Photo: Instagram/@skims
Kim Kardashian‘s Skims has been announced as the first-ever official loungewear outfitter for the national American team competing in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. Shared on June 28, her shapewear brand will provide underwear, loungewear, and pajamas for female American athletes in the team. Meanwhile, Ralph Lauren, which has designed the opening and closing ceremony looks for Team USA since 2008, has designed this year’s outerwear too.
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In anticipation of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games scheduled to start on July 23, many national teams from around the world have also been proudly sharing their uniforms on social media, patriotically adorned with colors of their countries’ flags or familiar motifs, featuring designs by popular fashion brands.
Team Australia, for instance, is set to walk into Tokyo’s Japan National Stadium at the opening ceremony with their recently debuted green and gold Olympic uniforms by Asics. The shirts under the jackets, designed by Olympic super featherweight boxer and indigenous artist Paul Fleming, incorporate symmetrical designs of Japanese origami with 52 pairs of footsteps emerging from the centre, an an ode to indigenous athletes who have represented their country at the Games. Their stunning blazers, created by clothing brand Sportscraft, are lined with the monikers of 320 Australian gold medal winners.
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Team Canada’s Olympic uniform for their closing ceremony, on the other hand, based on the ‘Canadian Tuxedo,’ took the Internet by a storm when it was announced last year. Canadian department store chain Hudson’s Bay collaborated with American denim brand Levi’s to create a denim jacket with striking patches on the front and black and red graffiti splattered on the back. More subdued red-and-white pieces, such as a warm-up jacket, striped track pants, and a T-shirt with a basic maple leaf motif, sit beneath this unconventional outerwear.
“Tokyo is also known for its street art and fashion,” Hudson’s Bay said. “We paid tribute to this in the must-have piece of the collection – the forever cool jean jacket. The graffiti graphic and unexpected patch placements capture a youthful and celebratory feel,” they added.
Eh, we hear people have been curious about our Canadian tuxedos after the release of @TeamUSA's uniforms 🤔
Well you can 👀 all about our Tokyo 2020 kit here ➡️ https://t.co/ahIUBRTzhs pic.twitter.com/8hVSzRlOG5
— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) April 15, 2021
Team Turkey’s athletic wear, designed by Turkish designer Bünyamin Aydın, founder of famed Turkish brand Les Benjamins, was showcased just a few days ago on June 24 in the Turkish capital of Istanbul. The collection made use of Nike jersey uniforms, with a color scheme dominated by reds and whites, with some navy blue looks. Aydın explained how he merged his Turkish roots into the logo patterns for the official sportswear, visible on the accessories, tracksuits, windbreakers, zippered tops, and polos.
“The journey started off going back to my heritage. With my own brand Les Benjamins, I was always inspired by carpets and rugs and the heritage of them… I had to focus on Anatolian rugs, which are from this country. I went to the city where they create Anatolian rugs, and I was with the villagers there and they told me how they do the craftsmanship behind creating their rugs. It helped me design and get more inspired,” he stated, according to Forbes.
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Made from recycled fiber and dyed with eco-friendly pigments, Team Taiwan’s Summer Olympics uniform is all about being sustainable. The vivid blue uniform also displays Team Taipei’s plum blossom logo, which is inspired by many national symbols, like the ethnic groups of Baiyue or Taiwan’s 100 mountain peaks.
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While the Russian team will be neutral this year, sporting red, white and blue in abstract color blocks across the front and the Russian Olympic Committee’s logo, Czech Republic designer Zuzana Osako has created her national team’s designs using print dye, featuring cobalt blue jumpsuits and white strapless dresses for women, and cobalt blue vests, white shirts and trousers for men.
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The Olympic games will last until August 8, and the Paralympic games will start August 25 and go until September 5.
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