Official Outfitter of Team Canada | Inside the Minds of the Lululemon Design Team

Many still remember the Team Canada uniforms, which stirred up passions at the Paris Games, for better or for worse. The Press spoke with Quebecer Catherine Lebrun, who leads the design team behind Olympic clothing at Lululemon.

The mandate

“It has always been my dream to make the kits, the outfits for Team Canada,” Catherine Lebrun told The Presson her return from the Paris Games. It was an instant pride that filled her when she saw the 338 athletes dressed in red parade at the opening ceremony.

The designer began her career in graphic design at Lululemon, which is based in British Columbia, in 2011. It was in this field that the adopted Vancouverite obtained a bachelor’s degree at UQAM three years earlier.

However, it was textile design that guided her throughout her studies.

“I’ve always made a lot of my own clothes. My manager noticed that early on,” explains the designer from Quebec City. Since 2020, she has been leading the team that thinks about, makes and designs the Canadian Olympic uniforms, which Lululemon has been awarded a contract to produce for four consecutive Games.

“Working for Lululemon, you work with a lot of athletes. So, for sure, for me, the Olympics are a bit like the Holy Grail,” says the woman who has completed almost half of her four-Olympic term at Lululemon.

The prints

The medal presentations, opening ceremony and closing ceremony are among the most publicized moments at the Games. Here’s a look at each of the uniforms specially created for these occasions.

First, the podium uniform, the one worn by athletes when they receive a medal. According to Catherine Lebrun’s explanations, the print is a modern interpretation of the maple leaf: “What can we do with it, how can we look at it? [différemment] ? ” she wondered.

Then, for the uniforms of the opening ceremony, “it’s each province, different flowers, animals, and the architecture of the country,” explains the designer. In wanting to draw “a portrait of the country,” we can find on the coats symbols like the moose or elements of vegetation specific to each province of Canada.

Finally, for the closing ceremony, the inspiration for the dark and brightly colored garments came from the Northern Lights, the designer tells us. The design team drew inspiration from real photographs to conceptualize the garments.

Lululemon has even designed clothing specifically for media interviews given by athletes, to provide them with additional comfort, notes Catherine Lebrun.

The critics

“We look at all the feedback because it’s always useful for us to know. Talk about it well, talk about it badly, the important thing is that we talk about it,” reacts Catherine Lebrun when The Press He points out the many criticisms of Olympic clothing, particularly those that have been generated by the podium uniforms.

The latter caused an uproar on social media, where many images were used to compare the interpretation of the maple leaf to simple reddish splashes – or worse, seen from a distance, to slices of bacon.

It was at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games in 2022 that she really realised the extent of the reactions that Olympic clothing provokes.

“People really feel a sense of belonging to this, it means a lot to [eux]it’s a great meaning, she had noted. It made me feel a little dizzy.”

According to her, the feedback has been very positive, overall. The most important comments for them remain those of the athletes. “When something doesn’t work, as a designer, it really becomes an opportunity for us,” says the manager.

The Paralympic Games

On Tuesday, part of Lululemon’s design team is flying to the Paralympics, which begin Wednesday.

When you are the official outfitter of Team Canada, part of the challenge is adapting the uniforms to the different needs of the Paralympic athletes, underlines the design director.

“If you’re a wheelchair athlete or a visually impaired athlete, you have different needs, and these are products that aren’t necessarily available. [sur le marché] ” explains the designer.

For example, there is an additional concern about the fabric used in the manufacture of the garments, since the inside of a wheelchair athlete’s arms experience more friction. Some models are also designed to be easier to put on while seated.

She says that Paralympian Alison Levine, who will be competing in boccia at the Paris Games, once had to bring her own pants to her competitions because there were no suitable options for her.

“The goal of the Olympics is for the entire team to have the same outfit to have a sense of unity,” says Catherine Lebrun. The designer notes that the adapted designs are also available at Lululemon.

Milan 2026

Preparing Olympic uniforms is a process that takes at least three years. The company has therefore been thinking about the next Winter Games for over a year now.

“For Milan, the fun thing is that we did the Beijing Olympics, so this is the first time we can do the Olympics again in the same way. [saison] “, explains Catherine Lebrun. “We have a lot of feedback that we have had and heard from Beijing that we can apply, which is really good for us,” she continues.

While clothes are obviously designed according to the season, their usefulness could also change… depending on the culture of the host country. This is what the designer noted in Paris, with humor.

” During [la cérémonie d’ouverture]we have seen some athletes who use the water bottle compartment of their bag for different things, including baguettes, cheese, a small bottle of wine! », recalls the Quebec designer with a laugh.