All herald Team GB. With the 2016 Olympics three months away, designer Stella McCartney has fired the starting pistol, unveiling a new kit for Team GB and ParalympicsGB, which features a new heraldic coat of arms as its central design motif.
The coat of arms — visual branding in its most traditionally British form — was created by the College of Arms in partnership with a digital artist, and becomes the new logo of the Olympic teams’ official kit. Starred on Jessica Ennis’ cropped sports tank and on Tom Daley’s trunks, as the pair flanked McCartney on stage at the London launch of the kit. The designer was shoulder robing a sharp red jacket.
The coat of arms seemed emblematic of the more confidently patriotic mood in which this kit is launched, in the afterglow of recent Olympic successes. Any coat of arms represents proud heritage: in this case, historic victories in the great battles of London 2012. As a nod to the ancient British mastery of the supposedly modern notion of branding, it is a neat representation of the blending of tradition with 21st-century showmanship which Brand GB in all forms, from Danny Boyle’s 2012 Opening Ceremony to Kensington Palace’s bedtime-with-the-Obamas Prince George photo, seeks to embody.
The new heraldic badge for Team GB incorporates four lions — one wears a crown of medals and relay batons, representing continuity and teamwork, while three supporting lions hold Olympic torches and wear laurel wreaths. The four home nations are represented by a rose, a thistle, a leek and a flax, while the motto translates as ‘Conjoined in One’. The proud puffed chests of the lions are more boisterously British in mood than the abstract kit of 2012.
The coat of arms is emblazoned across the chest of running vests and swimsuits. The Union Jack is represented in an abstract starburst graphic in the background, on some kits, and badged more traditionally on the hip elsewhere. (No prizes for guessing the colour scheme: red, white and blue.) Adidas claim technical advances will give the athletes an advantage on their predecessors. Fabric is on average 10 per cent lighter than in 2012, helping athletes go faster and further.
‘Climachill’ technology has been employed to cope with the different challenges of the Brazilian climate, keeping cool air flowing in and heat and sweat flowing out. According to adidas product manager John Stewart, six sports including marathon, tennis and basketball will benefit from boost technology in footwear, which is designed to direct energy back into the foot on impact.
