” buff.
posted by catherine ann on 7-8-2008 at 3:42 pm
I thought that the US uniforms were a file photo from the 1984 Olympics. I hadn’t realized that it had been long enough for those hideous fashion blunders to come back into style.
Somebody should call Molly Ringwald and the rest of the Brat Pack to tell them that they are coming back into vogue.
So if the 2012 Olympic uniforms advance another four years from preppy, then the next uniforms should feature day-glo and leg-warmers?
posted by n2y2 on 7-8-2008 at 4:14 pm
I really like the Candian uniforms. I prefer them to the US uniforms, which are so very preppy. Instead, the Candian uniforms seem a lot more fun, which is what I really hope (wish) the Olympics are about.
reCaptcha: wrong demand
posted by Manda on 7-8-2008 at 4:39 pm
The Canadian unis actually make Zubaz look good.
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 7-8-2008 at 5:13 pm
For the first time I am kinda’ embarrassed to be Canadian. I know we are not known for our fashion sense (Shania and Celine Dione often make me cringe with what they wear) but come on now!
posted by TheLastPrincess on 7-8-2008 at 5:44 pm
re Isabel: HBC is definitely not an American company, it has been Canadian for much longer than Canada has even existed. It’s based on Toronto and has all of its present stores in Canada. The closest I can figure is that the former CEO (who died this April) was American, but that certainly doesn’t make the company American. If that’s the case, Japan might be shocked to learn Sony is now Welsh.
posted by Andrew on 7-8-2008 at 7:11 pm
Sorry Andrew, Hudson’s Bay has been American for a while now. In 2006 they were bought by an American company that started a Canadian company just for the purposes of the takeover. Hell for most of their history in the grand scheme they’ve been British anyway and have taken their profits out of Canada anyway.
posted by Tristan on 7-9-2008 at 1:51 am
I think the german uniforms are the best out of these pictures… they just seem more suited to what the olympics are about.
And I think it would be good for the world to go back to the original way the olypics were done. and add some more dangerous/different games… like boar wrestling and porcupine dodgeball! (where the porcupines are the balls!) Or even the Random Event where they never know what they are going to have to do! “hey you! you have to steal this flag from angry baboons while swinging from ropes over a boiling lake of lava while eagles are flying around trying to peck your face! You have 3 minutes, GO!”
posted by erik on 7-9-2008 at 11:21 am
According to the USOC, the opening ceremonies uniforms are evocative of Chariots of Fire. So perhaps navy blazers, white slacks or skirts, straw boaters…
posted by DJ on 7-9-2008 at 1:33 pm
… oh. I didn’t realize Zucker had bought the company outright. Whoops!
posted by Andrew on 7-9-2008 at 6:23 pm
HBC may not be owned by Canadians but it’s still considered a Canadian thing… anyway when I seen our uniforms I threw up a bit, I mean USA gets classy RL and we get Zellers PJs lol, bring back Roots for 08 please?
posted by devin on 7-26-2008 at 1:33 am
Just searched Google for “Olympics Clothing” and it’s amazing how much promotion there is this year. Looks like a good portion of the US gear is made in China and some manufacturers have tried to curb this perception with statements like “fabric made in the USA”.
posted by David on 8-1-2008 at 11:45 am
Go Canada! The uniforms look great!!! Shows diversity & guts, a nation who’s not afraid to push the limits - that’s what you have to do as an athlete!
Why would you want to put an athlete in a stuffy, stuck-up look - that’s not what Canada is.
posted by Brenda G on 8-8-2008 at 9:54 am
i think italy’s uniform looks really awesome with excellent cutting.. sweet looking suits. i wonder who designed them.
posted by hepburn24 on 8-8-2008 at 10:07 am
I dont know, I like what HBC has done with the Unis, they are putting it out there - bold - making a crazy statement … honestly they are the only unis I have seen so far that someone might wear out on the street.
I would like to see Lulu Lemon try to get into this - get designing for the Olympics in LuLu Lemon clothing would be huge.
posted by Hugh on 8-8-2008 at 12:36 pm
I think the majority of the people saying they don’t like the uniforms are clearly: 1) over 40 or 2) haven’t the faintest idea what the current fashion trends for kids/teens are. The designers were obviously influenced by the “urban” and hip hop look that has dominated teen street fashion lately. Don’t know who BAPE is? You probably won’t like the designs, but teens and twenty-somethings sure do. But then, refer to my first sentence.
Also, the person talking about the Hudson’s Bay Company being American? Yes, it was owned by an American (who has since died, by the way), but only for the past few years. It is the oldest corporation in North America (over 300 years) and is as Canadian as it gets.
Why blue and green? Because those are part of HBC’s corporate colours, which are yes, a CANADIAN icon.
Saying HBC is an American company is like saying Manchester United is American. HBC is American owned, not American.
posted by Jim on 8-8-2008 at 2:55 pm
I love you Jim, you hit the nail on the head. A lot of people seem to hate these outfits, which by the way are NOT the athletes, these are being sold to the public. I honestly think the designers got it right on with the street/urban feel, and absolutely off-the-wall patterns which is the biggest trend right now. Particularliy in urban clothing styles.
I honestly didn’t hear anything about the bad uniforms from anywhere in my office (I work at an animation studio, so lots of young people) until I turned on the radio and listened to 40, 50, 60 and 70 year olds (not to stereotype, there WERE younger people on too, just not many) complaing about “pajama”-esqu style. And okay, they’re not awesome designs per say, but I see other countries’ flight-attendent look (exactly what I thought, Lindsey!) and I think we really, really dodged a terrible 70’s-80’s bullet. Go Canada, even if you think the outfits are hideous, ha!
posted by shuu on 8-8-2008 at 9:12 pm
I agree with Jim and Shuu. The uniforms were designed with the Athletes input. They were involved in the process and this is what they wanted.
I am sure proud, I think they are different, very forward thinking; and if you go out there in a crowd of people and ask which uniforms they recall out of all the countries, Canada will probably be on top of the list. Bad or not, its to each one’s taste; but they are sure not mistaken by any other country. We don’t look like flight attendants and we surely don’t look like we have gone back in time and are born again preps.
SO, KEEP IT UP CANADA. BRING THE METALS HOME, WE ARE ALL CHEERING FOR YOU.
Also, for all of you who think HBC is American. HBC is as Canadian as you are going to get, the owners over the last couple of years might have been American, but the 70,000 employees who work across Canada are certainly proud Canadians.
If you want to know how Canadian HBC is and what is means to this country, do some research; you might be surprised by what you will find.
posted by elsa on 8-9-2008 at 11:13 am
In reply to a post sent by : Isabel of Montreal, stating “I just want to point out that HBC, the company that is responsible for Canada’s hideous costumes (decidedly un-uniform), is American. There is sabotage in there somewhere :P”
First, the Canadian team worked very closely to the creators of these uniforms. No, they may not be to everyone’s taste but everyone isn’t representing us this year in China are they? 347 athletes are and that is what they helped to create so I suggest you support them regardless of how you yourself sitting in Montreal feel about it.
Second, for the past 350+yrs HBC has been a Canadian Company, it is run by the hard work and sweat of CANADIANS! Yes it was sold to an American but that in no way diminishes the history of this company in Canada. What kind of history are they teaching you kids over there in Quebec ?
Enjoy the games!!
Gooooo Canada :D
posted by Eleanor on 8-10-2008 at 1:51 am