In 2020, skateboarding became an official Olympic sport. And at the Paris Olympics in July, the eco-friendly sneaker brand Cariuma wants to tap into the sport’s fashion-forward history.
Cariuma, a six-year-old Brazilian startup, will create the uniforms for the skateboarding teams from The Netherlands, Slovakia, and Portugal. Cariuma has a lot of experience creating skating sneakers, but it has brought on the São Paulo-born fashion designer Pedro Andrade to create the garments. And while fashion is a big part of the design process, Cariuma has also focused on making the uniforms as sustainable as possible.
Andrade trained as an industrial designer, but he eventually went on to have a career in fashion, launching the streetwear brand Piet. Over the past couple of years, he’s been interested in finding ways to sustainably create garments, using regeneratively grown materials, if possible, and he was particularly intrigued by this project. “Cariuma is another Brazilian brand, and we have a chance to share a Brazilian approach to streetwear,” Andrade says. “We’re both interested in how we can make these Olympic uniforms ultra-sustainable.”
Skatewear reimagined
There’s a thriving skater subculture in Brazil. Cariuma’s cofounder, Fernando Porto, grew up skating, which inspired him to launch a sneaker brand inspired by skate shoes. Andrade, for his part, has thought a lot about what skaters wear. While other sports have very specific technical garments, skateboarders wear a range of clothes. “For skaters, it’s all about being comfy and being able to express yourself through what you’re wearing,” he says. “Skating is a form of self-expression.”
Andrade created a lot of different garments for the skaters to choose from. There are polo shirts inspired by ‘90s and 2000s soccer uniforms, which are popular among Brazilian skaters. He made these oversize, so there’s more airflow. He also created tank tops and long-sleeved shirts emblazoned with various patterns and colors. Skaters can choose between knee-length shorts, cargo pants, and trousers. And there are baseball caps. “Each skater can mix and match to create a look they like and feel comfortable wearing,” he says.
To ensure the skaters are as comfortable as possible, Andrade used a tape to connect pieces of fabric, rather than seams. This means there is less friction against the wearers’ body. He also used a lightweight, breathable jersey fabric, that is moisture wicking and encourages airflow.
More sustainable fabric
Andrade worked with Cariuma to ensure that all materials in the garments are sustainably sourced. The kits are made entirely in Portugal, at factories that are certified in efficient energy use. They chose to manufacture the products in Europe, so they wouldn’t have to travel as far to Paris for the Games. The main material for the shirts is recycled polyester, made from old water bottles. It requires 90% less water and around 50% less energy to make recycled polyester than new, petroleum based polyester. All cotton used in the shoes and garments is organic.
As a relatively new brand, Cariuma is competing with much larger sneaker companies on the market, from Nike to Vans. Sponsoring Olympic Teams is one way for the brand to make a splash on a global stage. But the brand has also sponsored skaters across many other street and park-skateboarding events around the world.
As a designer, Andrade says that creating Olympic uniforms involved some interesting challenges. There are strict rules set by the Olympic committee about the placement of logos and color palettes. But Andrade tried to be as creative as possible within these guardrails. For instance, the Dutch team loved soccer, so he created looks for them inspired by vintage soccer jerseys. For the Portugal team, he developed a claw pattern, inspired by the lines of the Cariuma logo. “It’s an aggressive look,” Andrade says. “But it fits with the spirit of the team.”