Ralph Lauren Olympic Uniforms Create Strong Opinions

Tuesday 12th of August 2008 05:53:20 AM

Okay…so most uniforms really don’t make big news. It’s almost impossible not to talk about the Olympics with its majestic displays of strength and training, but it’s the variety of uniforms which attracted the interest of the garment industry. From the 15,000 Chinese drummers in the opening ceremony all wearing the same uniforms to the athletes of each country dressed alike so you can tell the teams apart, the uniform styling is unique and interesting.

But in this particular Olympics of 2008, it’s even more impossible not to mention the Ralph Lauren uniforms the American team members wore during the opening ceremony. The coats had very large Ralph Lauren polo logos sewn on and they took up one-half of the front. The large white logo on a navy blue light weight wool jacket could not be missed and that’s where the problems started.

In the opinions of some people, the logo was too large and too obvious. It dwarfed the Olympic logo which upset some viewers. You couldn’t help but look at the Lauren logo because of how much larger it was than the Olympic logo. The message being sent in the opinions of some people is one of commercialism instead of athleticism. In fact some clothing reviews went as far as to say the uniforms humiliated the American team.

Of course there were plenty of people who thought the uniforms were quite nice. The obvious styling was eye-catching and just goes to show a uniform does not have to be boring or uninspiring. Even if you didn’t like the Ralph Lauren Olympic uniforms, you have to at least admit they were different enough to justify talking about amid the other uniforms which included feathers and beads and grass skirts and a host of other unusual decorations.

An interesting question to ask yourself is how you would have felt about wearing the Ralph Lauren polo jacket that looked like corporate apparel.

(c)Cecile Graat,www.sxc.hu