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It started with a text message from Simone Biles.

She has a brilliant idea for the design of her gymnastics tights, which can create a uniform that is different from any other uniform worn by professional athletes.

Of course, this is a fashion statement, but it is also a statement. Has won four Olympic gold medals and seven national championships, and turned gymnastics into "Who won second place?" By challenging the laws of physics in an unprecedented way, Byers' position in the sport has been determined:

As the goat in her sport, Byers accepted this confident and widely recognized statement by putting the image of a goat on her tights.

In a recent interview with Mary Claire, Byers said of the goat tights: "I just hope that watching this grown-up kids don't or won't be ashamed of being good at what they do." "That's it. My question: When people harp on someone who is good at something. Like, everyone can say you are good, but once you admit it, it’s not cool anymore. I hope the kids know, yes, It is okay to admit that you are good at something or even good at something."

At GK Elite's Pennsylvania headquarters, which designs and manufactures tights and clothing for Biles and the US women's and men's national teams, a business as usual day suddenly became meaningless, but the light on Kelly Christman's mobile phone came from bile.

Christman, the company's vice president of gymnastics products, quickly relayed the request to the design team.

While being excited about the tasks required by the company's GOAT, there was initially controversy over whether the image was too shameless and presumptuous. But when she won the gold medal, Byers won the right to be brave, which was all the reason she needed when asked why she wanted to put a goat on the tights.

"Simona just said,'Well, because I can,'" Christman recalled. "And the medal she holds proves that she is indeed the greatest ever."

The Olympic mat is not only a stadium for world-class gymnasts, but also a red carpet and model track.

Here, the glitz and charm of the tights completely designed and manufactured by GK Elite appeared on the world stage. At the company’s headquarters in Reading, Pennsylvania—about an hour and a half from Philadelphia—the shelves are filled with fabrics, and the containers are filled with thousands of sparkling crystals. The task of the employees is to serve the top Olympics. The players are equipped with equipment, and they will soon all be watching their every move.

"This is really a red carpet moment," said Matt Cowan, Chief Commercial Officer of GK Elite. "And we hope that athletes can feel the energy and uniqueness of their tights when they show the tights to the world."

No bodysuit is more unique than a bodysuit with a crystal inlaid goat head printed on it. They belong only to Biles, who made her first appearance on her training tank at the 2019 GK Classic, and then added them to her competitive tights during the Olympic trials.

Goldie the Goat, as it was later named, is one of many iterations created by the GK Elite design team and selected by Biles via SMS and email.

Jeanne Diaz, senior designer of GK Elite, said: “We made a few goat head options, and then we made a full body of a male goat, but in the end we adopted a more simplified version of line art,” said GK Elite senior designer .

Claiming to be a GOAT is a statement that few people can reasonably make. Byers not only claimed it, but also wore it on her sleeve... literally, her back or buttocks.

By doing so, Byers raised the status of GOAT to a new level when female athletes had to openly fight for the equality and recognition in sports that they deserved. 

Diaz said: "This is a bold choice, but considering that Simone is indeed a goat, I think it is a suitable choice." It’s so cool to have it."

Just like tailors are familiar with regular customers, the staff at GK Elite are very familiar with Biles' fit and style preferences.

These include custom-sized high-neck tights, angled raglan sleeves that highlight her shoulders, and innovative design elements such as Biles' recent snakeskin tights.

"She likes to push the boundaries of trends," Diaz said. "She just likes to stand out."

Diaz said that it may take two years to complete the Olympic costume design in cooperation with the American Gymnastics Association.

When dealing with the most acrobatic Olympic athletes, fit is the most important and aesthetic is essential. In March, the final pre-Olympic fitting was held at the national team training camp, and the body shapes of all potential members were complicated.

The lead time for the production of high-end tights is usually six to eight weeks from start to finish. However, the staff of GK Elite had previously undergone a stress test, and the result was that the tights were made with 24 hours notice. At that time, Biles needed to shoot the Uber Eats advertisement with Jonathan Van Ness at the last minute. 

GK Elite designs and manufactures tights for the 11 countries/regions of the Tokyo Olympics. The tights are made of four-way stretch fabrics, which are stretched and laser cut to ensure a fit, and then bundled according to the size and changes of the athletes. Through sublimation, customized artwork is laser printed and transferred from paper to fabric through a heat press to lock in the bright colors of the clothing. Then the laser cut applique is manually placed and glued to the body of the tights to ensure it is placed correctly before stitching. Swarovski jewelry patterns use thermal transfer technology, some are inlaid by hand, and some are filled with a laser machine. From there, the garments are sent to the sewing workshop for finishing touches before quality inspection.

"Obviously, we want to make sure that the catsuit and clothing fit all the contours of the body when put on," Cowan said. "In gymnastics, if the contestants tighten or adjust the tights, there may be deductions. Obviously this is the last thing we want. We want their performance to be the only thing judged on that day, not their tights. Whether the clothes fit. Therefore, we want to make sure that our catsuits fit perfectly so that athletes can fully focus on their performance."

Only a few of these catsuits left the facility with goat heads. The jewellery machine creates the crystal decoration of the goat's head on the plate. Then use a heat press to seal the ornaments on the tights, making Biles' goat requirements a dazzling reality.

"We want to do this in a way that doesn't just put a simple goat on the tights. Let's make it concrete, let's add some highlights to it, let's add some talents to it, let We bring some attitude to this," Cowan said. "This is one of them. To this day, Simeone is the only one who has worn it."

When the national team showed off their clothing on the Olympic mats, it was not just the gymnasts who felt proud. GK Elite's designers, fabric spreaders, tailors, decorative sewer staff and many others have shared this feeling. They brought the tights to life and delivered them to the top athletes on the world's largest stage.   

"We have more than 500 employees in Reading, Pennsylvania. When we saw the best athlete in the world, Simone Biles, go out and win the gold medal in a self-made costume here, we A sense of pride flooded into this building. Construction, it’s a huge sense of pride," Cowan said. "This is an incredible moment for our country, and an incredible moment for our company that was born in the United States."

The national team showed off their clothing first at the Tokyo Olympics, and GK elite representatives handed over their tights on the second day after the team announced in late June.

Mini spoiler warning: The athletes were given a tights to pay tribute to the birth of America in 1776, which contained 7,600 rubies and Swarovski crystals. The other has 76 individual applique stars, the other is inspired by the rose gold Tokyo torch, and the crystal motif is inspired by the American currency bald eagle design.

"On the mat in Tokyo this year," Diaz said, "you will see a lot of patriotic tights and a lot of bling."

Although one goat was set up for the Olympics, the other goat did not. Byers will go to Tokyo, hoping to win five more gold medals. Due to the International Olympic Committee's guidelines on Olympic clothing logos and brands, it is expected that the goat Gordy will not appear.

The goat’s next cameo may be Byers’ 36 post-Olympic tour from September to November, which is called the American Gold Tour (see what they did there? Goat). Replicas of Biles' goat tights may eventually be on the market, but they are not yet available. 

"I would say that this goat is reserved exclusively for Simone at this time," Christman said. "If she wants to make it public, we will work with her to study its appearance. But for now, this goat is exclusively for Simone Biles."