Sat, Apr 20, 2024 page2

• Athletes model Olympic uniforms for Paris Games

  TWO READINGS: Text designer Lin Kuo-ching crafted the English word ‘Taipei’ on the suits to look like the Chinese characters for ‘jia you’ when upside down

  • By Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff reporter
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  Taiwanese athletes yesterday modeled the uniform the nation’s Olympic team are to wear at the opening ceremony in Paris this summer, with the garments to be displayed at Taipei Fashion Week.

  The uniforms — designed by Justin Chou (周裕穎) — were debuted at a news conference in Taipei, with Olympic trap shooter Yang Kun-pi (楊昆弼) and boxer Wu Shih-yi (吳詩儀) among those modeling them.

  The blue uniform incorporates works by Taiwanese artists, including Paul Chiang (江賢二), Lin Kuo-ching (林國慶), Yen Yu-ying (嚴玉英) and Lin Pei-ying (林佩瑩).

  

  Taiwanese Olympians Yang Kun-pi, left, and Wu Shih-yi at a news conference in Taipei yesterday model the nation’s uniform to be worn at the opening ceremony of the Paris

  Photo: CNA

  The text was designed by Lin Kuo-ching, who crafted the English word “Taipei” to look like the Chinese characters “加油” (jia you, a ubiquitous term of encouragement) when upside down.

  With a focus on sustainability, fashion, crafts and arts, the uniforms were made from a fabric made using materials recovered through carbon capture technology, Chou said.

  Twined flowers decorating the lapel of the suit jackets are plum blossoms, Taiwan’s national flower, and nanohana flowers, which symbolize encouragement, he said.

  The germanium fabric used to make the polo shirts can produce a huge amount of negative ions, which the manufacturer, New Wide Group, said makes one feel like they are “wearing a forest.”

  Chou said that the design “will definitely not be inferior” to that of the host country, France, which was designed and unveiled by LVMH Group a few days ago.

  Minister of Culture Shih Che (史哲) and Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee president Lin Hong-dow (林鴻道) wished the Taiwanese athletes the best at the Games and said they hoped Taiwan’s soft power would shine on the international stage.

  Shih announced a plan to set up a Taiwan Pavilion at the Park of Nations in La Villette in Paris during the Olympics to showcase Taiwanese culture and cheer for the nation’s athletes.

  The uniforms are to be displayed at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park during Taipei Fashion Week, which starts on Thursday next week and runs through April 29.

  Cultural Olympics is the theme of the opening show of this year’s Fashion Week, with athletes and models to showcase power and beauty through fashion design, the ministry said.

  Six designer brands — C Jean, Jamie Wei Huang, JUST IN XX, PCES, Story Wear and SYZYGY — are to present their designs at the opening event, which is to be livestreamed on Line Today, the ministry said.
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