CHAMPION® Athleticwear celebrates "100 Years for the Team" with launch of global campaign

Athletic wear CHAMPION® brand partners with sports legend Magic Johnson in a quest to find unique teams around the world to share their stories.

Champion®, the global athleticwear brand based in Rochester, New York, is celebrating a century of teamwork with the launch of its centennial anniversary campaign – “100 Years for the Team” – that will explore what it means to be a team in 2019 from the perspective of participating teams, clubs, squads and crews across the world.

Urban Dove for Champion's "100 Years for the Team" Anniversary Campaign (Photo: Business Wire)

Champion will engage with teams small and large around the world to share their passion about teamwork and what it means to them to be a team.  Throughout the year, Champion will highlight and celebrate teams through social media, a special website, exclusive product collections, events and influencer partnerships. Select teams will even be featured in a centennial celebration video.

Magic Johnson for Champion's "100 Years for the Team"
Anniversary Campaign (Photo: Business Wire)

“This significant milestone for Champion allows us to reflect on what ‘team’ and the evolution of ‘sports’ means today to consumers around the globe,” said Jon Ram, Group President, Global Activewear, Hanesbrands Inc. “Helping people come together as teams and being innovators in the industry has been an important part of our brand’s story since the very beginning. Now is the time to look ahead and celebrate how teams today have the power to change the world for the better, and how we assist in enabling them.”

The campaign will launch with a special film that features someone who has experienced the power of the team personally – the iconic basketball legend Magic Johnson. In the film, Johnson shares his reflections and insights into what truly makes a great team. 

“As part of the ‘Dream Team,’ I experienced first-hand the power of people coming together to achieve great things,” said Johnson. “I’m pleased to celebrate the power of teams in Champion’s 100th anniversary campaign.”

Love is in the Air - in the world of Jan Constantine

Jan Constantine launches new pop art collection

British textile designer and entrepreneur Jan Constantine, renowned for her unique collection of hand embroidered textiles, has launched a new range full of LOVE boldly appliqued with graphic letters and motifs onto cushions, wall hangings and throws, in black, cream and bright rainbow colours.

“I want to create something that will bring joy to people and be handed down, just as the embroidery skills of my artisans have been handed down through many generations," says Jan.

Jan says: “ I’m delighted with the vibrant colours of my new Pop Art Collection and how the word “Love” plays a major role.  I also love the jungle animal cushions on bright colours and how they mix in so well.”

Inspiration for individual designs in the Constantine Collection comes from favourite things and traditional hand-embroidery, according to the designer, whose work are hand-done on quality natural cottons, linens and wools. 

Year of the Pig celebrations in Hong Kong

Hong Kong welcomes  the Year of the Pig with a colourful parade featuring festive floats and various performing groups representing local and the Mainland as well as other parts of the world, including  world-class performers and world record holders, according to organisers at the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB)

Photo: Hong Kong Tourism Board

The 2019 Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Night Parade was staged on 5 February (the first day of the Year of the Pig) in the popular shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui.

Themed ‘Best Fortune. World Party.’, the parade featured 34 floats and performing troupes from over 11 countries and regions. It consisted of a number of world-renowned performing teams and world record holders, including Junior New System from the Philippines, which gained fame in the American talent show “America’s Got Talent”, Face Team Acrobatic Korfball from Hungary, which holds 10 Guinness records, Hiplet Ballerinas from the US, whose videos have achieved overwhelming popularity on social media platforms, and multi-award-winning Austrian acrobatic troupe The Freaks Acrobatic Show.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Wishing everyone a fantastic Year of the Pig filled with blessings! Good Health and prosperity!

祝大家 新年快樂!  豬年行好運!  身體健康!   萬事如意!

All Photos © Lucia Carpio 2019.

Waitrose launch Plan Plastic - The Million Pound Challenge

“Plastics” is today a hot topic.  Or should I say a major concern.  Hailed as a valuable invention of the 20^th Century that served so well in our daily lives , plastics however has become today an environmental problem - especially those made for single use only.  

David Attenborough’s Blue Planet TV series woke up the world  to the plastics problem directly affecting and polluting our oceans.  Since then we have seen on our screens and online metres of footage of vast islands of plastic waste floating in our open seas that have shocked us to this rude awakening that all fish are now contaminated with  some degree of micro plastics, according to environmental experts.   

SEAQUAL ™ converts plastic waste to filament yarns.
Photo © Lucia Carpio.

It is somewhat comforting to learn that a growing number of retailers are announcing their plans to do something about it, from sustainable sourcing to working towards plastics-free packaging and various efforts to reduce plastic pollution.

UK supermarket chain Waitrose & Partners have just launched a scheme called Plan Plastic - The Million Pound Challenge to award grants of between £150,000 and £300,000 to a ange of organisations using money raised from 5p carrier bags.

Tor Harris, Partner and head of corporate social responsibility, health and agriculture for the supermarket, said: “We hope the fund will help new and effective ways of accelerating action to rethink how we all use and dispose of plastic now and in the future.”

Applications could be from projects encouraging and enabling recycling, campaigns raising awareness and changing behaviour, or initiatives inspiring new ways of shopping and consuming.  Schemes focusing on fining alternatives and increating reuse of plastics in the food, agriculture and farming industries are also welcomed, along with those aimed at preventing micro-plastic pollution.

Trewin Restorick, founder and chief executive of environmental charity Hubbub, which is working with the retailer on the fund, said: "We'll look out for entries that show a tangible impact and have a longer-term legacy beyond the grant funding stage."

Applications will be accepted at planplasticfund.com until 24 February and the chosen grantees will be announced in May.

So if you are taking action to reduce plastic pollution, your project could benefit from the £1 million fund launched this week by Waitrose.

From Paris to Portland, Première Vision launches new Sport event this August

With the continued popularity and growing influence of the global sportswear and sports footwear market, the organisers of the international Première Vision events for professionals in the fashion, textile, creative and related industries - is launching a new event: Première Vision Sport, not in Paris but in Portland, in the state  of Oregon in the US.

PREMIÈRE VISION SPORT will take place August 14th and 15th 2019, to be held simultaneously and in partnership with The Materials Show, a leading sports footwear material and component sourcing show organised by American Events.

Portland is long established as the "Sportswear Silicon Valley".  Rightfully so as it is where major international American sports brands, the likes of Nike, Under Armour, Columbia Sportswear, Adidas North America, Avia and others are headquartered.  Portland is also located less than two hours by plane from San Francisco - headquarters of Patagonia, The North Face; and a little over an hour from the Canadian city of Vancouver - birthplace of such well-known brands as Lululemon, Arcteryx, Canada Goose and others.

The SPORT & TECH section at Première Vision Paris, September 2018.
Photo © Lucia Carpio.

PREMIÈRE VISION SPORT is a strategic development for the Parisian trade fair organisers which  launched the SPORT & TECH sector at its Première Vision Paris show last September offering a selection of high-performance and technical materials to help and support those brands and designers in search of innovations for the development of high-performance fashion products.

Finished garments on display at the SPORT & TECH section at Première Vision Paris, September 2018.Photo © Lucia Carpio.

The new PREMIÈRE VISION SPORT will bring its exclusive fashion expertise - seminars, colour range - and will introduce a specialized offer for performance and active sports clothing:  including fabrics, components and designs presented by a selection of exhibitors from Première Vision’s Parisian and international trade shows.

The MATERIALS SHOW was created more than 25 years ago by American Events Inc.  The biannual fair specializes in footwear for high-performance sports with a selection of dedicated materials - components, fabrics, leathers - offered by more than 300 exhibitors.

Each year, American Events organizes 4 editions of THE MATERIALS SHOW dedicated
to the footwear and sportswear markets, where representatives from international sports brands - makers and producers walk the show floor to discover what’s leading the market in technology and style.  Two editions (August & March) of the NE Materials Show take place in Wilmington,
Massachusetts, on the East Coast, presenting 200 exhibitors and welcoming some 800 visitors, while two editions (August & February) of the NW Materials Show take place in Portland, Oregon,
on the West Coast, which gathers together 300 exhibitors and 1,500 attendees.

According to figures from Euromonitor International, the global sportswear market has seen continued growth between 2011 and 2016 reaching US$ 280 billion in 2016. American brands dominate the worldwide sportswear market, with the United States representing 37% of global sales, or US$ 103 billion in 2016: US$70 billion of which for sportswear (+4.4%) and US$ 32 billion for shoes (+8.8%).

Pascal Monfort, fashion expert and founder of REC Trends Marketing, a specialist in sports, youth and street culture, said we’re seeing a growing alliance today not only between fashion and sport but also between luxury and sport, leading to the term “athluxury” - a blend of ‘athletic’ and ‘luxury’.

Pascal Monfort 
Photo © Lucia Carpio

Presenting a series of conferences on Sport &Tech at the Autumn 2018 edition of Premiere Vision Paris held last September, Pascal Monfort said: “The inclusion of sport in fashion is no longer simply a trend, it’s a necessity for many fashion brands, whether they come from the fast fashion or luxury worlds.”

In his view, 2020 will be the pinnacle of this success, the ultimate incarnation of the love affair between sport and fashion.

Monfort (pictured above at Première Vision Paris last September) said: “What’s happening today is fantastic. Creativity isn’t dead, far from it. Together, fashion and sports can go a long way and we love that!”

He added that the power of collaborations is incredible "We’re seeing the most unexpected and most surprising ones: Marine Green x Oakley, Vêtement x Oakley… Nike x Off-White for the team Nigeria fielded for the 2018 World Cup (3 million jerseys pre-ordered) … Koché x PSG: even football can become fashionable and cool!"

The fact is that fashion designers love sportswear, said Montfort.  The power of streetwear and sportswear designers is overturning norms. The most recent example is undeniably the appointment of Virgile Abloh (Off-White), a multifaceted American designer, as head of the House of Vuitton, an event which created quite a surprise in the fashion world.

Nevertheless, a series of collaborations with the biggest luxury brands and the creation of the “luxury” Nike City Ready line now places Nike on the pages of the leading fashion magazines such as Vogue.

Virgin Galactic Unveils Under Armour As Exclusive Partner To Create Next Generation Spacewear and Astronaut Performance Programme

Richard Branson needs no introduction and the American sportswear brand Under Armour has global clout too.   So if Virgin Galactic makes announcement about its collaboration with Under Armour, we take notice.

These two well-known brands are collaborating as partners to create a next generation of technical spacewear and astronaut performance programmes.

Richard Branson and founder of Under Armour, Kevin Plank. Image: Virgin Galactic.

This collaboration brings together Virgin Galactic’s mission to make commercial space travel a reality, with Under Armour’s expertise in technical apparel and footwear,  ensuring that astronaut customers and staff are fully equipped to maximise personal performance in a new age of space exploration, according to  Virgin Galactic's released statement.

The Baltimore-based brand, famed for performance through technical innovation, is designing and fabricating space suits for Virgin Galactic passengers and pilots, representing a unique commission that demanded personal performance enhancement through a complex blend of safety, utility, comfort and style.

Virgin Galactic Unveils Under Armour
as Exclusive Technical Spacewear Partner.
Image: Virgin Galactic

The partnership will also see Under Armour create uniforms for Virgin Galactic’s world-class team at Spaceport America in New Mexico. Whether engineers, astronaut trainers and hosts, or mission control operatives, each member of the Virgin Galactic team will be wearing Under Armour apparel specifically chosen to enhance performance and to provide a tangible sense of shared purpose.

As Under Armour crafts the Virgin Galactic collection, it draws inspiration from its strong heritage of innovative performance solutions for some of the world’s top athletes. Under Armour will mimic the holistic approach it takes with those individuals and in addition to apparel will design programs for astronaut physical preparation and recovery with a focus on enhancing mobility, strength, fitness, nutrition, and sleep.

Virgin Galactic's Third Powered Flight on July 26th 2018 - Flight B-Roll
Image: Virgin Galactic

Flying to space will be a profound experience for Virgin Galactic astronauts. After a thrilling high acceleration, rocket-powered, vertical ascent in SpaceShipTwo at more than three times the speed of sound, passengers will be able to leave their seats and experience the freedom of weightlessness while marvelling at spectacular, life changing views of planet Earth from the black sky of space. The custom-fitted Under Armour spacesuits will inspire confidence through comfort and practicality without compromising the natural desire of every Virgin Galactic astronaut both to feel good and look good during this unparalleled life experience.

The full range of apparel and footwear is set to be revealed later this year, ahead of Richard Branson’s inaugural commercial flight.

Commenting on the Under Armour partnership, Richard Branson said: “I have followed Under Armour’s progress through a personal friendship with its CEO, Kevin Plank and via the great relationships it has established over the years with various Virgin companies. I’ve loved its determination to push technical boundaries in order to improve performance, so could not have been more pleased when Kevin and his talented teams stepped up to the considerable task of creating a range of space apparel and performance programs for Virgin Galactic. Our partnership is built on the firm foundations of shared values and it will be an absolute privilege to wear an Under Armour astronaut space suit on Virgin Galactic’s inaugural commercial space flight.”

Kevin Plank, CEO, Under Armour said, “Working with Sir Richard and Virgin Galactic is an opportunity of a lifetime, one that has the entire Under Armour team across the world excited. This is a great opportunity to test our innovation at the highest level and continue to push the limits of human performance.”