LONDON (AP) — How many ways can you stretch Britain’s red, white and blue Union Jack over finely toned Olympic athletes?

Ask Stella McCartney.

The famed designer unveiled her ideas for Britain’s Olympians on Thursday with uniforms that made imaginative use of the familiar flag. The designs, a closely guarded secret for months, were shown at the Tower of London in a gala event that combined fashion’s razzle-dazzle with the star quality of top Olympic competitors.

Out with rail-thin fashion models, in with real Olympic stars.

McCartney, who is serving as Adidas’ creative director for the Summer Games, said she hoped both competitors and the British public like the uniforms and are proud of the athletes who will wear them at the Olympics and the Paralympics.

“The basic message is to unify the team,” McCartney told The Associated Press backstage after the show. “The athletes all want to feel like one team. The other big starting point for me was the Union flag, an iconic flag, I think every Briton is so proud of it, but I wanted to look at it in a different way.”

McCartney said instead of simply using the flag in its traditional form she broke it up and used various elements in an original way.

“I wanted to make it slightly more delicate and feminine, while still keeping the masculinity in some ways,” she said.

Britain isn’t the only team that has pressed a top designer into duty — Ralph Lauren is working on some outfits for the U.S. team, and Giorgio Armani is lending his skills to the Italian Olympians.