The Finnish Olympic team’s competition collection is designed by Rukka, a Luhta Sportswear Company brand. Below we dive into its design and production, which started two and a half years ago and has incorporated circular principles. The collection’s theme, “light and shadow,” has a special meaning.
Luhta Sportswear has been responsible for the clothing of the Finnish Olympic team since 2017 when it took over from Icepeak. This will be the first year Luhta’s Rukka brand takes charge. The team will be wearing the new collection on the way to Paris, at the opening ceremony, at the awards ceremony, during the events and during off-hours.
Designing an Olympic collection takes a while, usually about two and a half years before the Games. This time around, work began in autumn 2022, with a design competition held in partnership with Aalto University.
“The Paris Games will be the fourth Olympics for which we dress the Finnish team. We have sought design inspiration from students before, and design competitions have been organized with both Aalto University and the Lahti Institute of Design,” says Pasi Luumi, Luhta’s Sales Manager.
The idea and inspiration for the collection can be summed up in the phrase “light and shadow” – with their variation and meaning. The light varies by season in Finland, while in sports, the spotlight shines on every triumph, leaving in the shadows the tremendous work that went into it.
“This is reflected in the collection, where the colors of the clothes are lighter at the front and darker at the back, emphasizing the light coming from the front and the shadows coming from the back,” Luumi adds. Luhta’s in-house team was responsible for designing the items’ look, sizing, material specifications and technical details, as well as for fitting and testing the designs to ensure comfort and functionality. The Olympic Committee, on the other hand, provided guidance on the look of the outfits – in the use of logos and emblems.
According to Leena Paavolainen, Director of Sport and Competitions Programs at the Olympic Committee’s Top Sports Unit, cooperation with Luhta has deepened year after year, and it shows in the design.
“We’ve been working with Luhta since the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and have learned a lot from each other,” says Paavolainen. “Thanks to our good cooperation, the planning process is professional, and we’ve learned to consider the conditions of the venue, the needs of the different sports and the wishes and expectations of the athletes and coaches.”
New collection meets circular-economy principles
For the Paris Olympic collection, Luhta also had the ambitious goal of designing a collection that adheres as closely as possible to the principles of the circular economy, in line with the Games’ sustainability theme.
“The circular economy has been taken into account in the design phase of the collection, in the choice of materials, in the durability and reusability of the products and by taking the products back after use if they are no longer needed by the athlete,” says Annamaria Väli-Klemelä, Luhta’s sustainability manager.
Therefore, Luhta chose recycled materials that support sustainable development and new material innovations such as Spinnova, Pure Waste and Sorona for the collection. The brand also optimized the collection’s size and production volume by selecting only the necessary multifunctional products.
After the Games, Luhta will collect the articles for charity or for its recycling partner, which will use them for further fiber recycling.
Athletes closely involved in the design
The collection’s design started with detailed feedback on the performance of previous Olympic outfits from the team management, the Finnish Olympic Committee and the Olympic athletes themselves.
This was discussed with the sports, management and maintenance teams, which were also presented early on with the new materials and other details for the upcoming Games to see whether any changes needed to be made. “We have always learned something new from each competition, and the process has been refined year after year as the collaboration has progressed,” says Pasi Luumi.
The articles in the collection were fitted to every athlete and sport and fine-tuned as necessary. They were also designed to meet the demands of the likely variations in weather at the Games.
“As we (normally) don’t design clothes for competition performance, we try to make them suitable for as many sports and uses as possible,” says Luumi. The current collection breaks down into four categories, all in all with around 30 garments and 15 to 20 accessories, including footwear, socks and headwear.
“Based on feedback from previous competitions, we have been able to refine the collection to the optimum number of products, so that no unnecessary products are delivered to the team. The collection is therefore about 20 percent smaller than before,” says Annamaria Väli-Klemelä.
Uniform outfits play a big role
According to Leena Paavolainen of the Olympic Committee, a uniform collection is very important for team spirit:
“Almost 20,000 athletes or team members from more than 200 countries are coming to Paris. When you go and live the Games among others, it makes a big difference how Olympic Team Finland is seen and perceived. Clothes also have an impact on self-esteem. In Rukka outfits we feel like a representative and competitive team.”
The collection’s blue and white color scheme, derived from Finland’s national colors, stands out from outfits from other countries, and its practicality is also very Finnish.
The Olympic collection is available to the public
A selection of Rukka Olympic collection products is also available in selected Luhta and Intersport stores throughout Finland and on their websites. The products in the commercial collection do not have official logos, but their appearance and materials are the same as those used in the collection supplied to the team for the Games.
“Many people will remember the Pyeongchang hair hat, which caused a heated debate when the collection was launched in Finland, but which became a real hit with the athletes at the Games,” Luumi laughs.
Every launch is a talking point
Every new Finnish Olympic race kit generates a lot of public debate and comment. This one is no exception.
“It’s great that the outfits speak to us, stir up emotions and arouse opinions from both the athletes and the public who wear them. It’s great to see that even top fashion experts are involved in commenting on the products of the sports genre and bringing their own valuable views to the debate,” says Pasi Luumi.
As an apparel designer, Luhta must follow the Olympics’ strict rules, which specify, among other things, logo sizes and country symbols. However, the company also has its own ideology, which guides the look of the outfits, the colors, and the product types.
“Within these guidelines, as the supplier of the outfits, we also want to ensure that our own logo is as visible as possible,” says Luumi.
