Teched-Up Apparel to Take Center Stage at Olympic Games

Like the hundreds of athletes competing in next month’s Olympic Games in Greece, apparel makers will be looking to set new boundaries with a fresh crop of technology-driven apparel.

Swimmers will be outfitted in body suits that replicate shark skin, and track athletes will wear form-fitting skin suits. Other athletes will wear shirts that eliminate moisture in seconds.

Although much of this new technology is performance-driven, manufacturers are hoping the Olympics will create a big “wannabe” factor that generates consumer demand.

Los Angeles–based Speedo USA is among those looking to capitalize. Speedo, licensed in the United States to The Warnaco Group Inc. by the Pentland Group PLC of the United Kingdom, has spent four years researching and developing the “Fastskin FSII” swimsuit.

The company will showcase the suit in Athens on athletes including 19-year-old Michael Phelps, who will get a $1 million bonus if he comes away with seven gold medals to match Mark Spitz’s record.Speedo claims the FSII is the fastest swimsuit in the world.

The FSII—available in several cuts for men, women and children— has a texture that replicates shark skin and is aerodynamically designed to reduce water resistance in the pool by as much as 4 percent. To build the suit, Speedo scanned the shapes of elite athletes with laser body scanners and used computer software to learn how to reduce the drag of water against the body. As part of the study, Speedo learned that the texture of a shark’s tooth-like skin varies across the animal’s body to manage the flow of water. The company applied that criteria to the FSII, which is made of nylon, Lycra and 3-D titanium silicon.

The first generation of the suit helped Speedo swimmers set 13 world records and gain 80 percent of the medals during the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The suits also had a retail impact and, since their introduction, have had annual sales gains of 10 percent to 15 percent. Speedo plans to apply the technology to skiing, cycling and active apparel. The average consumer will be able to purchase the new FSII suit and coordinating equipment and apparel—such as bags, shoes, goggles, training aids and towels—starting Aug. 1. Such items will run in Speedo’s Spring/Summer 2005 Pool Performance Competition collection and will be available throughout 2005. The retail price for the full-body suit will be $400. Other cuts will start at $150.

“This means that if a consumer doesn’t want to use a full-body suit, they could either buy a record-breaker swimsuit or jammer shorts in the same fabric and then coordinate with bags, shoes, goggles etc.... Thus, the more fashion-conscious consumers can have a part of the FSII collection,” said company spokesperson Amy Freeman.

Huntington Beach, Calif.–based swimwear company Tyr Sport Inc., the No. 2 player in the performance swimwear market (Speedo is No. 1), also hopes to create a stir in Athens with its “Aqua Shift” suits. Polyester and Lycra piping on the suits alters the fluid dynamics of water as it flows around the swimmer to reduce drag. The company developed the technology with the University of Buffalo’s Center for Research and Education in Special Environments. Tyr has 20 models. “There are three friction points on the suits, and the trip wires on these points actually increase the friction to help [wearers] swim faster,” said Tyr spokesperson Lizzie Anderson.

What surprised Tyr Chief Executive Officer Steve Furniss was the strong consumer demand for the Aqua Shift that came from children and others outside the traditional performance demographic.

Other technology being used for performance athletics is carrying over to the mainstream. Santa Cruz, Calif.–based O’Neill’s “Superfreak” boardshorts, with seamless technology that eliminates side hems through panelized-based construction, are gaining lots of appeal beyond the performance- surf market. The Superfreak recently won the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association’s Product Innovation of the Year award. The second-generation men’s Superfreak rolled out earlier this year along with other models for women.

The seamless concept will also be used in Athens. Nike Inc.’s new “Swift Suit” will be used by a number of athletes, including the entire Canadian rowing team. The suit features “no-sew” technology at the leg hems. The garments are laminated using a heatapplied film, which eliminates bulk and chaffing. Nike pushed the seaming to the front of the uniform to create what the company says is the most aerodynamic garment possible. Designers said the suit eliminates drag by 3 percent, about eight feet in a 2,000- meter rowing contest. The garment also uses moisture-wicking technology, which sustains body temperatures by drawing moisture away from the skin and toward the outside of the fabric, where it evaporates quickly.