Stella McCartney Reveals ‘Untraditional’ Team GB Olympic Kit

Stella McCartney and Adidas have unveiled ‘untraditionally British’ designs for the 2012 Team GB Olympic kit

The new kit deploys the motif of the Union flag, with a dark indigo colour scheme offset with red shoes. 

McCartney, Team GB creative director at Adidas, said the new kit was designed to bring the athletes under one look and feel, with all British competitors in the 26 Olympic and 20 Paralympic sports wearing part of the same 590-piece collection. She has described the design as ‘untraditionally British’, and, in relation to the use of the Union flag, explained how it ‘was very important to me was to try and use that very iconic image but to dismantle it and try to soften it, break it down and make it more fashionable in a sense.”

Responding to the onslaught of criticism about the notable lack of GB red, McCartney  said; ‘I wanted to start with the union flag, but I’m really aware the reds, whites and blues are in other nations’ flags and sometimes you can feel quite confused when you are watching the Games… is that American, is that French?’. ‘I wanted to make it slightly more delicate and have more texture’, she added: ‘It’s very recognisable still, I’ve represented all the parts of Great Britain. There’s a lot of red in there, but in a non-traditional way.’

Speaking about the real relevance of the design – i.e. whether it will help Team GB take gold – McCartney explained how the aim was to ‘make the athletes feel like they are in the height of their performance – that they are wearing technical gear that is absolutely going to shave off the tiniest part of a second.’ ‘When I talked to the athletes I asked them: ‘Do you feel different when you look good, do you think it enhances your performance?’ and they all said ‘yes’’, she continued: ‘You shouldn’t have to sacrifice style for sport.’

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