A few weeks ago there was a minor scandal in the UK, when the host country of the 2012 Olympics unveiled their new team outfits for the games. Designed by Stella McCartney no less, the problem was not so much the design itself, but more the fact that it was not created using the traditional national colours of red, white and blue. The 2012 uniforms were to be blue, blue and white, which was considered by some as being not very British.

This minor UK scandal was then superceded by problem of the US uniform, this time designed by Ralph Lauren. This super ‘preppy’ outfit, complete with razor sharp tailored white pants and blazers, was not criticised for its design, nor for the colours used, but simply for the fact that it had been manufactured in China. This caused so much outrage that one American Senator was quoted as suggesting that all the uniforms should be take outside an burned. Perhaps a bit melodramatic methinks? 

These minor upsets were then rendered completely insignificant by the Spanish effort. In a country that boasts some of its very own world renowned designers, where did they decide to buy their Olympic oufits? Madrid? Barcelona? No….. Russia! And the reason behind this, the most puzzling of decisions? Yep, money! The Russian design firm of Bosco offered to supply all the kits for free, and even so, the Spanish still paid too much! The results are an embarrassing disaster. You can tell how thrilled the team are with this ground breaking, avant garde design, by the face of gold  medal winning canoeist Saul Craviotto, in the photo.

A few weeks ago there was a minor scandal in the UK, when the host country of the 2012 Olympics unveiled their new team outfits for the games. Designed by Stella McCartney no less, the problem was not so much the design itself, but more the fact that it was not created using the traditional national colours of red, white and blue. The 2012 uniforms were to be blue, blue and white, which was considered by some as being not very British.

This minor UK scandal was then superceded by problem of the US uniform, this time designed by Ralph Lauren. This super ‘preppy’ outfit, complete with razor sharp tailored white pants and blazers, was not criticised for its design, nor for the colours used, but simply for the fact that it had been manufactured in China. This caused so much outrage that one American Senator was quoted as suggesting that all the uniforms should be take outside an burned. Perhaps a bit melodramatic methinks? 

These minor upsets were then rendered completely insignificant by the Spanish effort. In a country that boasts some of its very own world renowned designers, where did they decide to buy their Olympic oufits? Madrid? Barcelona? No….. Russia! And the reason behind this, the most puzzling of decisions? Yep, money! The Russian design firm of Bosco offered to supply all the kits for free, and even so, the Spanish still paid too much! The results are an embarrassing disaster. You can tell how thrilled the team are with this ground breaking, avant garde design, by the face of gold  medal winning canoeist Saul Craviotto, in the photo.