Ralph Lauren outfit for Team USA Olympic team manufactured in El Paso
We are less than a month away from the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Team USA will be making its Olympic debut at the opening ceremony in Polo Ralph Lauren designs. Two pieces of those collections were manufactured right here in the Borderland.
Roy Shiefner, commercial manager for Roicom USA, tells ABC-7 he approached Ralph Lauren in late 2015 about Roicom USA, a new company he was working for.
Roicom and ReadyOne helped manufacture two pieces of Ralph Lauren’s Team USA collection for the Olympics’ opening and closing ceremonies.
ReadyOne is a non-profit agency where at least 75-percent of the direct labor force has significant disabilities or are visually impaired.
“March of 2017, we got the okay, and of course, we started working very closely with Ralph Lauren and we started producing both the Olympic jeans, and then later on, the poncho,” said Shiefner.
The jeans include waterproof pockets, and have the slogan “faster, higher, stronger” on the inside. The poncho is made of polyester and high performance fleece.
Gloria Ochoa was the supervisor in charge of the group who helped manufacture the clothing and she tells ABC-7 that when her team found out they would be helping make Olympic clothing, they were excited.
“It was an honor to do this. I’m very proud of my team. It’s important for El Paso,” said Ochoa, who hopes this will help bring more opportunities to El Paso.
The Polo Ralph Lauren Team USA Collection is available online.
