Olympic double gold medallist knits for Coats
- 21 Mar 2014
Winter Olympics double gold medallist, Rosi Mittermaier, demonstrated her knitting skills on the Coats stand at h+h today. Coats plc, the world’s leading industrial thread and consumer textile crafts business, has a large presence at the annual international trade fair for creative handicraft and hobby supplies being held in Cologne, Germany (21-23 March).
Rosi was also on the stand to launch a new crafts initiative for German schools. The ‘65 years – 65 schools’ campaign marks the 65th anniversary this year of the creation of the Regia sock yarn, produced by Coats Crafts brand Schachenmayr, and will provide 65 schools all over Germany with free materials and instructions for their handicraft classes.
Michael Schofer, CEO, Global Crafts, Coats plc, said: ‘Rosi is a keen hand knitter so her support of our ‘65 years – 65 schools’ campaign is very welcome. Crafting skills such as knitting and crocheting are for people of all ages and it is important we promote the teaching of traditional handicraft techniques in schools to ensure children develop the basic skills from an early age.’
Rosi Mittermaier said, ‘This campaign encourages children’s creativity and motor skills. In addition, the pride of creating something themselves is an extremely important and beneficial experience for the young.’
Rosi was also given a demonstration of how Coats is using digital technology to provide inspiration to crafters around the world including the ‘My Mountain’ hat designer app and the makeitcoats.com web portal. The recently launched makeitcoats.com site provides an unparalleled digital experience to inspire, inform and teach crafters.
Crafts materials will be delivered to the selected schools ahead of the start of the new German school year starting this August.
Rosi won two gold medals (downhill and slalom) and one silver (giant slalom) at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, making her one of the most successful competitors at the games. She is married to Christian Neureuther, winner of six World Cup slalom races. Their son Felix Neureuther, World Cup ski racer, is brand ambassador for Schachenmayr which includes the MyMountain design collection.
For more information contact:
Kristina Blissett, Communications Manager kristina.blissett@coats.com
T +44 (0)208 210 5084, M +44 (0)7714 539887
To download a photo of the event go to: www.coats.com/imagelibrary
For more information on Coats Crafts visit : www.makeitcoats.com
About Coats
With a rich heritage dating back to the 1750s, Coats is the world's leading industrial thread and consumer textile crafts business, at home in more than 70 countries, employing over 20,000 people across six continents. Revenues in 2013 were US$1.7bn.
Our well-known brands and strong relationships with customers and consumers mean our products and services meet current and future needs. Our company-wide understanding of our business partners and consumers, coupled with the deep expertise of our people, builds trust and certainty.
Coats’ pioneering history and innovative culture ensure the company continues leading the way around the world: providing complementary and value added products and services to the apparel and footwear industries; extending the crafts offer into new markets and online; and applying innovative techniques to develop products in new areas such as tracer threads, aramids and fibre optics.
- One in five garments on the planet is held together using Coats’ thread
- 100 million car airbags are made using Coats’ thread every year
- Coats produces enough yarn to knit 70 million scarves a year
- In three and a half hours, Coats makes enough thread to go to the moon and back
- 400 million pairs of shoes are made every year using Coats’ thread
- One million teabags using Coats’ thread are brewed every 10 minutes
- Thousands of surgical operations take place every day using Coats’ thread
- Thomas Edison used Coats’ thread in 1879 to invent the light bulb
- Coats produces enough thread to reach around the Equator every 11 minutes
- Coats is the second largest and fastest growing global zip manufacturer
Coats Crafts Division
Coats Crafts is the world's leading consumer textile crafts business. Its history is interwoven with many innovations in knitting, crochet, quilting, embroidery and sewing dating back to the beginning of the industrial revolution.
Our well-known brands, which include Rowan, Red Heart, Freespirit, Anchor and Schachenmayr, have been inspiring generations of crafters around the world who have looked to Coats for quality and inspiration for over 200 years.
To find out more about Coats visit www.coats.com
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