Why Ralph Lauren's Team USA Uniforms Are Such a Marketing Coup

Controversy aside, it's a big win for the designer

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It really wasn't Ralph's fault.

Last week, right after Team U.S.A. took to Twitter to release a photo of what its 2016 Summer Olympics uniforms would look like, the pundits pounced. Their fashion sense was offended, apparently, by the effect created by the way the Navy blazer (designed, along with the rest of Team U.S.A.'s gear, by Ralph Lauren) closed over the red, blue and white-striped crew neck beneath. It looked, cried the offended, like the Russian Federation's flag.

Courtesy Ralph Lauren

 "R we cheering for #Russia since our uniform contains the #Russian flag?" pondered one grouser on Twitter.

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