Denham to Dress Team Netherlands for Summer Olympics
For the Netherlands Olympic and Paralympic Team, the road to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris may be paved in indigo.
The Dutch Olympic Committee*Dutch Sports Federation (NOC*NSF) has tapped Dutch denim brand Denham to outfit 500 Olympians and over 250 Paralympians for the opening and closing ceremonies.
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The games will take place July 26-Aug. 11 and Aug. 28-Sept. 8, respectively. The opening ceremony is scheduled to place on the Seine on July 26.
“The opening ceremony on the river Seine is truly a really exciting event; millions of people will see TeamNL athletes pass by. It’s great that our outfits will have such a unique style,” said Pieter van den Hoogenband, Chef de Mission Olympic Games.
Described as the “biggest catwalk in the world,” the ceremonies give Denham a stage to showcase the ways it infuses heritage designs with innovative post-consumer recycled cotton denim and high-performance stretch fabrics.
Aligned with founder Jason Denham’s efforts to design more sustainably, the company aims to make a complete wardrobe that athletes will want to wear after the competition. The brand said its “vision is to seamlessly blend sport, art and culture with a unique approach to denim design.”
Earlier this year, the NOC*NSF and former elite athletes gathered at Denham’s design studio in Amsterdam’s historic NDSM-Werf neighborhood to exchange ideas. There, they combined their athletic needs with Denham’s technical innovation and denim workwear expertise.
The aim was to understand what it really means for an athlete to participate in the Olympic or Paralympic Games, Denham stated.
“I think it is great and very important that the clothing is designed with input from the athletes,” said Esther Vergeer, Chef de Mission Paralympic Games. “These outfits will be really different from previous Games, they’re contemporary and very comfortable. It’s great that we as a nation, can distinguish ourselves like this.”
The outfits will be presented in June 2024. Denham said it is anticipating several initiatives on the road to Paris 2024.
The Olympic Games present an opportunity for brands to showcase their athletic prowess and patriotic pride. For the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021, Liberian-American designer Telfar Clemens designed outfits for Team Liberia. Italian athletes wore Giorgio Armani and Team Great Britain was outfitted in Ben Sherman. Ralph Lauren dressed Team USA, continuing the role it has held for many years.
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