One of Australia’s oldest fashion brands, Sportscraft, has shared the designs for this year’s Australian Olympics opening ceremony outfits.
At a press briefing this morning at Coogee’s stunning Wylie’s Baths – named for Mina Wylie, one of Australia’s first female Olympic swimmers – Sportscraft, the AOC and Volley shared the outfits for this year’s Tokyo Games.
This is the eighth time Sportscraft has designed the Australian team’s apparel.
They first designed the outfits for the 1996 Atlanta games, and then at the 2006 Torino games, 2008 Beijing games, 2010 Vancouver games, 2012 London games, 2014 Sochi games and 2018 Rio games.
The city of Tokyo itself was a primary inspiration for the outfits this year, while also showcasing the iconic Australian green and gold. Angles used in the designs were inspired by Japan’s famous Shibuya Crossing, as well as the Southern Cross.
Sportcraft also made sure to consider the fact that these games are predicted to be the hottest ever, so used natural fibres and stretch for comfort.
Showcasing the outfits this morning were badminton player Gronya Somerville, 400m runner Benedere Oboya, canoe slalom athletes Jessica Fox and Dan Watkins, canoe sprinter Lachlan Tame, softballer Tarni Stepto, water polo players Keesja Gofers and George Ford, and taekwondo athlete Safwan Khalil.
Tokyo 2021 will be the first Olympics where women’s C1 canoe slalom event is included. This means women will be able to compete in canoe slalom in both a canoe, and in a kayak (the K1 races).
Jessica Fox said that this was significant as “it’s the first time we’ll have gender equity in our sport.”
Safwan Khali, who will be competing in his third Olympics in taekwondo, reflected on the significance of having the names of all 320 Australian gold medallists embroidered into the official blazers.
“It feels like I need to pick up my game a bit!”
Finally, Benedere Oboya spoke about the significance of the Tokyo Olympics, which will be her first. Having the extra year to train, she said, had truly helped her.
Given how close the Games are – now just 66 days away – she said, “it’s making 10 year old me really excited!”
