John Rocha, a Hong Kong born Irish resident fashion designer has taken pride in designing the Ireland Olympic team uniform which has also gone on display a month before the start of the Beijing games.The uniform was unveiled at a ceremony in Dublin hosted by the Olympic Council of Ireland and was attended by Lui Bewei, Chinese ambassador and Ronnie Delany, Olympic gold medalist.
Athletes Fionnuala Britton from Wicklow, who is competing in the women's 3,000m steeplechase, and Philip Deignan, Letterkenny cyclist flaunted the uniform which comprised of a slim fitting, san-colored wool suit with crisp white cotton shirt and silk tie for men and a matching wool jacket with silk skirt and top for women.
The uniform has designs which are meticulously crafted by textile artist Mel Bradley of Drogheda and are hand-painted with olive green Celtic scroll patterns. It will be worn be worn at all the official ceremonies at the games.
Rocha tailored the uniform wanting the look to be Irish yet contemporary and did a marvelous job with shades of green and light colors. The silver 'lucky eight' earrings were also a part of Rocha’s unique creation which he considers to be his personal Chinese good-luck touch.
