Rodd & Gunn is the official designer of New Zealands Olympic Team formal wear and supporters gear for London 2012. Rodd & Gunn were invited by the New Zealand Olympic Committee to design the teams formal uniforms for London 2012, Rodd & Gunn were determined to make the athletes and the nation proud. Familiar with the passion that drives a champion to deliver their best; Rodd & Gunn drew on their own experience of promoting New Zealand onto the world stage.
Charged with the responsibility of creating a uniform that represents New Zealands proud sporting and cultural history, Rodd & Gunns head designer, Irena Prikryl looked first to the past, back to a time of rich social and cultural transformation. This was a time of traditional values and classic design, when seven athletes from New Zealand took the long voyage by ship to represent their country at the 1948 London Olympic Games.
When selecting the fabrics for the team uniforms, Irena started from scratch. She began by designing exclusive textile prints and then worked with respected textile mills in Italy to produce these. The result is a fabric, commissioned especially for the Olympic uniforms, that reflects the best that the world has to offer. I took my design cues from the late 1940s and early 1950s an era of elegance, class, restraint and style, says Irena.
When designing the Official Supporters Gear Collection, Irena knew it was critical to reflect the same historical elements in many of the designs, as well as to bring a fresh and modern approach to the garments. The result is a limited edition, unisex collection of polo shirts, t-shirts and caps that are sure to become collectors items in years to come. These are exclusively available at any NZ Rodd & Gunn stores from June 29th.
The London 2012 Olympic Team Formal Wear and Supporters Gear will be unveiled at the official Prime Ministers Olympic dinner on June 28th at the Viaduct Events Centre in Central Auckland.
