HARRISBURG – The State Museum of Pennsylvania is presenting an exhibit of Team USA gymnastics leotards made by Reading-based GK Elite Sportswear for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The Pennsylvania-made Olympic apparel will be on display in the museum’s ground floor lobby through Sunday, Sept. 9, which coincides with Harrisburg’s popular Gallery Walk event.
Members of the Team USA’s Women’s Gymnastics squad posed in GK Elite’s Olympic outfits for the cover of the 2012 Olympic Games preview issue of “Sports Illustrated.” The red-sequined leotard featured on the cover is included in the museum’s display.
“GK Elite Sportswear continues a rich tradition of textile manufacturing in Pennsylvania,” said David W. Dunn, director of The State Museum. “The company is based in Reading, Berks County, a historic center of apparel manufacturing. As the official museum of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, The State Museum collects, preserves and interprets objects associated with Pennsylvania’s industrial heritage.”
All aspects of the Olympic apparel, from product development to manufacturing and down to the smallest of embellishments, take place at GK Elite’s 30-year-old headquarters in Berks County.
The specialty sportswear company has been manufacturing gymnastic apparel for the U.S. Gymnastics Team since its debut at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. The company also furnishes gymnastics outfits for Olympic teams from other countries. For the Olympics this summer in London, GK Elite Sportswear will also be outfitting competitors from Great Britain, Australia, Netherlands, France, Greece, Israel, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Finland.
The State Museum of Pennsylvania, adjacent to the State Capitol in Harrisburg, is one of 25 historic sites and museums administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission as part of the Pennsylvania Trails of History®. The State Museum offers expansive collections interpreting Pennsylvania’s fascinating heritage. With exhibits examining the dawn of geologic time, the Native American experience, the colonial and revolutionary eras, a pivotal Civil War battleground, and the Commonwealth’s vast industrial age, The State Museum demonstrates thatPennsylvania’s story is America’s story.
Museum hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for children and senior citizens.
For more information about the museum, visit www.statemuseumpa.org.