blood, sweat and dior?

Most people would shudder at the thought of spilling something on their favorite designer dress, let alone grinding a grass stain up and down one side. Professional athletes train for 100's of hours a week striving to be the best in their chosen field. They bleed, they sweat and they fight for every inch of success... now imagine they do that all over a Calvin Klein tank?  Sheer force, power and adrenaline typically categorize an athletes focus.. rarely do you evaluate them based on their outfits. That is no longer the case. 


As I've written about before, fashion and technology work hand in hand to create some of the most exciting pieces of techno-art out there, but it's increasingly apparent that athletes want in on the action. 
Vera Wang and Ralph Lauren have been leading the charge for years, outfitting some of the world's top ranked olympians and occasionally the Olympic team as a whole. 

For Wang, godmother of all things bridal, skating was her first passion and even though she walked away after failing to make the Olympic team, "It's a very special sport," she says. She keeps close by designing costumes for some top contenders, including outfits for gold medalist Evan Lysacek, Nancy Kerrigan and Michelle Kwan. 


With Awards season serving as the world cup of fashion, most designers rarely worry about an actual wardrobe malfunction. In sports, the stakes are different. "You wouldn't want someone to lose Olympic gold because their sleeve ripped off," Wang says.

Other considerations: The outfit has to sparkle like eveningwear but function like workout gear; it has to stand up to the considerable wind generated by skaters' speed; and it must be show-stopping from every angle, unlike a Hollywood-starlet gown that is usually photographed straight from the front or back. It has to move with an athletes body, not hinder it. 

In 2012, Stella McCartney will work with Adidas to design the British team's Summer Olympics uniforms. The designer will not only outfit the athletes, but will also release four lifestyle collections "inspired by Team GB" before the games. This isn't McCartney's first dive into the game. In the past McCartney has partnered with Adidas on athletic apparel and clothed Caroline Wozniacki for Wimbledon. She called her new project a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."


Tasked with combining form, function, and fashion for the host-country’s Olympic team has more challenges then one might expect. McCartney says she plans on working with “incredibly technical fabrics” to compliment each individual and their sport. Admittedly she recognizes that fashion can’t take precedence over winning medals. “The main thing I want do is not in any way get involved with making their performance not its best.” 

My favorite designer/athlete "collaboration of love" as of late is Christian Louboutin and eccentric skater Johnny Wier. Louboutin is giving his iconic red soles a cutting edge with blades attached "I love me some red soles," Weir told New York Magazine,  citing that the custom Louboutin skates "will be a first, and exclusively for me." 

But what came first? The red sole or the calloused foot? 

In 1933, French tennis legend Rene Lacoste founded the now iconic brand bearing his name. While the brand reached its height in the late 80's as the symbol of all things posh, preppy and wall street worthy, some 75 plus years later the label , which started strictly as sportswear is still enjoying success both on and off the court. 

Tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams have both taken a stab at designing lines in collaboration with better known sporting stores. 


The best designers in the world manage to walk the fine line between form and function. Carefully creating pieces that effortless move yet manage to stay in all the right places. It only made sense that sports, a world where form and function are cornerstones to success and class and style in movement are what set you apart would follow suit. If designers are throwing their rackets in the ring and their soles to the track, is gold the new black?