Sport Allure

vogue italia june 2012

The past image of the woman athlete, a stereotype built on muscles and virility has evolved into a series of female champions who are as skilled as they are striking.

Nowadays the figure of a sportswoman and that of a celebrity co-exist without a strain: being in shape is fashionable, and sport is the best medium for a person to attain a healthy beauty, as recognized by the fashion industry.

 "Sport has influenced not only the production of garments that are functional for physical activity, both competitive and none", says Maria Canella, "but also and above all the definition of lines, fabrics and combinations that characterize a style that is more and more widespread with regard to sporty clothing, however used in urban contexts or as casual wear, therefore beyond the training context".

  And comfort has become a must in sportswear. The various collaborations that have seen and still see the big names of fashion trying their hand at sportswear is a proof of this. Several opt for co-branding, such as Puma with Hussein Chalayan. Others take part in various events, some at the Olympic Games in London, and perhaps get their hands on creating the outfits for the athletes competing. This is the case of Emporio Armani, who dressed the Italian team both for the competitive and formal occasions.

reference: Rosario Morabito, Vogue Italia, June 2012, n. 742, p.144

Th Fashion Olympics

Stella McCartney

Christopher Shannon, Michael Van Der Ham and Nasir Mazhar produced 350 costumes for the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony, worn by  dancers in a section of the show representing the "present and future of the extraordinary influence of British creatives in the world of youth culture".

The Olympic Games 2012 is all set to become yet another fashion week of sorts, with big designers like Stella McCartney, Ralph Lauren, Prada, Hermès and Salvatore Ferragamo designing clothes for their national teams. Italian fashion giant Giorgio Armani, who has designed Italian Olympic team’s official kit, under its sportswear Emporio Armani EA7 has happily said that London 2012 would be “the most fashionable Olympic Games ever”. The Italian sailing team on the other hand will don clothes courtesy Prada.

Athletes aren’t the only ones who will be looking stylish this summer: a horde of brands have opened stores in London to celebrate the Games. Victoria's Secret opened its debut UK store in the Westfield Centre in London's Stratford this week. H&M opened two sporting-inspired boutiques in Covent Garden and the Westfield Centre in Stratford. Liberty opened its first store in the Westfield Centre in Stratford; while Opening Ceremony celebrated its debut London retail outlet last week, the same week as Chanel opened its debut UK standalone beauty shop.

Ralph Lauren Gets Lashed Out

ralphlauren.com

Ralph Lauren received a big lash out from lawmakers and observers in the media after ABC News reported in its night broadcast that the 2012 U.S. Olympic team’s uniforms were actually made in China.

Topped with embroidered cotton twill berets, men will don double-breasted blue blazers, along with white trousers and red, white and blue neckties. Women will wear single-breasted blazers and the berets, with patriotic striped scarves and either white skirts or dresses.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ripped into the company, proposing that the U.S. Olympic Committee “put the uniforms in a big pile and burn them and start all over again.” In a rare moment of bipartisan consensus, House Speaker John Boehner also expressed disappointment. “You’d think they’d know better,” he said. Tthe designer in question has been strangely quiet about the outsourcing and about the criticism of his design.

But now the company has released this statement:

“For more than 45 years Ralph Lauren has built a brand that embodies the best of American quality and design rooted in the rich heritage of our country. We are honored to continue our longstanding relationship with the United States Olympic Committee in the 2014 Olympic Games by serving as an Official Outfitter of the US Olympic and Paralympic teams.

Ralph Lauren promises to lead the conversation within our industry and our government addressing the issue of increasing manufacturing in the United States and has committed to producing the Opening and Closing ceremony Team USA uniforms in the United States that will be worn for the 2014 Olympic Games.”

Nike Unveils Suit for USA Track and Field Team

trackfocus.com

Nike unveiled its Turbospeed suit, the official apparel for the USA Track and Field team for the London Summer Olympics alongside ex-Oympic champions Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Carl Lewis, and Michael Johnson.

Designed for the London Olympics, Nike’s new Rocket Red track uniforms and trio of medal stand jackets seem as fit for action movie heroes as for athletes. The brand claims these uniforms are its “swiftest track apparel to date”. Nike says the suits could shave up to 0.023 seconds off 100-meter sprint times.

“It felt like the right time to go red,” explained innovation creative director for Nike, Scott Williams. “It’s very bold, and that inspiration came from talking to our athletes about what they were feeling in competition.”

Fashion into Tennis?

imagevia: tennisgrandstand.com

Cross fluxes between fashion and sport: comfy materials and new colors that break the wall of conventional style and rules to fashion. But the elegance of beauty remains.

Fashion into tennis or tennis injected to fashion? The two worlds have always been very well linked, and have been equally influencing each other. You just need to imagine René Lacoste, the French tennis player of the 20s who invented the fabric called jersey petit piqué, which still at the present time feature the polo shirt with the crocodile. The fabric was lighter and more transpiring, compared to the cotton that had been used to that day, and the short sleeves and the comfortable collar aimed at making the tennis players’ movements easier. The Lacoste polo shirts were initially invented to play tennis, but later became reference pieces of clothing also for other sports, such as golf, and maybe one of most famous and worldwide recognizable clothing elements.

An element that influenced the sport and tennis wear is undoubtedly the evolution of fabrics. The new materials helped the athlete to have a superior and more body heat loss, and this goes in favor of the sport performance. On the other side, these materials allow some chromatic effects that were unimaginable with the natural fibers, and this is entirely in favor of the show. In this techno logic context, some world sport giant companies entered, such as Adidas and Nike, which hold the cartel of the best athletes’ sponsorships: Nadal and Federer, to name just a few. 

A further step to unite the connection between fashion and tennis would be the creation of clothing lines by the big designers. Something that has been started by Adidas and Stella McCartney, with the collaboration of tennis champion C. Wozniacki.