Cutting a Dashing Figure

“Guess who’s starring for Lee?” asked the headline in a 1983 jeans ad featuring figure skaters Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner. The skaters became famous during the 1980 Olympic Games when Gardner pulled a muscle just minutes before the pair were due on the ice.

Just in case readers didn’t recognize the faces, the ad agency had Gardner drape a pair of figure skates over his shoulder.

In another 1983 ad, Lee included Gardner and Babilonia on its list of the year’s great athletes. The ad, which showed sports stars practicing their chosen games while wearing Lee jeans, included football star Tony Dorsett, baseball’s Mike Schmidt and tennis player Kathy Rinaldi.

A magazine ad that ran in June 1983 identified Babilonia and Gardner as cutting “‘a dashing figure in Lee Jeans. . . . Any way you figure it, they make a perfect pair.” The ad was run by Burlington Sportswear Fabrics, which produced corduroy for Lee.

Gardner and Babilonia, who are celebrating their 30th anniversary on the ice this year, also did a few advertisements for Nestle’s Crunch candy bars.