Dezeen Magazine

Adidas unveils Team GB kits for Rio 2016 by Stella McCartney

Rio 2016: Adidas has unveiled its kits for the Team GB athletes competing in the Rio 2016 Olympics, designed by fashion designer Stella McCartney around a new coat of arms.

Adidas Team GB kit by Stella McCartney
Olympic Heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill

McCartney's designs feature a specifically designed coat of arms by the College of Arms, which provides the basis for the iconography across the entire Olympics and Paralympics range.

Adidas Team GB kit by Stella McCartney
Olympic heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill

Alongside the coat of arms, each garment features the red, blue and white colours of the Union Flag.

Adidas Team GB kit by Stella McCartney
Olympic diver Tom Daley

McCartney – who is creative director at Adidas, and was also responsible for the team's kit in 2012 – combined this traditional motif with contemporary silhouettes and innovative textures.

Adidas Team GB kit by Stella McCartney
The new kit features a specifically designed coat of arms by the College of Arms

"The goal for Rio 2016 was to rewrite the rules of performance and design for athletes, allowing them to look and feel like champions on and off the field," said McCartney.

Adidas Team GB kit by Stella McCartney
Paralympic athlete Olivia Breen

"The inspiration behind the design was this idea of contrasting British tradition with a modern attitude."

"The new Coat Of Arms, specially commissioned for this project, and traditional Union Flag hues sit alongside bold textures and modern silhouettes to create a strong identity and make the athletes feel like a team," she added.

Adidas Team GB kit by Stella McCartney
Olympic cyclist Laura Trott

With exactly 100 days to go until the games begin, the kits were unveiled at an event today at London's Seymour Leisure Centre attended by athletes including Jessica Ennis-Hill, Jodie Williams and Tom Daley.

Adidas Team GB kit by Stella McCartney
Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds

According to the design team, each garment is 10 per cent lighter than the previous kit in 2012 and makes use of Adidas' Clima technology – a range of specially developed materials which conduct heat and sweat away from the body.

Adidas Team GB kit by Stella McCartney
Olympic rugby player Tom Mitchell

Throughout the two-year process, the team – which included Adidas product manager John Stewart – worked closely with athletes and governing bodies to get regular feedback.

Adidas Team GB kit by Stella McCartney
Olympic gymnast Max Whitlock

"[The British Olympic Association and the British Paralympics Association] have very stringent guidelines of what they need for their athletes, and it's really important that we make sure we deliver the kit for them that fits those guidelines," said Stewart.

Adidas Team GB kit by Stella McCartney
Olympic rugby player Emily Scarratt

"We learned a lot from London 2012, and when we developed the 2016 kit, we specifically made sure we took feedback from from athletes at various important stages of the process, whether it's getting feedback from Jodie and Jess on the track and field kit, right down to the trunks that Tom will wear on the high board," he added.

Adidas Team GB kit by Stella McCartney
Olympic triathlete Alistair Brownlee

This year's Olympic games takes place from 5 August to 21 August.

The stadium, designed by architects Carlos Porto and Gilson Santos, was completed in 2007, but closed temporarily in 2013 due to structural problems with its roof.

Adidas Team GB kit by Stella McCartney
Olympic cyclist Lizzie Armitstead

The stadium sits within the wider AECOM-masterplanned Olympic park – a lagoon-side peninsula in the city's Barra da Tijuca district that includes 15 sports venues.

Adidas Team GB kit by Stella McCartney
Olympic swimmer Chris Walker-Hebborn

Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects recently unveiled designs for a beach-side pavilion in Rio de Janeiro, which will host sporting, music and culinary events during the games.