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Document 46 of 67.

Copyright 1998 Information Access Company,
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Copyright 1998 Capital Cities Media Inc.
Daily News Record

June 15, 1998

SECTION: No. 71, Vol. 28; Pg. 1; ISSN: 1041-1119

IAC-ACC-NO: 20813988

LENGTH: 1358 words

HEADLINE: FOOTBALL AND FASHION CONVERGE ON WORLD STAGE IN PARIS: HOW A SMALL TOWN RETAILER CAME TO OUTFIT THE U.S. NATIONAL TEAM.

BYLINE: Weisman, Katherine; Dodd, Annmarie; Raper, Sarah

BODY:
NEW YORK -- It would be nearly impossible to stage a global sporting event in Paris without it colliding with the city's famed fashion industry. Or so it would seem.

While World Cup battles rage between teams dressed in Nike, Adidas, Reebok and Umbro -- dressing players off-field has also become something of a global contest for men's wear designers. The English are wearing posh Paul Smith. The French are sporting Daniel Hechter. The Germans favor local designer Roy Robson. Italian players are tastefully tailored by Carlo Pignatelli. Danes wear Rene Lezard. Even tournament officials are decked out in Yves Saint Laurent.

And the Americans? They're wearing Nike on the field, but they are dressing as if they hail from suburban Chicago.

That's because the honor of dressing the U.S. team fell to Dana Olson Men's Wear, one of two men's specialty stores in downtown Glen Ellyn,*******(folo) Ill., a city of 26,000 located about 20 miles outside of Chicago. The 60-member U.S. National Team -- including soccer players, coaches and other staff -- have been equipped for formal occasions with Dana Olson's private label jackets and trousers. The specialty store has paired its three-button navy wool crepe blazer, decorated with the U.S. Soccer Federation crest on the left breast pocket, with two pairs of trousers in khaki and gray and dress shirts in blue and white.

"Yes, they are going to Paris, but the experience has been exciting, more than intimidating," said Wes Kunkel, who owns the shop with Randall Olson. "The team wanted to stay with a more traditional look, rather than something fashion forward. They have a nice look with that three-button front."

Dana Olson has been doing business in Glen Ellyn for 33 years. In addition to private label suits and custom tailoring, the store carries Polo/Ralph Lauren, Nautica and Tommy Bahama.

So how did this happen? Hank Steinbrecher, secretary general of Chicago-based U.S. Soccer Federation, is a Glen Ellyn resident and a longtime Dana Olson customer. He approached Kunkel and Olson about dressing the team last year. Dana Olson's was bustling this spring with players faxing in their measurements -- and staff quickly sending out orders via overnight mail.

"Hank is real easy-going and low-profile," Kunkel said. "He said to us, 'If you can put together something, that's great. If you can't, that's okay, too.' We're excited and honored about the whole thing. They've told us they'll bring us back a poster-sized photo of the team's formal portrait near the Eiffel Tower. That'll be so great."

The sportcoat retails for $ 325 at Dana Olson. The trousers sell for $ 145, dress shirts each cost $ 39. Players pair the shirt with a woven team tie.

However, it's Nike that rules the U.S. team's fairytale roost at Chateau de Pizay, located about three hours south of Paris.

The sporting goods giant has not only equipped team members with their uniforms, soccer boots and performance gear. Nike has besieged players with piles of T-shirts, warm-ups, sunglasses, jackets, shorts and assorted sportswear from its Tiger Woods golf collection.

That is, unless a player has a contract with a Nike competitor, said Dave Mingy,(folo) a Nike spokesman who is living and traveling with the team. Players Eric Wyndala wears Reebok, Eddie Jones is outfitted by Adidas. Mingy will not disclose how much Nike has spent dressing each player. The U.S. Soccer Federation reportedly signed a $ 120 million deal with the Beaverton, Oregon company following the 1994 World Cup Games.

"If they're working or in casual mode, they're in Nike pretty much," Mingy said by telephone. "This is the world's number one sport. Most Americans would have a real eye opener if they were here and saw how fans are so passionate about and celebrate football."

Dressing teams in the international spotlight is a complicated matter. The bright summer spotlight serves as England's chance to sell Cool Britannia style to the world. To do that means the team must not only play tough, says team manager Glenn Hoddle, but dress smarter than the rest of the tourney field.

Or, at least, the team look should look as tailored as the Italians. Hoddle's sartorial strategy has happily fallen on the shoulders of designer and football fan Paul Smith.

Forget last-minute roster trimming, the fiery manager's biggest hush-hush meeting took place last month when he and Smith cloistered themselves in a security-tight Buckhamshire Hotel to decide if his team should wear beige or regal navy suits to the Cup.

Beige won. British players arrived June 9 in rival France wearing a three-button slim suit made to compliment Paul Smith's London Collection. The lightweight wool/viscose suit is paired with a deep blue (mind you, not french blue) double-cuff cotton dress shirt and a blue/silver Three Lions silk woven tie.

Smith has also equipped the team with a pair of navy linen shorts, a sky blue sportshirt, brown leather and blue suede belts and a pair of Three Lions cufflinks. A stateside Paul Smith spokesman said the ensemble has not been given a pricetag and is not expected to be sold in the designer's stores.

England's fashion rivals have turned to Nike and Carlo Pignatelli to dress them this World Cup. (Remember, the Italian team was styled on- and off-field by Giorgio Armani in 1994.) Pignatelli, of Turin, selected a formal suit and a jacket and trousers combination for the nation's television correspondents and its beloved team.

Pignatelli's informal look for the Italian National Team includes a three-button wool sport jacket paired with smoky gray trousers and either a sky blue polo shirt, or a light blue dress shirt and a striped white and blue tie. The company has not disclosed how much was spent on each player and broadcaster.

It is possible for one man to outshine his team, but Brazil? It's hard to believe that the perennial football force has a player stands out on this spirited squad -- and he certainly dresses the part. Renaldo is a wild Versace fan, according to a company spokesman.

The 21-year-old soccer phenom reportedly only wears Versace off-field. Not a surprising fact when you consider the young Brazilian is friends with Angelo Azzena, the design house's editorial director and a devout InterMilan fan, Renaldo's professional team.

Big stars, big money -- and even bigger promotions will continue to swirl around Paris until tournament fever hits a red hot pitch next month. Nike's Mingy is right, for the time being, the globe is stuck on WCT -- World Cup Time.

"If you want to be a world player," said Eric Kraus, a spokesman for tourney sponsor Gillette, "you have to be a part of soccer and the World Cup."

In Paris, Lanvin is using the World Cup to decorate the windows of its men's flagship on Faubourg St. Honore with huge soccer paintings by French artist Nathalie Lemaitre.

Women's designer Sonia Rykiel has caught the soccer spirit and designed a male-inspired blue soccer jersey with red and white stripes and a black sewn-in tie. The shirt retails for $ 132 at Rykiel's store on Boulevard Saint Germain.

But it's a fashion house, not a football squad, that has the only guaranteed berth at the finals next month.

YSL was invited to put on a fashion show on-field just before the July 12 game and the house is spending $ 4 million for a 15-minute extravaganza that is expected to be seen by 1.7 billion viewers worldwide. It's the most YSL has ever spent on a project.

In addition to the costs of the show, Saint Laurent is paying $ 1 million for 4,200 uniforms for football federation officials, the World Cup organizing committee and hostesses, as well as four gigantic gowns representing the four elements that were part of the World Cup opening celebration on Tuesday night.

YSL's participation in the World Cup goes back a year, when Michel Platini, the former soccer star who is president of the French World Cup organizing committee, came to see YSL partner Pierre Berge about putting on the pre-game entertainment. "I said 'yes' immediately because I thought it was a perfect fit for us," Berge said.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

IAC-CREATE-DATE: June 22, 1998

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