03.24.09
Global sporting success bring global fashion coverage
Well – didn’t Paul Costelloe make the right move attaching his name to arguably the most successful sports team curently representing our nation?
The England Women’s Cricket team return from Sydney today with a World Cup trophy in hand (yes World cup, making them the best on the planet at what they do). Naturally, the press have gone a little crazy with the column inches since the girls’ victory over New Zealand in the early hours of Sunday morning, and the result is that those blazers are everywhere.
© Associated Newspapers 2009
Of course, I’m loving it too as it all helps sow the seeds of preppy tailored fashions for Spring. Good job girls - on trend as well as on top of the world.
02.17.09
London Fashion Week glamour for England Women’s Cricket
While England’s male cricketing side suffers from an overdose of sand and severe deprivation of consistent form, their female counterparts back in the UK are indulging in a little fashionista glamour.
British designer Paul Costelloe, who will open London Fashion week on February 20, was once again the chosen designer tasked with creating the new formal wear for the England Women’s Cricket team for 2009.
- © ECB / Christopher Lee
Fresh from the press release this morning, the new suits are (apparently) ”inspired by ‘Chariots of Fire’, infusing classic English style with chic contemporary cuts using materials such as fine wool crepe and cotton”…
Regardless, the move is a canny one for both parties. The England Women will potentially reach a different set of press through cross-pollination with the fashion world, and Paul Costelloe can reach out to a more mainstream audience with a foray into the sporting world, just at the time when both international cricket and London Fashion Week are hitting two very different sets of headlines.
Following nike’s needlework at Wimbledon this summer (producing arguably more column inches for Sharapova and Williams than their actual game) the marriage of sport and fashion seems to be an increasingly profitable platform.
© Nike / PA / Vogue.com
(As an aside, can I also point to the connection between the England cricket girls’ new formal kit, and my own musings on the influence of Gossip Girl on fashion this season? Check out how similar those Costelloe blazers are to the Abigail Lorick design sported by Blair Waldorf in the show…)
