Photo: Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty
GK Elite, the company who designs Team USA’s looks, continues to push the boundaries when creating the high-performance, high-sparkle designs.
“It’s difficult for me to imagine how we could get more crystals on,” Kelly McKeown, executive vice president for design and corporate relations at GK Elite, told theTimes. “We may have hit peak crystal.”
Thanks to the “peak” amount of crystal, the custom creations retail on average for $1,200. (GK Elite even makes some “couture” designs covered in 50,000 crystals, but these don’t comply with competition regulations.)
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It’s no doubt that all eyes will be on the “Fierce 5” as they compete in the Olympics, and their leotards definitely play an important part in their routines.
Just ask2008 Olympic Individual All-Around Gold Medalist Nastia Liukin, who told PeopleStylethat before the games the members of Team USA have to model their leotards to for Coach Marta Karolyi.
“Before every competition we do a little fashion show in the hotel or the [Olympic] Village and it’s with Marta and all of our coaches. We all have to try on the same leotard and we march down the hallways as if it’s a runway and that’s how we figure out which leotard we’re wearing for the team competition,” she shares. “Then we do it for the individual competitions so they see what looks best and what we feel most confident in.”
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For the individual events, each gymnast gets to pick her own look.
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“You will always have the American flag on your sleeve but this is where you can show your personality a little bit more,”Liukin shared. “You can’t have weird low-cut in the front or anything like that. But beyond the actual like design and the colors, there are no real rules. Pink was my favorite color, so that’s why I wore it. You definitely want to feel confident in the way you look because when you’re on the balance beam, confidence is the most important thing.”Will you be cheering on the fierce five?
source: people.com
