Did you notice tie-dye is back? Last fall, New Zealander Karen Walker created mottled navy blue patterns on white jeans and this fall, YSL and Michael Kors designed some tie-dyed handbags. And at this year's Olympics opening ceremony, the Australian team's jackets were dyed in a technique the fashion world calls ombre. Some people are uncomfortable with hippie connotations (though not me), so referring to a tie-dye process in French makes it automatically fancy and unrelated to barefoot flower children. The above inspirational photo comes from the glory days of 1996, around the last time tie-dye was cool, when the Lithuanian national basketball team was supported by the Grateful Dead.
August West reported in a 1996 San Francisco Chronicle article: "The tie-dyed shirts sport Lithuania's colors: green, red and yellow. A figure of a skeleton -- one of many Dead symbols -- wearing a green Lithuanian shirt is shown reverse-dunking a ball through the hoop, in the center of a ring of fire. On the back is a drawing of a basketball globe with a skelton hand twirling the ball on its index finger."
"Watching them play in 1992, I've got to say that I was immensely proud," said guitarist Bob Weir. "This year we hope they can turn the bronze into silver."
"I can't wait to see how this story turns out," added drummer Mickey Hart.
"The conference was highlighted by the unveiling of a ceremonial jersey honoring Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia, who died last August. The jersey bore the No. 1 and Garcia's name on the back; on the front, above the Lithuanian team insignia, was a skeleton with the middle digit missing. Garcia lost the middle finger of his right hand when he was a child."
[SF Chronicle]
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