Designers stay in lane and out of the culture wars with 'classic' Team GB kit

Bland, blue, and designed to avoid any brouhaha - or hoo haa. That is the formula for the official British kit for this summer's Paris Olympics and Paralympics, which was unveiled in Paris yesterday.

- Sean Ingle

According to Adidas, the manufacturer of Team GB's Olympic kit, the athletes will wear "a design DNA that celebrates the unique aspects of Great Britain, while encapsulating the fire of passion that burns within every athlete".

The company also claimed that the typeface on the kit was inspired by British athletes in 1924, and more of a stretch would have "a design element featuring tactile graphics so when athletes run their hands over it, they can feel the passion rising from the typeface".

The overwhelming reaction on social media was that the Team GB kit was just a little dull, although that may be no bad thing given the culture wars, criticisms and political heat that have recently erupted around sporting attire.

And can you blame the British Olympic Association for playing it safe following the furore around the multicoloured St George's flag on the collar of the England men's football kit? Especially when it led to the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and the leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, voicing their disapproval of the Football Association.