In the Creation of Simone Biles’ GOAT Leotard – NBC Chicago

It started with a text message from Simone Biles.

He had a golden idea for his gymnastic leotard design, which would create a uniform unlike any worn by other professional athletes.

It’s a fashion statement, of course, but also a declarative statement. After winning four Olympic gold medals and seven national titles, and having turned gymnastics into second place who? competition against the laws of physics in a way never before seen, Biles’ position in the sport was determined:

Biggest. From. All. Time.

And as his sporting GOAT, Biles embraced a confident and widely recognized statement by placing an image of a goat on his leotard.

“I just hope the kids who grow up watching this aren’t or aren’t ashamed to be experts at whatever they do,” Biles said of the goat leotard in recent interview with Marie Claire. And that’s my problem: when people like other people who are good at something. And it’s like, everyone can say you’re good, but once you admit it, it’s not cool anymore. And I want kids to learn that, well, it’s okay to admit that you’re great or even great at something.”

Inside the headquarters of GK Elite in Pennsylvania, which designs and manufactures leotards and clothing for Biles and the United States men’s and women’s National Team, what was once business as usual suddenly turns into nothing but after Kelly Christman’s cell phone lights up with a text from bile.

A goat?

Christman, the company’s vice president of gymnastic products, quickly relayed the request to the design team.

Amid the excitement over the task that the company’s GOAT asked for, there was an initial back and forth about whether the image would be too brash, too cocky. But Biles had every right to be brave when he won gold, and that was all the justification he needed when asked why he wanted a goat in his leotard.

Simone just said, Well, because I can, recalls Christman. And he has medals to prove that he really is the greatest of all time.

Red carpet exclusivity and energy

The Olympic mat is not only a playing field for world-class gymnasts, it is also a red carpet and model runway.

That’s where the glitz and glamor of the fully designed and manufactured leotards at GK Elite was launched on the world stage. At the company’s headquarters in Reading, Pa., about an hour and a half outside Philadelphia shelves stocked with various fabrics, containers filled with thousands of glittering crystals, and employees tasked with equipping the top Olympians who would soon have them all. watching their every move.

It’s truly a red carpet moment, said Matt Cowan, chief commercial officer of GK Elites. And we want athletes to feel that energy and exclusivity in their leotards when they introduce them to the world.

Why is Simone Biles called the GOAT?

No leotard is more exclusive than one that has a goat’s head studded with crystal emblazoned on it. They are exclusively owned by Biles, who first used goats in his training tank at the 2019 GK Classic and later added them to his competitive leotard during Olympic trials.

Goldie the Goat, as the name suggests, is one of many iterations created by the GK Elite design team and selected via text message and email by Biles.

We did a few goat head selections, then we made the full body of the billy goat but landed on a simpler line art version that we used, says Jeanne Diaz, senior designer at GK Elites.

Claiming to be a GOAT is a statement that few people can make. Biles not only claims it, but wears it on his sleeve literally, and also on his back or hips.

By doing so, Biles takes GOAT status to the next level at a time when female athletes must fight publicly for the equality and recognition in the sport they deserve.

“It was a bold choice, but I think it was the right choice for Simone considering she is a real GOAT,” Diaz said. So, I thought it was really cool to see a woman in the sport call it that and have it.

Pushing boundaries while balancing fit and aesthetics

Like the tailor’s familiarity with repeat customers, the staff at GK Elite are very understanding of Biles’ fit and style preferences.

It includes a custom-sized high-neck leotard, angled raglan sleeves that accentuate the shoulders, and innovative design elements like the new Biles snakeskin leotard.

She likes to push boundaries with trends, says Diaz. He just likes to stand out.

Designs for the Olympic outfit, done in partnership with US Gymnastics, can be a two-year process, Diaz said.

When it comes to the most acrobatic Olympic athletes, fit is paramount, aesthetics is paramount. The last pre-Olympic fitting was held in March at the National Team’s training camp, where all the recruits were of intricate size.

Processing time, from start to finish of high-profile leotard production, is typically six to eight weeks. GK Elite staff had been pushed into pressure tests before, and the result was a leotard that was produced within 24-hour notice when Biles needed a last-minute leotard to film a recent Uber Eats commercial with Jonathan Van Ness.

Looking behind the curtain

GK Elite, which designs and manufactures leotards for 11 countries at the Tokyo Olympics, uses four-way stretch fabric that is stretched and laser cut to fit before being combined with athlete sizing and changing. Through sublimation, custom artwork is laser printed and transferred via a heat press from paper to fabric to lock in the vibrant color of the garment. The laser cut application is then placed by hand and glued to the body of the leotard to ensure proper placement before stitching. Swarovski gem motifs are applied by heat transfer, with some applied by hand and other filling gems with a laser machine. From there, the garment is sent to the sewing floor for finishing touches before quality checks.

Of course we wanted to make sure that leotards and garments when worn were tight across all curves, says Cowan. In gymnastics, if a competitor pulls the leotard or adjusts the leotard, there can be a reduction, and obviously that’s the last thing we want. We want their appearance to be the only thing that is judged that day, not their leotard fit. So, we wanted to make sure that our leotards fit so that athletes could focus completely on their performance.

Only a few of those leotards left the facility with goat heads on them. The gem machine makes a goat’s head crystal decoration on a flat sheet. The ornament is then sealed onto the leotard using a heat press machine, making Biles goat’s request a different reality.

We wanted to do it in a way where we weren’t just putting a simple goat in the leotard. “Let’s crystallize it, let’s bring some bling to this, let’s add some flair to this and let’s bring some attitude to this,” said Cowan. Its one. Simone, to this day, is the only person who has ever worn it.

Special delivery with Swarovski sparkles

When the National Team undressed on the mats at the Olympics, it wasn’t just the gymnasts who were overcome with pride. That thrill belongs to the designers, fabric spreaders, cutters, sewer trimmers, and many others at GK Elite who bring the leotard to life and deliver it to top athletes on the world’s biggest stage.

“We have more than 500 employees in Reading, Pa., and the pride that permeates this building when we see the best athlete in the world in Simone Biles come out and win gold in a made-from-scratch outfit in this building, it’s an incredible pride,” said Cowan. This is an extraordinary moment for our country and an extraordinary moment for our company that was born here in the United States.

The National Team got a sneak peek of their outfits for the Tokyo Olympics, with representatives of GK Elite handing over their leotards a day after the teams were announced in late June.

Mini spoiler warning: athletes are given a leotard that pays homage to America’s birth in 1776 by featuring 7,600 rubies and Swarovski crystals. Another boasts 76 individual applique stars, another is inspired by the rose gold Tokyo Torch, and another features a crystal motif inspired by the Bald Eagle design of the US currency.

This year on the mat in Tokyo, Diaz said, you’re going to see a lot of patriotic leotards and a lot of bling.

‘The goat was specially made for Simone Biles’

While one GOAT was set for the Olympics, the other was not. Biles will be in Tokyo to win five more gold medals. Goldie the Goat is not expected to appear due to the International Olympic Committee’s guidelines regarding logos and brands on Olympic apparel.

The next goat cameo could be on the Biles post-Olympic tour featuring 36 shows between September and November called the Gold Over America Tour (See what they did there? GOATS). The replica of the Biles goat leotard finally made it to the market, but not enough.

“I would say at this point the goat is reserved exclusively for Simone,” said Christman. If he wants to make it publicly available, we’ll work with him what it looks like. But for now, the goat was exclusively for Simone Biles to wear.

Because he can.