Sport News: Tom Daley Launches Knitting-Inspired Swimwear Collection with Adidas

Tom Daley modeling his new adidas swimming trunks

British Olympic diving star Tom Daley is making waves in fashion following his retirement from the sport after clinching his fifth Olympic medal at Paris 2024. The British icon has turned his post-diving focus to a series of fashion-forward projects — the latest being a bold new swimwear collection with long-time collaborator adidas.

The four-piece collection, which debuted this week, is a vibrant blend of Daley’s distinctive personal style and his passion for knitting — a craft he picked up during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and has since transformed into a creative movement. The range includes an adjustable thin-strap swimsuit, a two-piece bikini, swimming trunks, and 5-inch swim shorts — each infused with retro, knit-inspired graphic patterns co-designed by Daley and the adidas design team.

Available in a mix of colour palettes — including Lucid Blue and Ruby Red, Lucid Pink and Powder Teal — the line delivers both eye-catching style and high-performance functionality. The swimsuit, bikini, and trunks are crafted using adidas’ Infinitex fabric, engineered for durability against chlorine and salt water, while the swim shorts feature quick-dry technology for all-day comfort.

Tom Daley, champion diver and collection designer, said: “I wanted this collection to be fun, expressive and allow people to celebrate their individuality. Whether it’s competing, training, exercising, or playing - the water is a space for everyone. My love of knitting is well-publicized, but I hope everyone will agree that we have used that design inspiration, to create a unique fashion-forward look, that people will feel equally confident wearing in and out of the water” 

The collection is now available via adidas.co.uk and select retailers.

The collaboration marks the latest in a growing list of fashion ventures for Daley. He recently became an ambassador for Woolmark, launching a pastel-toned knit kit in partnership with UK yarn manufacturer Laxtons. The kit includes exclusive patterns for a jumper, vest, and hat under his brand Made With Love — a knitting and crocheting movement he founded after discovering a supportive community through the craft.

In addition, Daley is set to host The Game of Wool, a televised competition series filmed in rural Scotland, where 10 creatives will battle it out to become the UK’s first TV knitting champion.

Earlier this year, Tom Daley also partnered with London-based fashion retailer Reiss to launch an exclusive unisex capsule collection in celebration of Pride 2025. The limited-edition line blends Daley’s love for knitting and crochet with his Olympic heritage and Reiss’ design aesthetic. Drawing inspiration from themes of love, pride, and water, the collection celebrates identity and self-expression. In a show of solidarity and support, all profits from the collaboration are being donated to LGBTQ+ charity Rainbow Railroad.

From Olympic podiums to the fashion world, Tom Daley continues to redefine what it means to be a modern sporting icon.

All photos from adidas

Gucci X adidas launching in June

 Gucci has collaborated with adidas on a kaleidoscopic aesthetics collection. 

Image: adidas by Carlijn Jacobs

Combining their heritage and creative codes, the adidas x Gucci collection will be available on 7 June at adidas.co.uk, and notably at select Gucci stores, Gucci.com, the Adidas Confirmed app and at dedicated pop-ups.

Expect to find the signature three stripe and trefoil motifs of adidas being worked into the designs of Alessandro Michele, Gucci's fashion director.

The collection encompasses a wide range of products, from ready-to-wear, track pants and sporty polos to bags, footwear and accessories, including a golf bag.  Gucci recently revealed the collection on the catwalk during Milan Fashion Week in February.  The signature tracksuit is deemed to be worn in multiple mix-and-match options, featuring shorts and jogger pants for women, while men will be sporting flared pants and a bowling shirt.

adidas and Arsenal launch women’s collection in collaboration with Stella McCartney

Sportswear brand adidas and Arsenal footclub have launched a women’s collection in collaboration with Stella McCartney, designed to support Arsenal Women both on and off the pitch. 

This is the first time adidas by Stella McCartney has collaborated with a women’s football team. The limited-edition range offer 10 pieces including a full zip hoody, as well as a gender-neutral pre-match jersey which will be worn by both the women and men’s team.

The range be available across adidas.com, in store as well as Arsenal official club stores.

British winter olympics team kit for Beijing 2022 to be made in part from recycled ocean plastic

Ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games (scheduled from February 4 - 20), sports brand adidas has unveiled the new Team GB and ParalympicsGB uniform kit, with designs incorporating insulation made from recycled ocean plastic developed by environmental organization Parley Ocean Plastic which collects plastic waste at coastal communities and shorelines.

The high performance insulation - PrimaLoft insulation x Parley Ocean Plastic - features in pieces including the hooded podium and mid-layer jacket.  The material is composed of 100 per cent recycled fibre and the manufacturer claims it is also fast-drying, durable and breathable.

Sporting colours of the British Union flag, navy blue is the dominant colour offset by sky blue, white and vibrant red flecks on sleeves and uniform legs.   The kit also includes the Olympic Village shoe consists of the adidas ULTRABOOST 22.

The adidas Team GB  apparel range is now available on the adidas Team GB website.

Sportswear and Outdoor brands championing transparency

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a charity launched to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, the apparel industry is one of the culprits in causing our environmental and pollution problems, as globally a mind-boggling 73% of materials used for clothing are being sent to landfill or incinerated every year, with less than 1% being recycled to make new clothing.

Designs by Christopher Raeburn at the Jackets Required London trade show in January 2019.
The designer , a pioneer in recycling and upcycling, set up RÆBURN, a collaborative, creative fashion studio where daily design meets painstaking production, alongside monthly events, discussions and workshops.
Photo by Lucia Carpio.

Thus it is welcomed news that Fashion Revolution’s Fashion Transparency Index 2019 reveals today that three sportswear and outdoor brands are leading the way on transparency among the world’s 200 largest fashion brands and retailers by disclosing a wide range of human rights policies, commitments and outcomes, as well as who their suppliers are.

Adidas, Reebok and Patagonia each score a total 64% out of 250 possible points, followed by Esprit and H&M in the 61-70%. C&A, ASOS, Puma, Nike, Converse, Jordan, The North Face, Timberland, Wrangler, Vans and Marks & Spencer rank at the top end of the 51-60% range.

This is the first year since the Fashion Transparency Index’s inception that brands will score over 60%, showing that progressive brands are now taking real, tangible steps to disclose more about their social and environmental policies, practices and impacts.

However no brands score above the 70% range showing that there is still a long way to go towards transparency amongst all major fashion brands.

Since 2016, Fashion Revolution has tracked global brands and benchmarked their performance against five key areas: policy and commitments, governance, traceability, supplier assessment and remediation, and spotlight issues, which this year focus on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Sarah Ditty, Policy Director and report author says: “The progress we are seeing this year, coupled with the feedback Fashion Revolution has received from brands, suggests that inclusion in the Fashion Transparency Index has motivated major fashion brands to be more transparent. We are seeing many brands publishing their supplier lists and improving their scores year on year.”

Amongst the 98 brands reviewed in 2017, 2018 and again in 2019 there has been an 8.9% increase in the average score since they were first included in the Index.

11 brands have increased their scores by over 10% this year, showing significant efforts to be more transparent, and data shows that more brands are embarking on their journey towards greater transparency.

The report shows the following findings:

·         Brands are disclosing very little about their efforts to empower women and girls and achieve gender equality, despite the fact that women make up the majority of the workforce in the fashion industry from factory to shop floor.

·         Some progress has been made on disclosing equal pay policies and the gender pay gap by major fashion brands, but little is published about how brands are addressing gender-based labour violations in garment factories.

·         55% out of the 200 brands are publishing the annual carbon footprint in the company's own sites, although only 19.5% disclose carbon emissions in the supply chain – where over 50% of the industry’s emissions occur.

·         Given that major brands are expecting trust and transparency from suppliers, they too should share more information publicly about their own commitments and efforts to be responsible business partners. Only 9% of brands disclose a formal process for gathering supplier feedback on the company's purchasing practices and just 6.5% of brands publish a policy of paying their suppliers within 60 days. 

The highest scoring brands in the Spotlight Issues section this year are H&M, Adidas and Reebok, Patagonia as well as Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius and Zara (all owned by Inditex), ASOS and C&A, respectively.

Sustainability is today a buzzword in the global apparel industry; Fashion Revolution Week 2019 (22-28 April)

News that more and more global fashion brands and retailers are striving to tackle sustainability continue to emerge as we enter Fashion Revolution Week 2019 (22-28 April) which promotes greater transparency in the fashion supply chain.

London-based eco-footwear brand
Po-Zu  uses sustainable materials.
On Monday 29th April, Po-Zu founder, 
Sven Segal  will be speaking on the 
Nature Of Fashion panel, one of many events 
organised by Know The Origin for their 
Fashion Revolution 2019 pop-up shop. 
Photo by Lucia Carpio.

For one, US-based jeans brand Wrangler, owned by the VF Corp, has launched a new Made-in-USA denim collection that supports five US cotton-growing states – and takes the brand towards 100% sustainable cotton adoption by 2025.

Elsewhere, US retailer Walmart is teaming up with international bank HSBC to roll out a sustainable supply chain finance programme that pegs a supplier's financing rate to its sustainability performance.   Under the new scheme, suppliers that demonstrate progress on Walmart's Gigaton or Sustainability Index Program can apply for improved financing from HSBC based on their sustainability ratings.

Meanwhile German sportswear giant Adidas has launched a 100% recyclable performance running shoe called the Futurecraft.Loop, which is made without glue and from materials that can be broken down and reused to create a brand new running shoe.

And a company that produces sustainable textile fibres made from waste materials has raised EUR3.7m (US$4.2m) in funding from investors, including global fashion retailer H&M, to scale up production at its plant in Finland.

Nike is world's most valuable apparel brand, says Brand Finance report.

According to Brand Finance Apparel 50 report on the world's most valuable and strongest apparel brands released this week, Nike continues to dominate as the world’s most valuable apparel brand, with a brand value of US$32.4billion, up 16% since last year due to its strong sales growth in key markets around the world, from China to the Middle Eat, Europe and Africa.

"Nike’s bold marketing makes it stand out in a busy marketplace of sportswear apparel brands. In a time when customers look for experiences and emotional connection, Nike’s offering comes with unambiguous messages and values that people can rally behind." Richard Haigh, Managing Director of Brand Finance.

Nike Inc. is looking into what went wrong after college basketball’s biggest star sprained his knee when his shoe fell apart, one of the most high-profile apparel failures in basketball history.

Zara and Adidas move up the ranks as H&M’s brand value decrease pushes it down to 4th place.

While Uniqlo is the fastest-growing apparel brand in the top 10, up a whopping 48% year on year
Rolex is the strongest brand in the sector, posting an elite AAA+ brand strength rating.

Luxury brands account for 7 out of the top 10 strongest apparel brands, showing importance of brand strength in the segment. Among the top performers in the Apparel 50 report are labels Cartier, Yves Saint Laurent, Hermes and Gucci.

Y-3 showcases Autumn/Winter 18 'NICE TO MEET YOU' collection at Paris Grand Palais

With voluminous, oversized shapes, sportswear technicality and comfort as key, Y-3, the sportswear label created by adidas and designer Yohji Yamamoto, introduces the Autumn/Winter 2018  "NICE TO MEET YOU" collection in Paris this catwalk season, a nod to the ongoing collaborative nature of  the brand since its inception.

The goal is to distill the best of Yamamoto and adidas in daringly simple apparel, footwear, and accessories.  There is an emphasis on both craftsmanship and innovation — long-held qualities of both the German sportswear icon and the renowned Japanese designer. 

Presented at Grand Palais in January, the Fall/Winter 2018 runway collection represents not only a return to the roots of Y-3.  Presented mainly in black, white, deep ink, with an injection of sunny yellow and a floral camouflage print, it showcases a refinement and celebration of the brand's key characteristics: simplicity, proportion, heritage, and the three stripes distinctive of adidas. 

The collection rides a tension between tradition and progression, pairing Japanese craftsmanship, such as Sashiko embroidery, with the cutting edge innovation of CARBON 4D and BOOST™.

The Sashiko  stitching conjures a crucial human element —suggesting the hand of a couturier - and has been incorporated within the stacked logo motif that appears throughout the range.

When it comes to apparel, XXL is the new medium. Outerwear proportions are blown up to extremes and worn with body-conscious separates to create an intriguing contrast of covered and uncovered. This pairs with an innovative inside-out fabric concept: innerwear materials used as outerwear and vice versa.  Many of the styles are also reversible.

Graphic codes subtly nod to Y-3’s story. The print of the season — a camouflage floral —
represents both the grit of the street and the poetry of Yamamoto‘s avant-garde approach.

Note that bold slogans, such as ‘Y DON’T YOU CALL ADIDAS’  and ‘NICE TO MEET YOU’, tell the tale of collaboration and mutual respect from which Y-3 was born. 

Y-3 relentlessly innovates with its footwear offering, giving a taste of the future with SPEEDFACTORY and CARBON 4D, as well as debuting several new styles. Directly inspired by the adidas archive, the pioneering  Kaiwa melds a minimalist design philosophy with contrasting midsole accents for a bold, 3-D effect — shown on the runway both as a low-top trainer and knee-high sneaker-boot. The sleek, sock-like, sport-driven Ekika combines smooth neoprene mesh uppers with suede accents and stitched details, recalling the collection’s handcraft motif.

Concept sports shoe from Adidas with a 3D-printed midsole created from ocean waste

We can never have too many shoes, some of us may say, but the world today has too much discarded plastic and much of it is found as waste in our oceans causing harm to wildlife and the environment.

Now German sportswear group Adidas has unveiled a new concept shoe that includes a 3D-printed midsole made from reclaimed ocean waste as part of a collaboration with sustainable group Parley for the Oceans.  This was announced to coincide with last week’s COP21 climate change summit in Paris. 

 

“The industry cannot afford to wait for directions any longer.  The 3D-printed Ocean Plastic shoe midsole is intended to demonstrate how the industry can re-thing design and contribute to stop ocean plastic pollution,” according to Eric Liedtke, an executive board member responsible for Global Brands at the Adidas group.

The concept shoe consists of an upper made with ocean plastic content and a midsole which is 3D printed using recycled polyester and gill net content.  The 3D-printed midsole, which cushions the foot and is covered underneath by a thin sole, is made using plastic melted down from old fishing nets. It builds on the brand's Futurecraft technology, which allows the midsoles to be tailored to the exact contours of the owner's feet.

As founding member, Adidas support Parley for the Oceans and its endeavours to end plastic pollution of the oceans.

Earlier this year Adidas showed off a trainer that had an upper made from trash found floating in the oceans.  Its upper was woven using fibres produced from the recycled waste – a technique that is repeated in this latest design.

Adidas has also announced that it will phase out the use of plastic bags from all of its own retail stores. This phase out has already started and will finish by the end of Q1 2016. The company has also stopped using plastic bottles at its HQ in Germany.