Stella McCartney looks-on as Adidas unveil the British Team Kit designed by her self during a photocall at the Tower of London, London.
Forget going for gold. Team GB will be decked out in indigo as they take to the track and field for the London 2012 Olympic games.
Inspired by the Union Jack flag, the Olympic and Paralympic sportswear will feature predominately blue hues paired with red footwear as they compete across the summer.
Designed by Beatle offspring Stella McCartney in partnership with sponsors Adidas, over 900 British athletes will be kitted out with a total of approximately 175,000 items of clothing from the range during the games.
“All eyes will be on the British athletes when they take the stage at the Games,” said Adidas UK Marketing Director Nick Craggs.
“We wanted to ensure that they would be the best equipped team through a combination of leading technologies including PowerWEB and Climacool and a unified and striking team identity.”
So what’s the rough verdict on the kit? While the public seem a little sceptical on the actual “Britishness” of the clothing, it’s garnered unanimous praise from the athletes themselves.
“It is very blue and that is nice and subtle but, at the same time, it does what it needs to do,” BMX cyclist Shanaze Reade told BBC Sport.
“You can often blend in with French wearing red, white and blue but this is completely on its own and makes us feel very British. As females it is all about what it looks like and if you feel good it makes us perform even better.”
110 metre hurdler Will Sharman was equally chuffed, noting that the kit was functional as well as fashionable:
“It needs to be lightweight, which it is, it needs to be aerodynamic and it is. There is no flapping about so, from a performance perspective, it’s exactly what we were looking for. The colours are different but it’s definitely British. I get excited putting it on. It has the Olympic rings on and that gives you pride.”
So what do you think? Will you be sprinting down to your local sportswear dealer to get a piece of McCartney’s Olympic designs, or has one of the UK’s leading fashion designers missed out on a medal this year? Let us know what you think in the comments section below!
We all know that Lando “Billy Dee Williams” Calrissian is a sharp dresser. Heck, even his Cloud City pad would be a dead cert for the title of “Best Intergalactic Crib” should the MTV show ever spread among the stars. But what of the rest of the Star Wars cast? With a whole empire at his disposal Darth Vader would surely be able to charm (READ: Force Choke) a decent tailor into suiting him up into some crisp threads. And what of an outdoorsman like Chewbacca? He’s going to need some serious Birkenstocks to keep those furry paws in shape.
John Woo (the illustrator/designer, not he of “Face/Off” fame) has the answers, dressing up the galaxy’s finest aliens and Empire henchmen on trend for his new “He Wears It” project.
It’s not only great fun, but they look neat too; the Clone Tropper in Junya Watanabe and Darth Vader in Band of Outsiders look particularly sharp! Still, there’s no saving Jar Jar Binks; in Maison Martin Margiela he’s even more of an annoying dick.
All of Woo’s Star Wars illustrations (alongside some Forrest Gump and Edward Scissorhands ones too) are available to purchase as prints from his Etsy.com shop, priced $60.00 USD.
Exciting news this afternoon as we’ve just received word of a Topman project called We ♡ the White Tee.
With a roster of designers which includes big names Henry Holland, Philip Lim, as well as Richard Chai, Juun J Topman are really keeping on their toes as far as getting new design talent in is concerned. They’ve also got LFW MAN designers JW Anderson and Christopher Shannon in on the act as well as the Topman Design team so we’re looking forward to seeing it when it hits stores on May 28th.
Click image to start gallery
The dedicated menswear day at LFW is definitely cause for excitement, the names might not be as big as on the womenswear schedule but in terms of creativity and variety it’s hard to beat. Here’s a preview of some of our fave designers from the line-up, stay tuned for more.
We featured Carolyn Massey‘s Topman Lens collection back in July, a stickler for tradition with an eye for detail she produces contemporary menswear tailoring.
Kris Van Assche, creative head of Dior Homme, and luxury sunglasses label Oliver Peoples have already put out successful collections of their collaborative designs but this week has seen the launch of the Spring/Summer 2009 collection.
The sunglasses for this season are still over-sized but thinner and sleeker than the thick-rimmed versions of previous seasons. Available in black, white and a divine tortoiseshell, these sunglasses (yet to be given a pricetag) are sure to feature on the WISHLIST of the entire Brandish team.
Nitrolicious has revealed that Alexander Wang, the most recent fashion darling and It-designer, is to launch a menswear collection for Spring/Summer 2010. Adamant that he isn’t simply jumping on the bandwagon, Wang explains that “for us it’s a component that’s always been there..the idea has always been there, I’m just expanding it” in reference to his famously androgynous looks.
What do you think- would you be up for Wang’s signature baggy vests, scruffy trainers and cropped trousers? I’m already excited! Write on our Facebook Wall and let us know what you think.
This season is proving to be perfect for style-conscious men looking for a new sartorial direction. From Marni to Jil Sander, men are being given a chance to look top notch and whereas some seasons simply leave us to stick to a stereotypical male uniform, A/W 2009 looks to be the return of fashion flamboyance.
This velvet trench-coat from Dolce & Gabbana is gloriously over-the-top but allows men to be men with its razor-sharp tailoring and Oscar-Wilde cool (just for the record, I realise not everyone will see Oscar Wilde as a style icon and as a result- this coat is maybe not for you!) Straight off the runway at the moment, the trench will no doubt cost a fortune in the shops but keep your eyes peeled for celeb sightings!
(Image: Marcio Madeira, Style.com)
After months of rumours and hipster-praying, Hypebeast has confirmed the rumour that Kanye West is to design a pair of trainers for Louis Vuitton. The trainers appear rather bland (they’re just white high-tops,) but they might prove to be a valuable base for many a winter outift. Kanye tells the online fashion magazine that the trainers are to be released in June of this year.
Jordan Askill, a designer whose work for Dior Homme and Ksubi has cemented him as a name to keep an eye on, has launched a jewellery collection at Dover Street Market (DSM.) Dover Street Market is a fashion emporium founded by Rei Kawakubo and her husband and it has become known for its artistic installations, exclusive lines and designer collaborations. In previous years, we’ve seen a hotel room designed by Alber Elbaz of Lanvin and a Tiki-hut check-out.
Akill’s jewellery line is made up of edgy, androgynous pieces that could be worn by either guys or girls and Vogue reports that “the debut jewellery offering features bird, boy and rose motifs as fragile and rare entities – the flora, fauna and humanity of life – set in a claw to denote them as “precious memories to capture“. Lovely.
“Bears are very nice, as long as you are nice to them”
For a man who claims to not only feel no human emotion but to want no possessions, memories or immortilisation, Karl Lagerfeld sure likes to have his bedazzled fingers in a lot of different pies. After Grand Theft Auto, the Kaiser has collaborated with the German toy manufacturer Steiff on a Karl Lagerfeld teddy bear. That means a bear decked out in all the maestro’s signature pieces; the sunglasses, the rings, the high-collared shirt, skinny trousers, statement belt and skinny tie.
See after the jump for a full-detail picture and all the information!
Knife crime has reached an unbelievable height in Britain and with the murder of Ben Kinsella, the seventeenth teenager to die as a result of knife crime in London this year, Grazia has launched their ‘Lives for Knives’ campaign. As part of the campaign, the magazine has got Henry Holland, Katharine Hamnett and Sophia Kokosalaki on board to design t-shirts as well as laying a set of Five Government Demands.
On my WISHLIST is Henry Holland’s design, an electric-blue t-shirt with striking design and bold lettering. One size fits all and all proceeds go to the Ben Kinsella Foundation, a charity set up for the prevention of future knife-crime. I couldn’t think of a more worthy summer buy.
Topman have a half price sale on so now’s the time to nab yourself some summer bargains. Their check shirt we featured as part of our Chris Taylor madras shirt picks is down to £18 and the geo print polo shirt will perk up your wardrobe in no time. £45 for a suede holdall is a bargain, and it’s great to have a bright red accessory. Finally, I couldn’t let a day pass without mentioning short shorts could I? Product links after the jump.
For all you t-shirt lovers out there, Threadless is one of the best places to go and get unique t-shirts from. You can find cool designs, funny images and great slogans, like this haiku t-shirt which is so meta it hurts. Bearing the inscription: Haikus are easy, but sometimes they don’t make sense. Refrigerator. On top of having brilliant t-shirts they also have regular clear out sales where you can pick up a t-shirt for bargainous prices. If you’re a budding designer or creative type you might want to submit one of your own designs to the site so you can see it come to life and be purchased by people all across the globe
From:Here we go - Stevan Jovetic to Arsenal deal imminent says Metro