Intimate study of customers has influenced aesthetic design too. Adidas got the job of creating the host country’s uniforms for last year’s London Olympics. ReD found that for all their patriotism, Brits did not get terribly moved by traditional images like the monarchy and double-decker buses. So adidas and ReD told Stella McCartney, their chosen designer (pictured, centre), to think “untraditionally British”. She made a splash by putting the Union Jack’s red only on shoes, socks and trim, while making elements of the flag so big that on some shirts they were unrecognisable. Despite some initial criticism it was a commercial hit.
Similar research into national identity is going into next year’s football World Cup uniforms. When Russians were interviewed about what made them proud, “nothing past 1970 ever came up,” says Mr Carnes. Instead they mentioned Dostoevsky, the second world war and winning the race into space. So Russia’s uniforms will feature a curve representing Yuri Gagarin’s view from orbit.
