By Tricia Swenson, The Vail Daily
You may not realize it, but the very blazer worn by NBA superstar LeBron James in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games opening ceremony along the Seine River in Paris has ties to Eagle County. The Ralph Lauren-designed and U.S.-made blazers worn by nearly 600 Team USA members contained wool from sheep who graze in our valley.
The 2024 Summer Olympic Games marks the ninth time Ralph Lauren has been the official outfitter of Team USA. All Ralph Lauren apparel worn by U.S. athletes during official Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies is made in the United States. Ralph Lauren partnered with many manufacturers in the United States to produce Team USA’s uniform.
How does Eagle County fit in? Ranches in the area provide wool to Shaniko Wool Company, located in Maupin, Oregon, and that collective group of ranchers provided the wool for Ralph Lauren’s Opening Ceremony blazer.
Jeanne Carver is the founder of Shaniko Wool Company. Her family is celebrating 153 years of continuous operation at Imperial Stock Ranch in the high desert of Oregon and Carver is a steward and advocate of modern ranching practices. Her use of sustainable ranching efforts piqued the interest of Ralph Lauren’s designers in 2012, when they were looking for wool to be used in uniforms for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
Read more at vaildaily.com.
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