September 25, 2024
The closing ceremony of the Paris Paralympic games last week signalled the end of a summer of sport. Both the Olympic games and the Paralympic games saw record visitors and viewing numbers, and introduced new sports and competitor categories, the games brought us athletes that amazed us with unparalleled performance and memes that look over social media.
From Korea bringing along their culinary team for optimum nutrition, to Tom Dalay’s taking a moment to focus on mindfulness through knitting, and the USA basketball team opting to stay off-site for better rest, even at the cost of an estimated $15 million. Marginal gains were everywhere at the olympics, with athletes and teams making decisions to aid their mind and body in performance, but the real innovation came in form of the teams kits, from original designs to materials, they helped athletes win medals and become global names.
Now, as we reflect on some of the highlights from the summer, we’ve taken a deeper look at some of the top kits and innovations that shone through.
When he won gold for the 100m butterfly at the Olympics, Italian swimmer Nicolò Martinenghi was wearing unexpected material. Arena had partnered with Woolmark to create swimming trunks for Martinenghi, along with a costume for Hungarian swimmer Zsuzsanna Jakobs, made from their Tech Wool innovation. Partnering with Woolmark, Arena developed their Tech Wool fabric made from 30-54% Australian Merino Wool combined with technical fibres. The resulting swim fabric is reported to offer chlorine resistance and UV protection, along with quick drying breathability and elasticity, and offers a natural alternative for swimwear.
Image: Arena x Woolmark
The Czech brand ALPINE PRO partnered with Czech Republic-based designer Jan Černý to create the national kit for the Olympics. In the colours of the national flag, the kit is designed with gender inclusivity in mind and designs bringing together symbolic links between France and the Czech Republic. Creating a genderless look through silhouettes designed to be worn by both men and women, defines a sense of inclusivity that extends to the paralympics kits, with subtly adjusted silhouettes that focus on ease rather than differentiation.
Image: Jan Černý x Alpine Pro
Triathlon outfit Z3ROD partnered with the USA Triathlon team for both the Olympic and Paralympic games, with kits featuring iconic American symbols such as the stars and stripes and the Statue of Liberty, which also symbolised the connections to France. The French brand created the tri-suits in collaboration with the athletes, submitting the kits to rigorous testing to ensure optimum performance. The design of the kits was a long term project with extensive research to create their most advanced triathlon suits yet, developing innovative new performance enhancing fabrics for these kits, each suit underwent rigorous wind tunnel testing to ensure efficiency and aerodynamic performance across the triathlon categories.
Image: USA Triathlon
Blending style and functionality, Lululemon outfitted the Canadian Olympic teams with kits emblazoned with bold graphics and maple leaf motifs. Working in partnership with a range of Olympic and Paralympic athletes in order to better understand their needs, Lululemon designed the kits to ensure adaptability, thermal comfort, athletic performance and fit. The kit preempted the unpredictable weather that greeted the Olympians with a packable rain poncho that was able to convert into a backpack. In addition the use of four-way stretch fabric allows for freedom of movement, along with adjustable cords for a personalised fit. The use of the brand's SenseKnit technology, combined with sweat-wicking fabrics ensured thermal comfort.
Image: Team Canada x Lululemon
Paying tribute to the city of Paris while celebrating 100 years since the French capital first hosted the games in 1924, Lacoste released their Olympic Heritage capsule collection to coincide with the 2024 games. Though not a team kit, we felt the collection was a worthy mention with its retro-inspired graphics, luxe finish and archival styling. The brand pride themselves on craftsmanship, blending fashion, sport and French elegance and worked to make the collection a centrepiece of Paris during the games with a pop-up ‘Paris 1924’ store that focused on the heritage of the city, the brand and the Olympic games.
Image: Lacoste
KIRPTE, founded in 1997, fully owned Lithuanian garment manufacturer with own factories in Lithuania together with a partner factory in Moldova specialized in technical sportswear & leisure wear. Technologies available; sublimation, bonding, laser cutting, ultrasonic, taping, embossing etc.
Alex is the owner of Byingildsen and member of the advisory boards or advisor for fourteen unique premium garment manufacturers and printing providers, including KIRPTE.
