Sleek appeal of the Great White North
Bob and Dougmeet Prada Sport.
That’s the winning look our athletes will be sporting at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. HBC’s first foray into Olympic clothing, since snagging the rights from Roots, was revealed Tuesday evening at Fort York, with skaters gliding on an artificial rink and fake snow wafting from the rafters.
Onstage, a few dozen models were outfitted in combinations of turtlenecks, parka vests, sleek T- shirts, bold scarves and striking headgear — a testament to how versatile each piece is in this vast collection for men, women and kids.
In a way, it looked like a Benetton ad come to life with the mix of young, multiracial faces clad in co- ordinating primary colours taken directly from the Hudson’s Bay blanket. But that, and one colour-blocked scarf, is as close as we get to the traditional red, yellow, blue and green bars. So far, anyway. We still don’t know what outerwear the athletes will parade in at the opening ceremonies in Turin in February.
That and the podium wear are being kept a secret, one that HBC fashion director Suzanne Timmins and her solidgold design team have been sworn not to divulge.
In the meantime, we can shop The Bay, Zellers and Home Outfitters for these Canadian classics made cool. The tuque, the trapper hat, the parka vest, and the mukluk have been trimmed down and lightened up, taking advantage of the latest technology and the keen eyes of a design team led by Tu Ly.
“ It’s sleek, not sloppy,” describes Timmins, adding that initial research revealed athletes were not happy with the “ big, boxy” unisex apparel produced by Roots.
T- shirts are nipped through the waist and armholes are cut high. A snowboardinspired pant is more tailored than usual thanks to high- tech stretch nylon and corduroy. Even the scaled- down trapper hat, engineered so it curls away from the face, is deemed “ sexy” by Ly. “ That hat and a bear rug by the fireplace are all you need,” he quips. Another complaint the HBC team heard was the lack of dressier apparel for interviews and personal appearances. So they came up with stretch wool blazers in grey for men and winter white for women. “ They look formal but are as comfortable as a sweater,” promises design team member Crystal Siemens. The jacket’s lining is red and white mesh — a subtle reference to the Canadian flag and just one of many patriotic details. The mukluk leaves “ Canada” and a maple leaf imprint in the snow, thanks to an embossed rubber sole.
Admirably, HBC resisted the temptation to put its logo front and centre, something Roots was never able to do. Olympic licensees are given strict guidelines on how large, and prevalent, their logos can be, still most of HBC’s logos aren’t much bigger than a postage stamp. “ We wanted it to be about this,” said HBC vice- president of communications Rob Moore, holding up the tip of his scarf bearing the Canadian Olympic Committee logo. “ More than this,” he continued, pointing to the HBC on the other end. Maybe HBC knows its logo doesn’t have cachet — just one of the problems that has gotten the 335- year- old chain where it is today — the target of a hostile takeover bid. But that’s of little concern to the highly focused athletes who will each be given 45 pieces from the collection. Some of those pieces will be replicated for sale, occasionally with modifications such as less ventilation or fewer “ medal pockets.” And there will be many other items — even baby booties — produced solely for consumers to buy, with higherpriced shearlings available at The Bay, and faux fur versions of the same item at Zellers stores. Both should keep Canadians toasty warm. One of the trapper- hatted models even collapsed in the heat of the stage lights at Tuesday’s presentation. We hope that’s not a foreshadowing of what’s to come for HBC. Bernadette Morra is the Star’s fashion editor.