New sports attire of New Orleans Hornets unveiled

The Hornets unveiled updated logo modifications and new team uniforms. The new designs were created in collaboration with the Hornets, the NBA and adidas, and are inspired by the emblems, colors and textures that New Orleanians and people around the world associate with the city of New Orleans. With pinstripes, darker colors and "Mardi Gras gold", New Orleans Hornets forwards Morris Peterson and Julian Wright walked across a raised stage Wednesday, modeling the new uniforms during a news conference at a French Quarter jazz club.

Hornets also unveiled some new logos. The first one below is the Fleur de Bee that was introduced last season. The second logo is an updated version of the traditional Hornets logo, while the third is "NOLA horn" featuring the city's abbreviation and a Mardi Gras gold trumpet.

The Hornets uniforms maintain consistency with the logo identity, using the same logos, fonts and colors. “New Orleans” will still be featured on the front of the home and away jerseys, making the Hornets one of only two NBA teams to wear their city’s name on the front of both jerseys. The “Fleur-de-bee” is featured on the side of the shorts and on the center back of the neck of the jersey. The NOLA horn is placed on the back of the shorts. The home (white) and road (Creole blue) uniforms also feature pinstripes, which provide a bit of jazz flair as well as pay tribute to the 20 years the Hornets franchise has been in existence. In addition, the team’s second road uniform has been retired.

The entire launch event was featured on Hornets.com in a live stream. New merchandise featuring the new colors and logos will be available immediately at the Hornets Nest team store as well as online at NBAStore.com.

Minnesota Timberwolves unveils their new 2008 - 09 NBA Uniforms

In anticipation of the 20th season of Minnesota Timberwolves basketball, the Timberwolves today unveiled new home and road uniforms for the upcoming 2008-09 NBA season. The new-look uniforms, designed in partnership by the team, adidas and the NBA, were displayed publicly for the first time at the IDS Center's Crystal Court.

Home uniforms

• Primary color remains white
• "Timberwolves" changes to "Wolves"
• Timberwolves trees appear on the side of the uniform under the arms and on the side of the shorts
• Wolf head logo on back of neck
• "Minnesota" now appears on the back of the shorts

Road Uniforms

• Primary color remains slate blue
• Front changes from "Timberwolves" to "Minnesota"
• The Timberwolves trees appear on the side of the uniform under the arms and on the side of the shorts
• Wolf head logo on back of neck
• “Wolves" now appears on the back of the shorts

A new era

The adidas-designed jerseys will debut at the start of the 2008-09 season -- the Wolves 20th anniversary season.
"As with our recent re-designed logo, our new uniforms usher in a new era of Minnesota Timberwolves basketball," Timberwolves President Chris Wright said.

3rd design in team history

The new uniforms are the third design in team history. The last uniform change was before the 1996-97 season. The Timberwolves' uniform design had remained unchanged for 12 seasons.

15-foot jersey signed by fans

Timberwolves also unveiled a 15-foot high replica jersey that will travel throughout the state at team events and will be signed by Wolves fans. The jersey will be hung from the rafters of Target Center on Opening Night in celebration of the start of the team's 20th season. Fans will have their next opportunity to sign the jersey beginning Thursday, Aug. 21 at the Timberwolves booth at the Minnesota State Fair.

The introduction of the new uniforms is the latest step in the re-branding campaign of the Timberwolves as the team approaches its 20th season. The Wolves introduced a re-designed primary and new secondary logo earlier this summer.

Harrods Bulletproof Clothing

Harrods is now stocking a luxury range of 'ballistic daywear' for patrons who fear they are in the firing line.

A Columbian entrepreneur, Miguel Caballero, came up with the idea for the range as student while pondering how to protect his wealthy classmates from guerrilla revolutionaries.

King Abdullah of Jordan, Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, and Columbia's President, Alvaro Uribe, are all said to be fans of the range alongside actor Steven Segal, star of the bullet-riddled action film Under Siege.

The line includes a polo shirt, a blazer, a sports jacket, a biker jacket and a raincoat. It is made-to-measure and priced between £3,300 and £7,700.

Tough enough to withstand fire from automatic weapons, the clothing is also reportedly unobtrusive enough to be worn at parties.

Makers claim the jackets give the same protection as a 4.5kg police vest while weighing just 1.8kg. They come in three levels of protection. The lowest level guards against revolvers and pistols, medium protects against higher calibre pistols while high protection reputedly bounces back bullets from an Uzi machine gun.

They even contain "thermo materials" to keep body temperature at a cool 13-17C.

Harrods admits no-one has yet bought a single item from their range but said it expects good international sales.

Ralph Dunning introduces 'Dunning Classic' Premium Sportswear Collection

Leading menswear designer Ralph Dunning announces the launch of Dunning Classic, a country-club driven premium sportswear collection featuring cuts, colors and fabrics fueled by the brand’s authentic golf heritage.

Premiering for Spring 2009 and built on the tradition, etiquette and exceedingly high quality serious players respect both on and off the course. The collection includes a broad range of staples, such as cotton pique polos, performance wovens, extra fine Merino wool sweaters, Pima cotton pullovers, vintage varsity tops and traditional rugby polos, as well as cotton-Coolmax blended pants and shorts.

Showcasing clean silhouettes, the richest fabrics and finest tailoring, the Dunning Classic collection is made almost entirely in Canada to the highest production standards, ensuring complete consistency of quality and fit. The line will be sold via a focused, high-end distribution network, including leading menswear shops, major retailers and the brand’s existing network of country club and resort accounts.

“Members of the world’s finest clubs have come to recognize, appreciate and desire our unrivalled attention to producing superior garments,” says Dunning, the company founder and principal designer.

“With their ‘D’ repp-shield crest, these timeless garments are designed to be the centerpiece of a man’s casual wardrobe for years to come. They speak directly to golf’s heritage while remaining current, and that’s exactly what the market has been asking for.”

A 42-year-old Ontario native and lifelong athlete, Dunning is a former IRONMAN competitor and marathoner who boasts a 17-year heritage on the leading-edge of performance apparel design. His eponymous golf line is sold at marquee clubs and resorts throughout North America and worn in competition by scores of PGA Tour stars, including 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson.

Dunning first garnered widespread acclaim in the 1990s for his Rip n’ Hammer line of premium technical clothing for triathletes and cyclists. He also drew praise for work on behalf of some of the world’s largest and most authentic sports brands, including Saucony, Reebok and Cervelo Cycles.

The Dunning Classic collection will begin shipping in November. Sizes range from XS-2XL in tops and 30”-42” in bottoms.

An authentic golf-lifestyle brand, Dunning apparel is available throughout North America via a focused, high-end distribution network, including marquee country clubs and resorts, premier menswear shops and major retailers.

Dunning Classic Collection Highlights

Saville Stripe Polo ($100)
- Colors: westchester/navy, surf/pink, palmer/white, white/navy, surf/navy
- Fabric content: 100 percent combed cotton pique
- Description: Modern-prep striped short sleeve polo with embroidered repp-shield 'D' crest appliqué, two-button placket, ribbed collar and cuff detail

Tipped Collar Polo ($100)
- Colors: white, palmer, navy, burgundy, prep
- Fabric content: 100 percent combed cotton pique
- Description: Solid tipped collar polo with vintage look, embroidered repp-shield 'D' crest appliqué, two-button placket, ribbed collar and cuff detail

Performance Woven Square Check ($120)
- Colors: sendo, palmer, stable, surf
- Fabric content: 43 percent Coolmax® / 35 percent cotton / 22 percent polyester
- Description: Blended, ultra-lightweight button down combining classic look and feel with technical performance, including permanent moisture management and wrinkle-resistance

Extra Fine Merino Wool V-Neck ($200)
- Colors: canary, palmer, pink, surf, navy, burgundy, charcoal, black
- Fabric content: 100 percent extra fine Italian Merino wool
- Description: Luxuriously soft sweater offering a gentleman's look and rich hand with natural performance

Pima Cotton Zip Neck ($150)
- Colors: burgundy, stable, surf, sendo, burnt orange, navy, prep
- Fabric content: 100 percent Pima cotton (made in Peru)
- Description: Classic sportswear pullover featuring contrasting neck and cuff detailing, a branded zipper and embroidered repp-shield 'D' crest appliqué

Traditional Rugby Polo ($140)
- Colors: navy, burgundy, sendo, prep, varsity, black
- Fabric content: 100 percent cotton (16 oz.)
- Description: Classic rugby with embroidered repp-shield 'D' crest on chest and 'D' icon appliqué on left sleeve, and authentic features such as a canvas collar, interior placket, sidesplit detailing and three-button placket with rubber buttons

Cotton Coolmax® Seersucker Pant ($120)
- Colors: navy, surf
- Fabric content: 62 percent cotton / 38 percent Coolmax®
- Description: Traditional seersucker look with classic feel, lightweight construction and ultra-technical performance, such as permanent moisture management and wrinkle resistance

Cotton Coolmax® Tattersall Short ($95)
- Colors: surf/pink, tocatta/navy
- Fabric content: 65 percent cotton / 35 percent Coolmax®
- Description: Preppy tattersall patterned short with classic fit, ultra-lightweight construction and technical performance, including permanent moisture management and wrinkle resistance

Speedo LZR Racer - a swimwear for beating records

Speedo's new LZR Racer swimsuit has caused a respectable amount of controversy for itself in the run-up to the Olympics. The innovative, NASA-aided design cinches up on a swimmer and promises to have a:

10 % less drag then fastskin fsII
5% less drag than fastskin fs pro
4% faster in starts, springts and turns compared to fastskinR FS-PRO
5% better oxygen efficiency compared to a normal training suit

48 world records were set this year before the olympics, 44 of those wearing the suit. And the technology inside this swimwear has really impressing everybody espescially on this ongoing Beijing Olympics. 8 records have fallen, and that number is certain to grow.

I happened to watch the Olympic games and I was astound by the results. Heat after heat, new record has getting beaten. And as I watch the event, majority of the swimmers are wearing this swim wear.

For details, these are the technology inside Speedo LZR Racer:

LZR PULSE

The suit is constructed from Speedo's unique LZR Pulse fabic. Ultra lightweight, powerful and water repellent, LZR Pulse reduces muscle oscillation and skin vibration through powerful compression. This fast drying fabric also offers low skin friction drag.

LZR PANELS

Ultra thin, ultra powerful, ultra low drag LZR Panels, embedded at strategic points on the swimmer's body deliver optimum streamlined shape and drag reduction.

CORE STABILIZER

The internal Core Stabilizer supports and holds the swimmer in a corset-like grip and helps them to maintain the best position in the water for longer.

BONDED SEAMS

The LZR RACER suit is the world's first fully bonded bodysuit. Ultrasonically welded, bonded seams create a perfectly smooth yet flexible streamlined surface.

ULTRA LOW PROFILE ZIP

Bonded into the suit to further maintain a smooth surface shape.

UNIQUE 3D THREE-PIECE PATTERN

Dynamically engineered to optimise the shape of the swimmer

Asafa Powell Debuts Leading-Edge Nike Zoom Aerofly

Nike’s deep focus on innovation for the Beijing includes work with one of the world’s fastest human beings – sprinter Asafa Powell. In his bid to reclaim dominance in the 100 meters, Powell today debuted the sleek and aerodynamically efficient Zoom Aerofly when he steps into the blocks in August.

The Zoom Aerofly is one of Nike’s most technologically advanced and lightest weight track and field offerings ever, designed to lock down the foot, grip the track, and provide advanced aerodynamic properties to shave valuable time off the clock.

Working closely with Powell and his style of running, Nike has incorporated leading-edge footwear innovation. Instead of more traditional stitched fabric panels, the upper’s super-strong, super-lightweight composition employs Nike’s revolutionary Flywire technology. Flywire emboldens the construction with 65 super-strong criss-crossed threads, or synthetic tendons, per shoe, woven from Vectran liquid-crystal polymer threads (a lightweight polymer. Like the cables on a suspension bridge, this construction method works to resist stretching, helping maintain lateral stiffness and locking in the heel and forefoot without adding extra weight. The heel-forefoot lockdown is further aided by Nike’s new lightweight lobe-technology collar, to help fill the area between the heel bone and ankle bone, helping avoid shoe slippage.

The Zoom Aerofly spike’s high-density glass-reinforced nylon spike plate, the same one Powell’s been wearing in his last two highly successful world-record seasons, provides a supremely strong and stable ride and amazing lightweight power transfer. The full-length plate is anatomically configured to work with the natural shape of the foot, keeping it in optimal sprint position. The eight-stud design allows for spike-length customization to accommodate any track and condition.

Weighing in at 186 grams (a normal track spike is in the 245-gram range), the wind-tunnel-tested Zoom Aerofly fits like a second skin. With Powell’s roughly 70 mph foot swing-through, the Zoom Aerofly helps reduce drag, in a sport where success is measured in hundredths of a second. In these shoes, says Nike’s Sean McDowell, “It looks like we spray-painted his feet.”

Powell’s Zoom Aerofly goes a step beyond the aerodynamic shroud, to also help tell the sprinter’s personal story. The upper offers a finish that emulates the spots on a cheetah – one of the world’s fastest sprinters – rendered in a fading Jamaican flag-esque white-to-yellow-to-green. This ultra-lightweight upper draws a further graphic distinction, converting some 10 spots into meaningful iconography for Powell. “We had many interviews with Asafa over the last few years as he prepares for the Games,” said Nike’s Sean McDowell. “These give him a little boost of inspiration as he steps up to the line.”

Spots include the image of the island of Jamaica, a speeding bullet, the likeness of one of his reggae music stars, a bass guitar (which Powell plays), a powerful and personally important biblical verse (Philippians 4:13), a fast car, the names of his deceased brothers Vaun and Michael, the “MVP” ensignia for his track club, and an image of the globe.

One of the world’s fastest men channels one of the world’s fastest creatures. Asafa Powell in the Nike Zoom Aerofly – it is destiny just waiting for the starter’s gun.

Highlights
• Nike’s most technologically advanced and lightest weight track and field offerings ever
• Super-strong, super-lightweight composition employs Nike’s revolutionary Flywire technology, using criss-crossed threads, or synthetic tendons woven from Vectran liquid-crystal polymer threads.
• Supremely lightweight at 186 grams)
• High-density glass-reinforced nylon spike plate provides a supremely strong and stable ride and lightweight power transfer
• Inspirational iconography

Olympics exhibition of fashion in sports clothing

The much awaited start of Beijing Olympics sparked yesterday and it's indeed quite marvelous. But aside from the competing players and the aim to reach for the gold let's still look at another part of this event which also plays an important role - the fashion in sports clothing in this Olympic Games. Different sportswear and the opening ceremony dresses to some extent reflect the various characteristics of each country.

We can find a variety of culture and customs through each outfit. The inspiration for many designs comes from national flags, especially their colors.

Italy

Italy deserves its reputation for being a fashion hot spot. I have always appreciated Dolce & Gabbana's designs. Its simple yet stylish look impresses many.

Australia

Their crisp, dark colors show their professional side, while the tie and scarf design depicts an elegant grace.

Germany

The German team does not wear black red and yellow – the colors of their flag – but a tasteful and classic gray and white combo.

France

Also known for its fashion sense, France keeps the Opening Ceremony bright with a hint of red.

Spain

Combining such flashy colors as yellow and red can be a challenge, but the Spanish excel, lighting up the Ceremony in the colors of their flag.

Greece

Greece chooses a summery and delicate white to grace the Opening Ceremony.