Lululemon partners with Team Canada after Nike chosen for Team USA uniforms ahead of Paris 2024

Lululemon has teamed up with Team Canada to create the country’s Olympic uniform, making sure stars “feel their best” this summer, a day after Nike came under fire for skimpy track and field leotards for female athletes before of the Paris Games.

On Tuesday, Team Canada unveiled red and white uniforms, the country’s official colors, with a high-tech design that focuses on thermal comfort while paying homage to the country’s indigenous heritage.

Just 24 hours earlier, Team USA faced backlash for their ‘sexist’ uniforms over a high-cut, light-colored leotard that barely covers the bikini line for female track and field athletes. Steeplechase runner Colleen Quigley and hurdler Queen Harrison called out Nike and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee for deciding to prioritize scarcity over function.

Meanwhile, in designing its first collection for the Summer Games, Lululemon said it relied heavily on product testing and feedback from 19 Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes in 14 different sports, including gold medal contenders such as tennis player Leylah Fernández, decathlete Damian Warner and swimmer Summer McIntosh. .

The athletes’ main concern was having clothes that would perform well in the heat and humidity of Paris, followed by fit and functionality. The Games will be held from July 26 to August 11.

“For the most part, they love the designs we create for them,” Sun Choe, Lululemon’s chief product officer, told Reuters. ‘The story behind the prints we create is very authentic and intentional.

“But mostly their concerns were how hot it’s going to play out, how different the temperatures might be at night, inside or outside, so we wanted to make sure we took those things into consideration.” “We heard from athletes that comfort was key to being in the right headspace throughout the day at the Games.”

Paris, which will replace Hudson’s Bay Company as Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic equipment supplier beginning with the 2022 Beijing Olympics, will be the Canadian sports and leisure apparel giant’s first attempt at a summer uniform that includes outfits for the opening and closing ceremonies, medal ceremonies and another for media appearances.

The teams with which athletes will compete are determined by the national governing body of each sport.

As a Vancouver-based company creating a collection for a Canadian Olympic team, Choe said another key to the design was tapping into the country’s culture and iconic images, from the maple leaf to orcas. The print design used on the closing ceremony outfit was made in collaboration with First Nations artist Mason Mashon and was inspired by the Northern Lights.

Lululemon has also designed Future Legacy Items including hats, scarves and fanny packs, of which 10 per cent of all sales will go to the Canadian Olympic Foundation and the Paralympic Foundation.

“Pride in the nation, national pride, no matter what is designed with our official suppliers, it is very important that it represents Canada, what we want to see represented in the Olympic and Paralympic Games and I think they did a wonderful job,” said Canadian Olympic. the committee’s executive director, David Shoemaker, told Reuters.

“And obviously the Future Legacy elements are very important because 10 percent will be millions of dollars.”