WINNER OF THE HUNGARIAN OLYMPIC UNIFORM TENDER REVEALED

It was announced on the campus of the prestigious Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design on Thursday that the Hungarian Team will wear apparel from clothing company NUBU at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Eight out of the fourteen design teams applied for a restricted invitation to tender.

Solid, quality works came in for the tender so the jury of 8 had a tough decision to make. All three finalists (Nanushka, Nubu and Tomcsanyi) could present their work at the announcement of results open to the media.

Krisztián Kulcsár, President of the Hungarian Olympic Committee emphasized that it was an expectation towards the jury to take athletes’ opinion into consideration. He iterated that there is great media attention around Olympic uniforms and this has been the case before Tokyo as well. The Hungarian sport leader thanked everybody involved in the design, application and decision phases of the tender: the designers, the athletes, members of the jury, the models and the Hungarian Olympic Committee staff.

Krisztián Kulcsár

The President of the Hungarian Paralympic Committee, László Szabó expressed his gratitude to the Hungarian Olympic Committee as members of the Hungarian Team will represent Hungary at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in this apparel together.

Applicants for the Tokyo Olympic uniform contest envisioned a quality collection which is representative, unique and conveys the traits of Hungarian culture in a classy way. It was important for the uniforms to create a unified, visual experience, even in the case of large groups, from afar through broadcasting. Other aspects to consider were body types differing from standard sizes and the Japanese weather. Moreover, the uniforms have to fit perfectly on members of the Hungarian Paralympic Team and have to be comfortable during the opening ceremony with a lot of waiting and sitting time as well. Easy cleaning, transportation and compatibility with different pieces from the collection were also a must.

The winner collection with the fashion designers and the jury

Judit Garam and Adél Kovács on behalf of the winner Nubu talked about the 3 key aspects during the design process: Hungarian identity, brand appearance and respect towards the host country Japan.

Judit Garam and Adél Kovács

The duo said the pieces containing Japanese kimono elements are made of bio cotton and recyclable materials all in the name of sustainability. Starting points in Nubu’s application included important faces in Hungarian culture, such as role models, world-renown scientists, inventors and Hungarian actors. Added to these were elements of Japanese culture; tradition, technological innovation, Zen minimalism and Eastern philosophy among others. Then, the icing on top, to make it trendy, lively colours, texts in bold and a sporty elegant style were thrown into the mix.

Members of the jury included Áron Szilágyi, two-time Olympic Champion in sabre fencing, Evelyn Verrasztó, five-time European Champion Olympic swimmer, Katalin Varga, Paralympic canoeist, Hedvig Harmati, Head of the Textile Design Department, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Krisztina Maróy, Editor-in-Chief of Glamour magazine, Márk Lakatos, stylist, Pál Nánási, photographer and Zsófia Báthori, Marketing Manager of the Hungarian Olympic Committee. Top athletes, applied artists, costume designers and the Rector of the host university József Fülöp were also present at the press conference.

 (HOC)