7th March 2012 Washington DC, USA
Investing in the Olympic Legacy
London is probably the coolest city on earth. As a native Londoner I may be biased, but this week I’m back home for work and taking some time off to catch up with friends and family.
I’m staying with my fashion fabulous friend, a stylist and dress-designer who has recently expanded her business into several shops in the US. Staying here is a bit like being in The Rachel Zoe Project: I have spent the day helping to pull outfits for a TV advert.
Being something of a self-confessed shopaholic, I’ve spent a fair amount of time at some of London’s renowned shopping hotspots. Brent Cross Shopping Centre in North London was so busy at the weekend I could hardly move; the story was the same at John Lewis Stratford City, next to the Olympic Park. People are buying into the Olympics and London in 2012.
Talking to my friend about the effect of the Olympics on the fashion world, I learned that the spring/summer 2013 shows—normally held in August—have been brought forward to July. They’ve been given plenty of warning and the rush to be ready on time is mitigated by Olympic Optimism and the hope that the visiting crowds will want to buy British when they are over here.
A big part of the plan for the Olympics is that investing in the neighbourhoods around the facilities will create a legacy long after the Games conclude. The Park has eye-catching, state of the art, Velodromes (the best one in Europe and fastest in the world with lighting done by Lady Gaga’s lighting crew) and a huge swimming pool, both of which will be used by local councils once the Games are finished. The athletes’ apartments will be used as affordable and private housing after the Games. And returning to fashion, the new Olympic Park International Broadcast Centre—which seats 20,000 and could fit four jumbo jets side by side—may become part of a fashion hub in the Borough of Hackney once the Olympics are over. With its own high street and shops already in place, it’s ready for action.
The Olympic legacy is about the environment, too. The area around the Olympic Park was very polluted, but now 80% of soil has been recycled. The green Olympic village will cut travel times for athletes. This is the greenest Olympic park ever with 4,000 trees planted and some beautiful gardens which will be in full bloom by August. I especially enjoyed the fake falcon they use to protect some parts of the grounds from other invading birds.
The park has more than a passing connection to the US too. It will be home to the largest McDonald’s in the world; seating 1500 customers, it is bigger than the branch in Orlando. US athlete Michael Johnson was the first person to cross the new bridge from Stratford to the Olympic Park site. And with NBC as one of the main broadcasters the basketball is being played in the evenings so that the US audience can enjoy it live at a reasonable hour.
All in all things are looking good for the Olympics, and London stands ready—looking cool in the cutting edge of fashion—to ensure you have a GREAT stay.