Just about four years ago I got a letter from the Vancouver Organizating Committee for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games (VANOC) advising that Roots Canada (my former employer) was not the successful proponent in a competition to outfit Team Canada from 2006 thru 2012. It was not to be. The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) had won the rights to outfit Canada.
Obviously it so easy to be an armchair quarterback BUT as I watched what HBC did through the Games of 2006 and 2008 I was worried. I saw in-store promotions at HBC that lacked the excitement and energy I thought they deserved. And, the Canadian uniforms for both 2006 and 2008 Beijing Games seemed to be an acquired taste.
It was with extreme interest that I was watching for the launch today of the 2010 Canadian Team Uniforms. I got a teaser last night on CBC Dragon’s Den – HBC bought some 30 second spots and they were excellent. The tone, music, historical imagery and finally the quick teaser of the apparel – terrific! My favorite was the Cowichan Sweater which kudos to HBC is a mainstay of Canadian winter wear. You can see the 30 second spot here (I tried to embed the YouTube link but it no workie) http://vancouver2010.hbc.com/
Now with the official launch of the uniforms this morning at HBC’s downtown Vancouver store (I did not attend) and their online store going live http://store.hbc.com/ I have had a chance to look at a broader range of the product. Beautiful! Well done. Congratulations to the Canadian Olympic Committee, the Athletes and HBC. I’ll proudly wear this product at the 2010 Games.
Comments 7
How can you call the uniforms awesome and are proud and are proud to wear them when none of these items are actually made in Canada? You missed a great opportunity (except for your shareholders) to make Canadians aware of quality products made in our country and give a boost to Canadian manufacturers. After all, the Olympics are in Canada not in China.
I think the 2010 uniforms are rather boring. The designs are too plain and simple (except for the Cowichan sweater). As the host country I think our uniforms should stand out more, which is not the case here. I’m sure many other countries will have much better uniforms than we do. I also think that our 2006 uniforms were great. They were original and creative. Even the athletes around the world agreed that Canadians dressed the best at the 2006 games. I just don’t think our 2010 uniforms are up to par.
great, a team of Bob and Doug McKenzie clones… so much for shedding the hoser image.
My real beef is with those pseudo-cowichan sweaters – it’s clearly a rip off of the genuine article no matter what HBC says about merely being “inspired”. Bad form to reject the Cowichan proposal but then take their design, tweak it and sell the sweaters for a whopping $350. I understand using traditional knitters would have been difficult given the time/cost restrictions but they’re walking a pretty fine line with their design choice…
webpossum: Thanx for your comment. Irony, I just watched Strange Brew on CBC the other night. Cheers to Elsinore! You hit the nail on the head about using traditional knitters for the Cowichan sweaters. At 1 per day per knitter it would be impossible to achieve inventory. If I were HBC I would have done a LTD Edition or something special with the real cowichan sweaters and of course offered an “inspired-by” version too that could be secured en masse (as they’ve done).
Daniel: Thanx for your comment. I don’t see the uniforms as boring, I think they’re very accessible, meaning Canadians from all walks of life would enjoy wearing them. If you want to see non-boring (exciting?) uniforms, look at the 2008 Cdn Beijing Summer Games merchandise. Woah! Those designs were crazy. But, not accessible. I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing the weird fusion t-shirt and apparently neither would most Canadians since the stuff sold terribly. But, you’ve hit the nail on fashion — its a personal taste. You’re boring is another persons comfort.
Robert: I missed a great opportunity? Dude, I don’t work for HBC nor care really at the end of the day. I’ll always be a Roots guy at heart (worked with them for 10 years) and it should have been Roots doing the 2010 Games not HBC. But if its gonna be HBC at least — Finally, as my post is titled — they’ve got it right. Their other merchandise sucked. This stuff is good. And I might as well state the obvious, reported in Globe & Mail Oct. 3, that Tu Ly and Adrian Atchison who designed this 2010 Olympic HBC merchandise are former Roots Olympic designers.
As for your argument that we can only be proud of Canada if we buy Canadian? Rightly or wrongly in 2009 most of our consumer goods come from overseas. Again, please don’t blame me for that.
Pingback: HBC helps Cowichan Knitters — better late than never. « Schwag Man