During the presentation of the uniform, in which the representatives of the US Olympic team were supposed to appear in London at the opening of the Summer Olympics, it was discovered that the clothes of American athletes were made in China. Outraged by this circumstance, Senator Harry Reid said that all these uniforms should have been piled up and burned.
On July 12, 2012, a presentation of the uniform was held, in which the US team will participate in the opening ceremony of the London Olympics on July 27. NBC broadcast a collection created by American fashion designer Ralph Lauren, who in 2008 and 2010 already worked on the uniforms of the US national teams that participated in the Summer Olympics in Beijing and the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The 2012 suits are based on the style of the US Navy. The men's version includes blue blazers and white trousers. In the women's uniform, the trousers are replaced by a white knee-length skirt. The suit, made in the colors of the American flag, is complemented by a beret, tie and scarf.
During the presentation, ABC TV reporters found labels on their clothes indicating that uniforms were made in China, which had not previously been advertised. Having become public, this fact caused violent indignation among members of the US Congress. The criticism was not caused by the clothes themselves, but by the fact that the uniforms made overseas were approved by the US National Olympic Committee. At a time when millions of Americans are unemployed, there is no reason to place an order for an Olympic uniform outside of the United States, Senator Bernard Sanders said. It is planned to introduce a bill according to which the dress uniforms of athletes representing the United States at the Olympic Games can only be made by American manufacturers.
Representatives of the criticized National Olympic Committee said it was too late to take any steps to redesign the uniform. The press service of the Ralph Lauren company issued a statement according to which the costumes in which American athletes appear at the opening of the 2014 Winter Olympics will be made in the United States, as required by the American congressmen.
