London 2012 Team GB Olympic Kit

Team GB's London 2012 Kit 

The kit that the athletes in Team GB wore was designed by leading fashion designer (and former Beatle Paul McCartney's daughter) Stella McCartney. Unveiled on 22nd March 2012, the kits were inspired by the flags of the four countries involved, with the suits a mix of white and dark indigo blue, matched with red shoes (as modelled by Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, Andy Murray and Jessica Ennis below).

The kits caused some controversy when first revealed, as some complained about the lack of red- a colour British kits are usually associated with. They claim that the focus on blue makes the kits look Scottish rather than British. When these complaints were put to Stella McCartney, she argued:

"I wanted to start with the union flag, but I'm really aware the reds, whites and blues are in other nations' flags and sometimes you can feel quite confused when you are watching the Games... is that American, is that French?

Overall, across all the different sports, the kit was made up of 175,000 items of clothing for 500 Olympic and 350 Paralympic athletes and included 38 types of footwear. There was all sorts of complicated science behind the kits, with everything from weight, to visibility, to breathability being focused on by the kits' maker Adidas. However, cyclist Sir Chris Hoy summed it up when he told McCartney "I just want it to look cool".