We go behind the scenes to meet Chris Mattsson, Abacus' designer who is responsible for kitting out the European Solheim Cup team
As the Solheim Cup draws closer, the anticipation for this year’s event at Gleneagles is building. Aside from each individuals golf, one of the big elements of this event is team spirit. This is emphasised through the striking outfits each team don throughout the week. So let’s go behind the scenes and check out some of Europe’s 2019 Solheim Cup outfits.
2019 Solheim Cup outfits: Blue and gold design celebrates the spirit of Team Europe
European blue and gold, stars and other details that captain Catriona Matthew has thoughtfully chosen, highlight the final day’s outfit. Carefully selected to provide comfort and protection as well as being stylish and functional. The European women will be protected no matter what weather conditions unfold throughout the day.
The Sunday outfit will consists of:
– Functional two-colour polo with stars on the sleeves
– Ashby fleece to keep warm, with golden zippers and embossed stars
– Hybrid padded vest with golden zippers: windproof, warm and super stylish
– The team will wear white trousers, either the thinner Grace if warm, or Portnoo, with fleece lining if there’s a chill in the air.
– Pitch 37.5 rain jacket will keep the players dry if it’s raining. It will also keep the micro climate inside the garment at a perfect performance temperature of 37.5 degrees Celsius.
– Swinley rain pants with four-way stretch, are super soft and very lightweight.
2019 Solheim Cup outfits: Stylish Saturday outfits
When the Solheim Cup enters its second day at Gleneagles in Scotland, the European team will be making a statement with a stylish colour palette including navy, white and a dusty pink called rhubarb.
The range features a wide array of clothing, carefully selected to meet the often-unpredictable conditions at the famous Scottish parkland style course. The players will be prepared for anything mother nature can throw at them.
The Saturday outfit consists of:
– Crail polo shirt, a functional polo in rhubarb with navy trim.
– Ashby full zip, soft fleece inside to stay warm, in fashionable rhubarb with navy panels.
– Arden vest, windproof and warm while allowing their arms to move freely, in navy.
– Grace trousers, so stretchy they’ll barely feel they’re wearing them, in navy.
– Portnoo trousers, windproof with a fleece lining for the chilly mornings, in navy.
– Swinley rain jacket and trousers to protect against any wet weather, in navy or white.
A limited amount of the styles seen on the course will be available for sale at Gleneagles during the event week.
2019 Solheim Cup outfits: Q&A with Chris Mattsson, Abacus designer
What was the biggest factor that influenced the design of the 2019 Solheim Cup outfits?
We wanted to really capture the European team and its captain with the outfits and also incorporate aspects from Scotland and the Scottish weather.
As we are playing in Scotland this year, what Scottish themes are in the clothing?
We thought it was fun to add a tartan into the collection, so Solheim Cup has created an official tartan that we have incorporated in the Friday outfits.
How much influence did Catriona Matthew have on the team outfits?
It is of course a team effort, since Catriona is normally playing in abacus, she knows what kind of garments she likes from our collection. We made suggestions and discussed with her what is the best way of layering the different pieces and she also liked the idea of a Scottish influence like the tartan.
Often different players feel comfortable in different styles of clothing, how did you tackle that issue?
It is a challenge to make everyone look like a team even though they might wear different kinds of garments. We made a few different layers for each day that the players can choose from, so if someone wants to wear a short sleeve and another wants a warmer garment, they still look as they belong to the same team.
From start to finish how long does it take to put outfits together for a big team event like this?
About 10-12 months.
What is your favourite aspect of the range and which day’s do you like most?
The gold details, it was a struggle to get them to look nice, but in the end they turned out really great. Sunday’s outfit is definitely my favourite.
Tell us about some of the technologies we see across the range?
One of the technologies we are using is 37.5 technology.
37.5 technology helps keep your body at the ideal core temperature of 37.5°C and helps keep the microclimate next to your skin at the ideal relative humidity of 37.5%. When you’re hot, patented active particles embedded in the material remove sweat in the vapor stage before liquid sweat forms which cools you down. When you’re cold, those same active particles trap your energy to help warm you up.
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