The 2020 Olympic Games finally kicked off last week with its coronavirus enforced postponement at an end. That is not to say this year’s edition hasn’t faced its own host of problems though, the somewhat eerie spectator-less stadiums for one, but it was the surprising last-minute sponsorship withdrawal of Toyota that epitomised the concern that only 20% of Japan’s residents actually support the event taking place.
Outside of corporate sponsorship deals, it is the athletes themselves that represent the best opportunity for brands to make their mark on the spectacle that is the Olympics. With 900 million people having watched London’s rendition in 2012, it provides an almost unparalleled audience reach. Merchandising is also a sure-fire way for organisers to tap into this global appeal, in 2016 Japan released its first product lines for the Games with most selling out on the first day. It is expected that this will form a large part of its licensing programme predicted to make £88m.
For brands not directly affiliated with the Olympic programme they must find more creative ways to harness this exposure. Most decide to sponsor a team or event, with certain companies like Nike holding a diverse interest across multiple disciplines. Attempting to capitalise on these avenues is far from unique in the fashion industry, but if there were any doubts about the success these might attain in a coronavirus afflicted market, these were dispelled last summer with the release of ‘The Last Dance’. Netflix’s ode to Michael Jordan’s illustrious career was a sporting cultural phenomenon felt worldwide. The Jordan footwear brand, featured heavily, saw its popularity skyrocket with Stock X, the market leader in sneaker reselling, reporting a 76% increase to its website traffic in the months following the documentary’s release.
With the substantial viewing figures for the Olympics evident to all, it is not an opportunity to be missed out on. Below we’ll take a look at the biggest success stories from the opening week of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
SKIMS – USA Women’s Team
Skims Olympic Capsule (source: Variety)
Kim Kardashian’s shapewear company recently hit the ‘unicorn’ valuation of over $1bn and with Kate Moss being unveiled as the new face of the brand, it seems to be going from strength to strength. As the official undergarments provider to the USA women’s team, SKIMS have created a range of underwear, loungewear and pyjamas distributed to every one of the 329 female Olympians representing team USA this year. Alongside this, the exact range was released on their website of which it sold out almost immediately. This was made even more impressive by the fact that these clothing items received zero airtime, it seems in some cases where the Olympics is concerned, association is enough.
Nike x Parra – Skateboarding Apparel
Yuto Horigome wearing Nike x Parra (source: Buzzfeed)
New to the Olympics this year, skateboarding took the internet by storm when the women’s discipline finished with three teenagers standing on the podium with a 13, 13 and 16 year old winning the gold, silver and bronze respectively. While the men’s half didn’t include quite so many shocks, one theme brought the two together to almost undivided acclaim. Nike, with their rich skateboarding history, partnered with Dutch brand Parra to dress almost everyone in the field. This resulted in the skaters, allowed to keep their recognisable aesthetic by the Olympic committee, donning extravagantly coloured apparel at odds with most of the clothing worn in the more traditional sports. Similarly to Skims, Nike’s efforts were released to the general public online where they sold out instantly. With mass approval across social media and articles released by Forbes, GQ and Highsnobiety amongst a multitude of others it is no surprise to see these items currently reselling for over double their initial price.
Giorgio Armani – Italian Team
Italian athletes wearing their Giorgio Armani tracksuits (source: Independent)
Apparel from the slightly higher echelons of the fashion world is also normally a prominent feature of the Olympics. Ralph Lauren have dressed the USA team since 2008 but have found little approval from critics, more recently resulting in mocking due to this year’s attempt, another “lacklustre” display. Across the Atlantic, Italian designer Giorgio Armani have found greater success working with their national team. With the opening ceremony featuring their athletes in a glorious tricolore tracksuit, the Italian brand showcased their talent for stylish garments no matter the type. With these tracksuits, amongst other items in an Olympic themed capsule, being released globally, it might have been expected to not do too well outside of Italy. However, you’d currently struggle to find a single item available from the USA to the UK. No doubt about it, Armani were a standout performer at the opening ceremony, an event that is scoured nearly as intensively for its fashion as it is for the athletes it contains.