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1000-Year-Old Tower of London hosts London 2012
Team Great Britain Unveiling
LONDON – March 22, 2012
The thousand-year-old walled fortress of the Tower of London is usually a place where dark secrets are kept. But this morning, amidst a dazzling light and sound show, a bright secret, two years in the making, was finally revealed to the world.
Designer Stella McCartney, daughter of legendary musician, Paul McCartney, unveiled her designs for Britain's 500 Olympic and 350 Paralympic athletes with uniforms that make stylish and imaginative use of the familiar Union Jack flag.
The first showing of the designs took place at a gala event within the walls of the Tower of London – and the showcase combined the razzle-dazzle of the fashion catwalk with the immense star quality of top Olympic competitors.
McCartney, who is Adidas' creative director for Olympic gear, said she hoped the athletes and the nation like the uniforms and are proud of the athletes who will wear them at the Olympics and Paralympic Games.
During the unveiling event, McCartney's collection was modeled by more than 30 athletes, from basketball and soccer players to swimmers to Paralympics sprinters. The models included heptathlete Jessica Ennis, rowing champion Pete Reed and double Paralympic swimming gold medallist Ellie Simmonds.
The designer revealed that the she took her inspiration largely from the Union Jack flag – although in a reinterpreted and reinvented way. She admits that she was well aware that the flag might be "overused" in the buildup to the Olympics, so McCartney wanted to do something quite different with it, and yet still respect its beauty and symbolism.
She also recognized that the Union Jack colors are similar to a lot of other flags. Since British Olympic athletes really want to feel identifiable as Team Great Britain, McCartney inventively used different colors to say the same thing.
She has been working on the line for two years and has combined the best in performance technologies and dramatic British style, according to Adidas, who brought McCartney on board as creative director and sponsored the "Britain Takes the Stage" event.
London is the host of the 2012 Summer Olympics, which will run from July 27 to Aug. 12. Up to 175,000 items of clothing will be supplied to British athletes competing in 26 Olympic and 20 Paralympic sports at London 2012.
For information and pricing of this wide and exciting range of London Olympic Games coins, collectors should visit www.govmint.com or telephone GovMint at (800)-721-0346 (24 hours a day).
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