Coat with a Rorschach pattern
The uniforms worn by the national teams at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games are always eagerly anticipated before the start of the Games. Czechia scored this year thanks to fashion designer Jan Černý, who designed a collection centred around dark blue, muted red and creamy white for sports brand ALPINE PRO, a partner of the Czech Olympic Team.
Czech Olympic Committee/Jakub Zeman (5) and Lasvit (2)
The most striking part of the collection combines the Czech ‘baloňák’ coat with the trench coat, a popular garment not only in France. The bright coat is decorated with an inky-blue Rorschach pattern as a nod to the work of the art world’s renowned graphic artist and painter Vladimír Boudník, who was born in 1924. The year the Olympic Games were last held in Paris.
Czech design talent Jan Černý comes from South Moravia, a region famed for its wines, biking trails, gorgeous countryside and sunshine. He has completed an internship with the French fashion brand Louis Vuitton, has won the acclaimed Czech Grand Design award and has redesigned the Czech Prestige brand of comfortable shoes. Prestige - together with Baťa shoes, which are inherently associated with the Baťa family and the city of Zlín - is a part of Czechia’s tradition of handicrafts.
Amulet made of Czech glass
The Czechs have skilful hands. The Olympic outfit is complemented by an amulet made of Czech glass from the workshop of the world-famous Lasvit, a brand famous around the world and which recently won one of the main awards at Milan Design Week 2024. The amulet is in the shape of a linden leaf. The linden symbolises protection and is also the Czech national tree. Each Czech Olympic medallist will also receive a beautiful trophy from Lasvit from Nový Bor.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Lasvit is up there alongside the elite in the world of glass. The Czech brand Lasvit has become famous for its stunning glass objects from New York to Tokyo, as well as for producing glass trophies for world-class sporting events such as the Tour de France and the Miami Open. For more about the best Czech glassmakers who can work wonders with hand-blown glass, see HERE.
Czechia loves design and fashion
Every year, Czechia hosts fashion events such as the Mercedes-Benz Prague Fashion Week or Designblok, the largest design and fashion show in Central Europe. Prague is not the only centre of design art; there’s also Brno, Zlín, Liberec, Olomouc and Plzeň, where you’ll find a wealth of design showrooms, jewellery studios and fashion boutiques.
