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Going for qol
Fashion brands are cashing in on OLYMPICS FEVER. But is their f retro sports gear really fit for the High Street? Katy McAuIay limbers up and tries some on.
dl
pen any lashion maga/ine at the moment and you‘re
practically guaranteed to be laced with a double page l)ior
adyertisemcnt l'caturing eyerything trom l)ior basketball shoes to a l)ior snow board. last as lashion giants Him and (’hanel are busy stamping their logos on ey'erything and anything sport-related in their bid to jump on the Olympic bandwagon. designers the world oyer are gearing up to inspire the sportsman in all of us and cash in on the (My mpics commencing in Athens this month.
As l.y siane de Roy ere. spokeswoman tor the lashion consultancy l’romostyl. has noted in lbgue. such playing with brand imaging is a blatant attempt to lish for our attention and get consumers talking.
llowey'et'. shrewd enough to realise that for many ol' Us the touch of the running track beneath our leet or the lee] ol~ a jayelin in our palm are going to be alien sensations. those likely to be picked last in a line-up for any sport can side-step the embarrassment ol‘ attempting to look good in the latest high-technology latex and opt instead to grasp the oliye branch ol' retro sportswear being offered by designers such as Yohji Yamamoto.
'l‘eaming up with Adidas. the resulting Y-3 line features the traditional three—stripe Adidas designs in bright primary colours. with medal winner prints being splashed around for good measure. ('ruise stores in (ilasgow and lidinburgh are
celebrating the start of the Do
(iames in association with the
line: stores plan to launch the
Yohii Yamamoto autumn
collection later this llltllllll. .’\.\ any glance at .l-l.o's loray
into designing pink yelour
tracksuit combos or the To
predilection for shiny Kappa
outl'its layourcd by neds the
country oyer w ill show. To While this would particularly encourage consumers to indulge in a new
sportswear is traditionally a pair of shoes is a mystery. Do we care that the Mexico Mid Runner was
minelicld l‘or potential lashion intended to giye ankle support to long and high jump competitors'."l'he
l‘lllilllh- “W “TU” lml‘l'lill’llN l“ fact is. these trainers look cool. Leah Watson. a spokeswoman tor ()nitsuka
(‘onyerse‘s l'amotis (’huck Tiger. admits that the trainers are not designed lot‘ Us to do laps ol' the local
Taylor Allstar trainers. currently park. ‘ll' people want to play sports. they should buy Asics‘ current range of
sported (pun intended) by footwear] she say s. "The ()T range is delinitely for the fashion—ctinsciousf countless indie kids. certainly proyes that the needle on the compass of Do we care it they sport soles so thin that walking oy er gray el is a form lasliioii is an unpredictable one. ot~ torture. or it they consist of materials that won‘t last many treks along
Taking a yery profitable walk down memory lane at the moment. (ilasgow's payements‘.’ Quite l‘rankly my dear. I couldn’t giye a damn. boosted by association with reyenge-seeking assassins. is .-\sic.s‘ ()nitsuka Tiger range of retro trainers. Noticing the rising demand for retro sportswear. .-\sics relaunched its original brand last year. Set up in NW as the first specialised maker ol‘ sports shoes in .lapan. its shoes
hay e leatured in practically eyery ()lympic (iames since WSI and haye been the footwear or choice of such t‘amous athletes as the preyiously barelooted runner :\bebe Bikila.
.-\ccording to the people at ()nitsuka Tiger.
the design ol‘ each shoe is exactly the same as the originals. which date back to the l9b4 Games. with only choice of l‘abric and range of colours modernising the trainers for the image- eonscious. The Boxing TKO (technical knock out) trainer for example. is based on the Boxing LE boots originally made to order for professional boxers in the l98()s. while the Gymnastic trainer was made in 196-1 and married the leather upper and sole of the shoe to giye extra flexibility to gymnasts.
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