Team GB’s athletes will step out at the Tokyo Olympics in heat-resistant kit intended to celebrate “unity in diversity” – and, in a nod to the host city, it is emblazoned with the words “Great Britain” in Japanese typography.
The new kit, unveiled on Thursday morning by Team GB and ParalympicsGB athletes including Max Whitlock and Olivia Breen, also contains a prominent dash of red – a striking departure from the Stella McCartney designed kit in 2012 and 2016, which was often criticised for being too blue.
The new designs, created by Adidas’s in-house team, also features HEAT.RDY technology, which the company claims is constructed using cooling material and textures optimised for use in hot environments. That was particularly welcomed by the British Olympic Association chief executive, Andy Anson, who said it would help GB athletes perform better in Tokyo.
“The kit is brilliant,” he told the Guardian. “I think the athletes will love it and perform well in it, and that’s the most important thing. We know Tokyo is going to be very hot and humid, so we’ve worked collaboratively with Adidas to make sure we have the right technology in the kit to maximise performance.
“Despite the incredibly difficult times society has faced this year, everyone associated with Team GB has remained positive and focused, especially our athletes who have worked incredibly hard to keep their dream of going to the Tokyo Olympic Games alive,” he added. “Seeing the kit for the first time is always one of the most exciting moments before an Olympic Games, and over the last four decades Adidas have done a fantastic job in keeping it fresh and innovative.”
The new design was also welcomed by Mike Sharrock, the British Paralympic Association chief executive, who said that while Tokyo 2020 was set to be the toughest Games yet, given the global pandemic, “our athletes will be prepared, wearing a kit that not only looks great but incorporates the very best in innovation and technology”.
The new Team GB design also includes a deconstructed Union flag, while an emphasis on the union can be seen in the village hoodie that – says Adidas – has “a design blended with the British lion and iconic flower symbols of the four nations in bold colours giving a contemporary finish to a classic style”. The kit also contains a minimum of 40% recycled materials.
Explaining the inspiration for the kit, Adidas said: “Following a year of uncertainty, unprecedented challenges and unique circumstances, Team GB and ParalympicsGB athletes will rise together in a kit that represents unity in diversity.”
Melina Hartmann, Adidas’s design director, added: “Through experimentation and dedication, each piece in the collection highlights how far we have pushed the boundaries in contemporary design, innovation, and sustainability. We hope all athletes feel like they can make their mark as individuals and as a team when wearing the kit at the Games this summer.”
Team GB apparel is available at www.adidas.co.uk/teamgb.
Kit not merch: fashion verdict by Morwenna Ferrier
In Olympics past, the unveiling of the GB kit has become a bit of a cultural moment. Partly because Stella McCartney, queen of sustainable leisurewear, has designed the last two. Partly because there’s usually a starry press conference and a big reveal. And partly because it’s the stuff the fans can buy. If the opening ceremony is the catwalk of sport, then Olympic kit is its high fashion merch.
Take away McCartney and the presentation, and what you have for 2021 is a functional kit designed by Adidas and Adidas alone. Simple, sober and perhaps a little dull, it’s aiming to make a diplomatic statement rather than a fashion one. Capping an already uncertain year in which the Games still hang in the balance, not to mention the ripple effects of Brexit and Scotland’s push for independence, it seems fitting that the kit’s message is simply, “unity in diversity”.
The kit features the usual base lineup – vests, T-shirts, shorts, hoodies and leggings, and a handful of ceremonial podium pieces that are chic but look too warm for the Tokyo sun weather. Some pieces are branded with the words “Great Britain” in a large font which is almost catwalk-inspired (large vertical logos are an Off White trademark). Other pieces are adorned with a “deconstructed Union flag”, which in reality means blue, white and red shapes in an abstract formation, nods (it seems) to Japanese design. A lion graphic is visible on some. National flowers from England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland on others. It is Great Britain branding-by-numbers.
The bells and whistles come via the technology. Given this is set to be the hottest games on record, the kit features something called HEAT.RDY technology. In layman’s terms, that means materials and textures designed to cool you down at speed. It’s all sustainable too, as it should be in 2021, using two different materials – PRIMEGREEN, which is 40% recycled, and PRIMEBLU, a yarn which uses at least 50% Parley Ocean Plastic. Given McCartney is one of the hottest designers on sustainability, her legacy seemingly lives on.
Some Olympic kits have been criticised for leaning too far towards fashion – remember Ralph Lauren’s patchwork cardigans for Sochi? One only needs to look at the 2021 US Ralph Lauren kit, with its shade of Nasa, or Canada’s decision to incorporate a denim jacket, to know that sometimes boring is best. The GB kit is sportswear, not leisurewear. Kit not merch. But in a world already fatigued by sweatpants – both in fashion, and for those office workers forced to cede their suits – it’s also a welcome return to sportswear.