Courtesy McDonald's

McDonalds' newly designed uniforms, featuring recyclable aprons, have received a warm welcome from staff.

McDonald's is known more for fast food than fashion, but that may be changing now that the company has unveiled new retro-look uniforms for the Summer Olympics in London.

Set to debut at McDonald's' four Olympic Park restaurants, the uniforms will be first be worn by 2,000 handpicked Olympic employees. This fall, they will be rolled out to the rest of the company’s 87,500 U.K. staff.

The new A-line skirts and slim-cut pants come in khaki green and will be paired with plaid shirts for customer care assistants. Managers get to spice up their black suits with mustard scarves, belts and dark, skinny ties, while the staff behind the counter will don polos, caps and long aprons.

McDonald's asked designer Wayne Hemingway, founder of the Red or Dead label, to update and remake the staff’s look. Hemingway and his team then went out of their way to work with McDonald's employees to find out what would and wouldn’t work for them.

“When we spoke to the staff, they let us know that they wanted something that they felt good going to work in,” Hemingway told TODAY.com. “We took inspiration from the new McDonald's restaurants that are more like serious eating establishments. It’s why we got rid of the baseball caps, which reminded us of petrol pump (gas station) attendants, and are not something you see in a proper restaurant.”

Hemingway's job was made more complicated by the company's desire to make its new uniforms sustainable as well as chic. After use, the new aprons will be recycled.

Courtesy McDonald's

Around 2,000 handpicked employees will debut the new uniforms at McDonalds' four Olympic Park restaurants.

Staff response to the new uniforms has been overwhelmingly positive, McDonald's told TODAY.com. The kudos must be a relief to both the company and the designer, who spent 18 months collaborating on the new look.

“It’s important to our crew that they feel comfortable and confident in their uniforms,” said a McDonald's spokeswoman. “Our uniform is something that we continually review and revisit to make sure it’s working well for our employees and that it’s representing the business at its best.”

It’s not the first time that the company hired a big name designer for its uniforms: Four years ago, it commissioned Bruce Oldfield to remake the company’s look.

“Our role as the official restaurant for the London 2012 Olympic Games provided the perfect stage upon which to showcase our new uniforms and introduce them to our crew, our customers and all who will be watching or attending the Games this summer," said the spokesman.

McDonald's is expecting Olympic size crowds at the Games, with its main restaurant - its biggest ever - offering seating for 1,500. Among its four restaurants in the Olympic Park, McDonald's plans to serve more than 1.75 million meals over the course of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Fitting with its push toward sustainability, after the Games, all of the furniture and equipment - even light bulbs and switches - in the flagship restaurant will be used by other McDonald's restaurants in the U.K. 

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Paul Hackett / Reuters

Equestrian and granddaughter of the queen Zara Phillips told reporters that she is "massively" excited to be on Britain's Olympic team.

The queen will undoubtedly be rooting for all British athletes at the Games this summer in London, but one will surely hold a special place in her heart: Her granddaughter, Zara Phillips, is a member of the equestrian eventing team.

But far be it from Phillips, 12th in line to the throne, to expect or request any special treatment. The 31-year-old rider will stay in the Olympic village with the other members of her team and will not have any exceptional security arrangements, according to the team’s performance director.

"Security is going to be so tight that every athlete will be treated like the queen was their grandmother," said Anthony Glees, director of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham. "Around the Olympic venues there will be a so-called ring of steel that will replicate the sort of security surrounding a head of state. London will swamped with security personnel, and the amount spent on security at the Games will the biggest ever."

Meanwhile, Phillips is concentrating more on perfecting her skills than on the worldwide attention she has brought to her team.

“It will be great to be part of the Olympics, and get the atmosphere and the buzz of being a part of it,” she said at a press conference earlier this week. “A lot of times equestrian is quite far out, and they made a big effort this time to have us part of the Olympics.”

A question about her royal grandmother elicited an embarrassed laugh as Phillips carefully sidestepped.

“Oh man,” she said, as she covered her face and looked down. “Obviously my family is very proud, and right behind me. It’s great that I’ve been able to be selected to start off with.”

Phillips is the daughter of Princess Anne, the queen’s second-born daughter. She has long competed for British teams at the European and World Equestrian Championships, but this will be her first time at the Olympics. In 2008, she was selected to compete at the Games in Beijing, but was forced to withdraw after her horse Toytown was injured.

Kieran Doherty / Reuters

British equestrian Zara Phillips takes part in the Olympic torch relay, riding through Cheltenham Race Course on May 23.

This time, her horse High Kingdom, an 11-year-old gelding, is ready, and Phillips is “massively” excited, although “still keeping fingers crossed, because you know what horses are like.”

The most exciting part of equestrian eventing is no doubt the show jumping, where horses leap over fences that reach over 4 feet high. Eventing, which takes place over several days, also includes dressage, where horse and rider are judged on the precision of the horse's movements, and cross country.

While the queen is certainly proud of her granddaughter, it’s not the first time a member of her family has participated in the Games. Phillips' mother, Princess Anne, represented Great Britain in equestrian eventing at the Montreal Olympics in 1976, and while she didn’t come home with any medals, her husband, Mark Phillips, won a gold medal at the 1972 Games in Munich, and silver at the 1988 Games in Seoul in eventing.

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