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Murnaghan said getting to the end design of the outfits took about 18 months of work and included plenty of hands-on research and testing with athletes, which is where her team came into play. The news and opinions youll love for only $14.99/month. Chantelle Murnaghan, vice-president of research and science of feel at Lululemon, who describes her role as "the coolest job ever", helped with the research and development of Team Canadas new outfits this year. I always think about as the role of our team is to bring the human to the product creation process from both a human insights and qualitative standpoint as well as a human science research standpoint. Our dressing system allows them to think about their own personal thermal comfort in the Birds Nest stadium in Beijing.. They can be layered in various ways for events throughout the Games. The brand will drop new pieces periodically until the Winter Games. How you typically unzip your jacket or roll up your sleeves., Is there a medal for best dressed? All rights reserved. We did a ton of different testing such as simulating the Beijing environment for opening ceremonies and closing ceremonies to make sure the apparel was going to (work) for those moments, she said. If so, see below. Ensure local journalism stays in your community by purchasing a membership today. Brigette Lacquette [Photo: courtesy Lululemon]Lululemons designers created more than 30 garments to fit this mandate. The Team Canada Lululemon partnership is a multi-year agreement, which will see the company serve as the Official Outfitter of Team Canada up to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. It was redefining how we sold our pants and bringing in this notion of engineered sensation and the science of feel. Curated newsletters for curious minds. Reilly and her team say theyre planning to continue with a similar aesthetic, but modified to the particular climate in each city. Outside of the Team Canada project, Murnaghan also leads product innovation at Lululemon, which sees her team lead research partnerships with academic partners and institutions, testing in product innovation and supports Lululemons mainline product team with insights and product testing. Get your tickets today! STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOS. Some pieces have an abstract print inspired by the maple leafthe countrys national symbolas seen through a microscope. to pursue a master's degree in biomechanics with the intention of starting a career in academia. That piece can then be used as a pillow or scarf depending on the athletes needs. Since 2018, Lululemon has developed a design philosophy called the Science of Feel, which considers athletes subjective experience in a particular moment, both in terms of how their body reacts to an activity and also how they want to feel emotionally. A lot of work was based on previous research we had done around thermal identity and the notion that your thermal comfort is much more than just your thermal physiology, she said. Originally growing up on P.E.I. In the past, opening ceremony outfits have been inspired by military uniformsfeaturing blazers and beretsto give the team a consistent look. One of the key things that enables thermal preference are the behaviours that you enable in a piece of clothing. Despite creating a family, a career and a new life on the West Coast, Murnaghan still has a place in her heart for where she grew up. Building this first collection was very critical, Reilly says. At the opening ceremony, we want them to look like a united front as a team, but we also want them to be comfortable in that four to six hour ceremony, says Reilly. I said I want that job, it sounds like the coolest job ever. Ive been at Lululemon ever since, Murnaghan said, noting shes been with the company since 2015. #FCFestival returns to NYC this September! The designers even worked out in cold rooms, seeing how they felt as their body temperatures went up in freezing conditions. Thats how we work all the time, she said. Cody McEachern is a business reporter with the SaltWire Network in Prince Edward Island. I took on that project still with no intention of working in the industry.. Dawn Richardson Wilson [Photo: courtesy Lululemon]Since 2005, the Canadian department store chain Hudsons Bay had outfitted Team Canada. An award-winning team of journalists, designers, and videographers who tell brand stories through Fast Company's distinctive lens, The future of innovation and technology in government for the greater good, Fast Company's annual ranking of businesses that are making an outsize impact, Leaders who are shaping the future of business in creative ways, New workplaces, new food sources, new medicine--even an entirely new economic system. pic.twitter.com/2Npw337KaM. This body of work represents how were going to show up as a brand as the official outfitter of Team Canada. Meet the official Athlete Kit for Team Canada. That all changed when her boss sent her a job description for an opening position A research scientist in sensory perception. [Photo: courtesy Lululemon]Ultimately, Lululemon developed a modular system that allows athletes to modify pieces to their personal needs: For instance, an insulated vest can be transformed into three lengths by unzipping the bottom two panels; jackets have zippers that let in air for ventilation. For the closing ceremony, the athletes will wear a similar outfit, but in ivory. Paul PoirerPiper Gilles[Photo: courtesy Lululemon]The Lululemon design team thought a lot about the history of Olympic clothing, says Audrey Reilly, the creative director of special projects at Lululemon, who led the design of Team Canadas outfits. They spent 18 months working with Canadian athletes, discussing how they wanted to feel throughout the two and a half weeks of the Games. I was asked to support and consult on a project at Lululemon, she said. and graduating from Colonel Gray High School, Murnaghan left the Island in 2005 to move to Vancouver, B.C. While Lululemon doesnt currently make shoes, the design team created special hiking boots in red and ivory to complete the look. Subscribe here. For Canadians, by Canadians. I havent been around lately (over the last two years), but Ive already got my trip planned for August.. (The Island) is definitely very near and dear to my heart. In the U.S. Lululemon will sell pieces that are similar to this collection, but dont have Canada emblazoned on them. resident to thank in part for how their outfits feel and function. By focusing on the human science side of the outfits first, taking into consideration the events the outfits would be used at, how the athletes would feel in those moments and the environment they would be in, Murnaghan said her team was then able to build new technology and outfit construction around that research. And of course, theres a modernized trapper hat that calls to mind the Canadian woodsmen who first wore them. Canadian athletes will strut into the 2022 Winter Olympics wearing trendy red trapper hats. Your home for the news shaping Canada's East Coast, Making Canada Better: Atlantic Canadian's striving for change. From a science of feel perspective, we always start with how do you want to feel rather than using the technology as the starting point, she said. This can be seen in the Team Canada 600-fill goose down jacket, which features straps inside allowing athletes to wear it as a backpack when they need to cool down. The team thought about how to apply this approach to the Olympics. Working in the fashion industry wasnt always part of the plan, said Murnaghan. Frederique Turgeon [Photo: courtesy Lululemon]Starting today, Canadian Lululemon customers will be able to buy some garments inspired by the official Olympic kit online and in store, with prices ranging from $38 to $548. At work, everyone knows Im from P.E.I. Awesome to see this partnership with @lululemon and @TeamCanada pic.twitter.com/8IaiEeMoOG. It also features a removable panel to shorten the length of the jacket. Lululemon will create apparel and accessories for each Team Canada athlete, coach and Mission Team member for the opening ceremony, medal ceremony, closing ceremony, media opportunities and Athletes Village wear. Murnaghan said the new outfits, designed by Audrey Reilly, Lululemon creative director of special projects, focus on providing the desired experience of individual athletes during key moments such as opening ceremonies, medal ceremonies and media events. Every athlete has a unique response to their environment and what fabrics are next to their skin. Most of the pieces come in five different shades of redderived from the color of the Canadian flagwhich are designed to be worn together.
The first use of the outfits will be at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing China starting Feb. 4. We came up with a theory around thermal identity,'says Reilly. Despite her plan to only stay in Vancouver for two years, she ended up staying and completed her Ph.D. in neuromechanics. The outfits were designed to be customizable for each athlete by offering clothing items that are multi-functional. So we wanted to [design] a clever layering system that that would allow them to customize what they are wearing at any given moment.. At the 2020 Tokyo Games, the company gave the athletes a distinctly casual look with denim jackets spray painted with graffiti, along with bright red sweatsuits. With this debut look, Lululemon appears to be bringing a more elevated aesthetic to the athletes, one in line with its high-end streetwear line called Lab, which it dropped in 2019. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Initially intending to take on an instructor position at a local university, Murnaghan was approached by Lululemon. Reilly wanted to create cohesion among the Canadian athletes, but also wanted them to adapt their outfits to fit their personal style and comfort. Theyre the first outfits the Vancouver-based athleisure giant has designed as part of a deal to outfit Canadian Olympians and Paraolympians for the next four Games, through 2028.