Critics hate RL's US Olympic Team Uniforms

[SkinnyGoomba]

The deal was made by an American.

 

[Material Boy]

Here are some facts pertaining to this topic:

1) Until 2004, a Candian company provided all the apparel for US athletes at olympic games.

2) Ralph Lauren became the official spsoner of USOC in 2008. The contract is up for renewal in 2020.

3) Ralph Lauren's olympic apparel for 2008 Beijing games and 2010 Vancouver games were made primarily in China.

4) Ralph Lauren is only repsonsible for opening and closing ceremony clothing for our athletes. During competition, athletes are required to wear clothing assoicated with each individual sport. For example, Nike provided apparel for basketball players. Are these clothing Made in USA? I tthink not.

In summary, I think Ralph Lauren has been unfairly targeted for a practice that has been going on for a long time: US athletes has not been wearing Made in USA clothing at olympic games for a long long time. The fact 2012 is an election probably has something to do with it.

 

[Nicola]

Unfairly? You're saying doing something wrong for a long enough time makes it right?

I wonder if the Nike shoes made for these markets are made in China. Size 18 basketball shoes aren't like coming off an assembly line.

 

[HansderHund]

This is such an important issue, it showed up in our local paper. Austrians should really weigh in on this issue.

http://www.kleinezeitung.at/sport/olympia/olympiachronik/3066968/olympia-outfiit-stammt-china.story (German)

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

The outrage about this is enough that you would think it were a new idea. The people outraged about it may want to look in there own closets to determine if they are Americans covered in American clothing or otherwise.

My clothes are mostly Italian, however there are plenty of Americans who've profited along the path from when they leave Italy to when I obtain them. I am expressing no outrage because I don't give a ****, enjoy the fruits of a globalised economy, and would be really surprised if any of the other event uniforms were American made.

 

[Jackie Treehorn]

As someone mentioned earlier, there really is no way for RL to win this sort of battle. AFAIK they don't manufacture any blazers, suits, etc., in the USA (correct me if I'm wrong). The idea that they'd set up an entirely new supply chain, just for the manufacture of Olympic apparel, is silly. It would also be very expensive, and those costs would get baked into the prices of the Olympics-themed items that RL sold to the general public. RL would get hammered in the press about the price of its clothing, its "wasteful" spending on the opening ceremonies, especially in this economy, yada yada yada.

The idea is doubly ridiculous when you consider, as many of us have, that US Olympics apparel hasn't been manufactured in the USA for decades. It's only come into the spotlight in the last 4 years because RL took a high-profile contract, and because the political and economic climates are what they are right now.

In retrospect, maybe the best thing for RL to have done would have been to take out a small agreement or special order with a local factory in NYC, LA, or wherever, to produce the gear for the Olympians at significant cost, chalking the whole thing up as a PR or advertising expense. Then it could have sold similarly designed items, manufactured in China, to the public. But even that would have stirred an outrage of some kind.

 

[lasbar]



The outrage about this is enough that you would think it were a new idea. The people outraged about it may want to look in there own closets to determine if they are Americans covered in American clothing or otherwise.
My clothes are mostly Italian, however there are plenty of Americans who've profited along the path from when they leave Italy to when I obtain them. I am expressing no outrage because I don't give a ****, enjoy the fruits of a globalised economy, and would be really surprised if any of the other event uniforms were American made.

Agree with you...

China goods are also creating American jobs in freight, warehouses ,sales and so on and bringing in taxes...

Once again ,there is no black or white answer just different shades of grey..

 

[Jackie Treehorn]



...there is no black or white answer just different shades of grey..

Fifty of them, to be precise.

 

[JLibourel]



What a real dick. Nose bigger than a pair of Lobb boots.

I guess I haven't been posting often enough in MC lately. In point of fact, I was kidding around. In reality, Next week I am about to meet with my good friend Mr. Patrick Chu of W.W. Chan & Sons of Kowloon and drop the better part of $2K on a new suit from the august firm. This will be the sixth suit I have bought from them. I have also bought 17 jackets and six shirts.

 

[erpet]



Looks awful but thanks for providing an illustration to the point I was trying to make above. QED.

Here is another one who can't wear a beret properly:
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlla/files/2011/01/bradley-manning.jpg


I assume you find this style more proper, and I would agree:
http://www.egframes.co.uk/Recruit-1.jpg

 

[MikeDT]

There's only one correct way to wear a beret...

 

[lasbar]



There's only one correct way to wear a beret...

Frank Spencer...

 

[Gus]

This link shows several years of uniforms from AG Spalding, Haines, Levis, Polo, etc...

http://london2012.blogs.nytimes.com...-E-FB-SM-LIN-OUY-071712-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click

 

[scott anderson]

I have been silent on this matter as I have wanted to read, listen and research the elements of this situation.

Allow me to clarify and simplify this matter with a practical answer devoid of politics, emotion or opinion in the first part. In the second part I will offer my opinion.

PART I

The uniforms in question are essentially Blue Blazers, a matter in which I have obvious personal expertise. A lot of 350 of these takes from delivery of fabric to availability for delivery 6 to 8 weeks total at our factory located in Florida. Fabric delivery takes 10 days for in-stock dyed and 30 days for custom dyed "grey goods".

Had I been asked, I would have been happy to make the garments for the team at my factory replete with the Polo branding and done it at wholesale as a courtesy to our team and to Mr. Lauren for whom I have the utmost respect. I would have used Lauren patterns, fabrics and all other specifications. i also would have signed a confidentiality agreement to avoid any encroachment of the Anderson-Little brand into Lauren's licensing deal with the Olympics. Further my Father would have consulted directly with Mr. Lauren to make sure he felt supported by someone with decades of experience.

Also, be aware that these athletes can be very, very tall, or very, very short or very muscular or bulky or very thin, so in essence you are running from 54 XL to 34 Short and everywhere in between and probably only a few in each size, so it's almost a custom order for the top and bottom end of the size scale. And you have both men's and women's.

All that being said, I can state for a fact that It would absolutely not have been more expensive to make this garment here. I do it every day.

They just never asked. They used their usual channels and this is based around a foreign production model. It's just that simple. Just business as usual.

PART II

My opinion:

Given the lead time involved in this and their overall business model, coupled with the foreign manufacture of the uniforms for many years, I doubt the issue ever even came up as to where to make them. They're at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong product. They misjudged the mood of the nation, underestimated the public reaction and failed to anticipate the public relations lightening rod this would become.

While I hate to see a class act like Lauren be dragged over hot coals for simply running his business, I do applaud the American public for finally getting the real message here. We have got to make things if we are ever going to bring growth and prosperity back to our economy. We need to return our national focus to manufacturing and reclaim our place in the word market with goods made here. A service economy will never provide growth or prosperity. That can only come from the creation of wealth through the production of goods. The service economy is a theory and it has not worked.

The problem is we have been told for so long that we can't do it, we, like Lauren don't even bother asking the question. Should we make it here?

That is why I took Anderson-Little back. That is why I make my product here. That is why my company has grown a minimum of 20% per year in the four years since my Father and I relaunched it.

We bothered to ask the question. Can we make it here and really compete. The answer was a resounding yes. And we were absolutely right.

Let me repeat. I opened a textile company in the middle of the worst recession since the Great Depression. TEXTILES. I make my garments here in America. My company is a success and has double digit growth and the economy has only marginally improved.

Not theory, not speculation, not financial folly. Empirical proof.

I hope this adds some insight into this debate and encourages and challenges people to ask the question--why aren't we just making it here?

And to Mr. Lauren I again say, I have the utmost respect for you sir and I regret to see your fine name being so reviled. Yes, it was a mistake, but we've all made them. I look forward to 2014 and let me know if my factory can be of any help to you. It'll be just between us

Now, let's all get back to the real action which is the Olympics themselves. Let's cheer our team and glory in their triumphs, share their losses and admire their sportsmanship.

Let the games begin. I can't wait!

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

America is currently the worlds largest manufacturer.