2020 Olympic Lessons for Custom Merch buyers/designers

HBC with some super-casual denim and tees… right in the Canada wheelhouse.

Custom merchandise buyers, sellers and apparel decorating nerds (like us!) can learn a lot watching the Olympics! Look at those opening ceremony outfits, team uniforms, podium outifts, and competition wear! Let’s break down some of the winners, losers and honourable mentions at Tokyo 2020 this summer.

Opening Ceremonies uniforms split between cool athletic uniforms, semi-formal sportswear, and traditional garb. On one side you have: cool tracksuits decorated well. On the other side sport-casual: blazers, trousers, slacks and understated logos. And there are always a few countries that bring their traditional first-peoples clothing — often super colourful.

These ones stand out for well-designed and/or decorated. And the first-peoples traditional dress is amazing!

Great example of semi-formal to athletic sportswear.

Now THIS is how you get a party started. Wow!

Athletes pose with official uniforms for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic opening ceremonies during its unveiling event in Tokyo, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo January 23, 2020. Credit: Kyodo/via REUTERS

Now, a couple of quick fails. Here’s a decorating fail and something custom merch clients & designers should heed. The Italian pac-man on belly flag? What the hell were they thinking? It is the most unflattering logo position and shape that makes buff athletes look chubby. It prob looked “okay” in 2-D full colour line drawings on computer monitors but in real life? Never, ever do this:

Italian Team with Horrid Flag/PacMan belly logos.

Mixing primary colour palettes with secondary colours? This was a great lesson for me to learn because I often push clients to think beyond their corporate Navy or Red. Yes, complimentary primary colours can work BUT be careful. Stray to far and it looks bizarre.

Swiss: is this even a colour?

The Swiss eschewed their traditional bold red and went for a complimentary red which strayed to “brown.” They were probably going for a rich, warm tomatoe-red which may have worked. But this?

For competition wear, this was a hot-button year with many athletes rebelling against over-sexualized outfits. We won’t wade into those politics BUT love to poke fun at our american friends. Imagine the conversation at USA Swimming board table about suits went like this:

USA Swimming Boardroom.

From the Will Ferrel ideation phase to actual competition –>

– by Rich Patterson. Rich worked in senior marketing & merchandising positions for Olympic apparel pioneer Roots.

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