Team GB’s opening ceremony outfits have been revealed in time for the first day of the Rio Olympics – and Stella McCartney has managed to convey patriotism without straying into the territory of Nigel Farage’s union jack shoes.
The palette is muted – more white and blue, less red – with a specially commissioned coat of arms the dominant image rather than the union jack. It appears on the back of the parka modelled by the triathlete Alistair Brownlee and at the centre of the sports bra on Jessica Ennis-Hill.
Athletes spend most of their working lives in lycra but opening ceremony outfits are for best. McCartney, creative director of Team GB’s performance wear since London 2012, excels at outerwear and these parkas show that off. They’re punchy and neat but not so fashionable that Team GB will look like catwalk models. In fact they’re subtly British and would probably look at home at a suburban garden party on a windswept day.
This inoffensiveness also makes them relatively proof against negative press. This is where McCartney should really be applauded. Other countries have not had such luck. Team USA’s opening ceremony outfits, with stripy red, white and blue T-shirts, have been compared to the Russian flag, while the Georgian outfits – long white skirts and embroidered red jackets for women, grey suits for men – prompted a country-wide campaign to change them. Iran’s outfits – long blue jackets and orange shirts – also came under fire, with the colour combination compared to a Pelikan eraser. Being judged for your sporting skills rather than your resemblance to stationery items is a good start.
