After making unexpected appearances at the past three Olympic Games, the United States team beret is officially retired - laid to rest between moon boots and the cummerbund in the cemetery of fashion faux pas.
This follows a mutual agreement made last December by Roots Ltd. and the United States Olympic Committee to end their six-year partnership because of creative differences over designs for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team uniform. Roots first became the U.S. outfitter at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City where more than one million of the infamous Team USA berets were sold.
Despite past success, the USOC was hoping to move beyond the informal stylings of the Canadian manufacturer in favor of a more polished, distinctly American aesthetic.
[ 2008 Beijing Olympics: U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team Settles For Silver - Play it Now ]
Suddenly out of a deal and with the Beijing Games on the horizon, the USOC found themselves treading the unfamiliar waters of the fashion world. Luckily, they knew just the man to call - Tom Brokaw.
As the former anchor of NBC Nightly News and interim host of Meet the Press tells it, the arrangement was a classic reprise of the friend of a friend bit. Norman Bellingham, USOC chief operating officer, is the son-in-law of a friend of Brokaw’s and asked him whether the sultan of style, Ralph Lauren, would take a call from him on the USOC’s behalf.
Though Brokaw hardly considers himself a “fashion expert” he says his response was an emphatic, “Are you kidding?”
[ All Access: 2008 Beijing Olympics - Style ]
“Tom Brokaw called my Dad, who’s Ralph Lauren, and told him about the opportunity and thought it would be just the perfect match,” said David Lauren, senior vice president of advertising, marketing and communications at Polo Ralph Lauren. Less than four months later a deal was publicly announced that the American fashion house would create the official uniform of the Olympic and Paralympic teams as well as their custom wardrobes for leisure while in Beijing.
For more “All Access” Olympics content, head to Access Hollywood’s home on NBCOlympics.com!
“I think it is quite an honor and something we were enthusiastic about right from the beginning,” said Lauren, whose company’s first foray into sports marketing came in 1979 when they designed the uniform of the New York Cosmos soccer team.
An honor yes, but not without its share of challenges, especially with the 2008 Games just months away.
“The challenge for us was in creating clothing for hundreds of athletes who are different sizes, different body types,” Lauren said. “Some are seven feet tall and some are under five. Some are gymnasts and some are weightlifters. It is quite a feat.”
He added: “We were able to take the challenge on and create something that truly makes America look special and makes our athletes look like statesmen on a world stage.”
In recent decades, the trend has been for athletes the globe over to dress down at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games. For many nations, sports attire such as shorts have slowly replaced the formality of years past. After the cowboy hat kitsch of the 1996 Games, and the very un-American beret of recent years, the USOC finally decided it had had enough.
According to Polo Ralph Lauren, the outfits will reflect the heritage and sensibility of the 1920s and 1930s with a modern silhouette. Think Jesse Owens in 1936, or the movie Chariots of Fire. Unsurprisingly, the color scheme will be a patriotic palette of red, white and blue.
A handful of the athletes got a sneak peak of the Closing Ceremony and Olympic Village outfits in April, including men’s four rower Giuseppe Lanzone and heavyweight boxer Deontay Wilder. The two Olympians participated in a seven-hour photo shoot where they modeled the Ralph Lauren attire.
“The clothes were great, very American. You know, very formal,” Lanzone said. “From what I’ve seen, people shouldn’t be disappointed.”
But as for the official Opening Ceremony outfits, those will not be unveiled to the public until the day of the show, Aug. 8, 2008. “It’s going to be purple with pink polka dots,” joked Lauren. “We really have to keep that a surprise.”
A telling detail came just last week when members of the U.S. Olympic team passed through team processing in San Jose, Calif. Among the items picked up included a blazer and a dress shirt or blouse courtesy Ralph Lauren.
Even if the secret is kept under lock and key, one’s things for sure, “Other countries will definitely be jealous,” Lanzone said.
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
Access At The Olympics: Week One Of Competition - Check Out the Photos
Access Extended: Michael Phelps Reacts To Setting Olympic Record - Play it Now
Beijing 2008 Olympics: Opening Ceremonies - Check Out the Photos
