Historical information
About the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games donor Doug Pleasance wrote-
During the 1980's the Australian wool industry was at its most prosperous times with record numbers of sheep producing wool receiving ever increasing values due to the success of the Reserve Price Scheme, and the overall guidance of the Australian Wool Corporation (AWC).
As a humble technician, my role was a low profile newly created position of Controller, Technical Marketing where wool was to be marketed on its technical properties, as distinct from the Product Marketing Group which exploited the traditional high profile approach of marketing wool;s superior fashion attributes. The Woolmark was the tool central to this approach.
The 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games saw an evolutionary change in designer selection. A Declaration of Interest Form was communicated to over forty potential designers. The task and especially tight timelines that were involved deterred many aspirants, however, there remained eight designers with the potential we were seeking. These eight designers were paid $3,000 per submission and the winning designer, Wendy Powitt, was paid $15,000. For the first time the judging panel included two athletes, one male swimmer and one female basketballer, their influence was pivotal.
The ensemble consisted of three elements-
1. The Official Uniform which was used for travel and all official functions. This included: a tailored blazer and trouser/skirt (all water repellent) by Fletcher Jones, pure wool olive-green faille fabric by Foster Valley, cotton PE formal shirt by Pelaco, pure wool knitwear by Spangaro, printed wool tie by TD Noone, wool nylon socks by Holeproof and footwear by Hush Puppy.
2. Opening Ceremony Uniform a lightweight wool fabric printed with floral designs that had been inspired by the work of Australian artist Margaret Preston. This included: Lightweight W/PE shorts by Fletcher Jones in Foster Valley Fabric, socks by Holeproof and footwear by Hush Puppy.
3. Village Clothing was designed to be highly visible garments to make it easy to spot the Aussie and helped to contribute to good team spirit. This included: A pure wool shirt featuring blocks of contrasting colours, and a newly developed stretch 50:50 wool/cotton fabric by Bradmill was made into shorts and jeans by Fletcher Jones.
Physical description
8134.1 - The shirt is coloured with stripes of olive green and cream. There are several panels on the shirt, majority of the panels have the stripes running vertically but two panels over the left breast have the stripes running horizontally. Over the horizontal stripes is the Australian emblem with the Olympic rings and "Barcelona 1992," underneath. On the reverse of the shirt there is only one panel and the stripes all run vertically. Along the shoulders of the reverse of the shirt are four velcro dots from the object being previously displayed.
8134.2 - The shirt is coloured with stripes of olive green and cream. There are several panels on the shirt, majority of the panels have the stripes running vertically but two panels over the left breast have the stripes running horizontally. Over the horizontal stripes is the Australian emblem with the Olympic rings and "Barcelona 1992," underneath. On the reverse of the shirt there is only one panel and the stripes all run vertically.
Inscriptions & markings
8134.1 - BARCELONA 1992
8134.2 - BARCELONA 1992
