Palestinian Olympic body urges IOC to ban Israeli athletes from Paris Games

The Olympics are coming to the fashion capital. Expect uniforms worthy of a runway in Paris

PARIS: Sure, they call it the City of Light. But Paris is also the city of fashion, one of the world's most influential fashion capitals for decades, no, centuries (remember Louis XIV?)

So it's no surprise that fashion designers all over the world are busy preparing their national team kits for their unique spotlight. When it comes to exclusive Olympic fashion – whether for festive opening ceremonies or for competition – all runways lead to Paris.

Stella Jean will be there styling each of Haiti's dozen or so athletes herself. Jean, an Italian-Haitian designer based in Rome, believes she has exactly two seconds at the opening ceremony to make an impression on the world—an impression that could reverberate for years. “For these athletes, it's a victory just to be here,” says Jean, whose vibrant, colorful designs are meant to highlight the Caribbean nation's cultural vitality.

At the other end of the scale (and budget) is Ralph Lauren, which will outfit hundreds of Team USA athletes at the opening and closing ceremonies, for the ninth time. Sporting a casual look of blue jeans and a blazer, Lauren is of course one of the world's richest designers, along with Giorgio Armani, who has designed Italy's uniforms since 2012.

Countless other designers have gotten involved — including, this year, more young “indie” labels eager to make a splash. It is also a chance to emphasize qualities such as sustainability in fashion and adaptability, as in design for the Paralympics.

“Designers and manufacturers are now realizing that this can be a huge platform for them, for a lot of things,” said Alison Brown, who hosts an all-Olympic podcast, “Keep the Flame Alive.” For example: “Sustainability is a big buzzword now for this whole Olympics,” she says.

And so is the style – because, well, Paris.

“You always want to represent your country, and you want to represent the athletes. But it seems like this time the pressure to do well has been raised a notch,” Brown said.

Some new details on various uniform designs:

Canada: Focus on inclusion, adaptability

During the design process, the Lululemon team, which outfitted Canada's athletes for the second time, says they listened closely to the athletes and how they felt in the clothing. “When you feel your best, you perform your best,” says Audrey Reilly, creative director of Team Canada at the athletic apparel company.

She remembers listening to Alison Levine, a Paralympian who uses a wheelchair, and learning that the athlete had nothing suitable to train in — so she wore medical scrubs.

“I was shocked that a professional athlete had to do that,” Reilly said in an interview. So we said, “Let's investigate.” One result was a “seated carpenter's trouser”, part of a collection intended to be inclusive and adaptable. Other features include special closures for easy on and off, and pockets at the knees so an athlete like Levine can access her phone while exercising.

The collection covers all aspects of Team Canada's journey, from travel to the Games, to opening and medal ceremonies, to training – everything outside of competition. To combat the expected scorching heat of Paris, Lululemon, which has a four-game deal with the team, paid special attention to ventilation and wicking.

And for opening ceremonies, designers created what they call a “pride tapestry.” Hand drawn and constructed into the fabric, it features 10 animals – nine representing Canada's provinces and one representing France. “We wanted to evoke all of Canada, coast to coast and north to south,” says Reilly.

Haiti: “They know their bodies are a flag”

Stella Jean is used to designing beautiful clothes. But beauty for beauty's sake was not a consideration in her design for Haiti's team. It was all about the message.

“This will be the first good news to come out of Haiti in at least the last three years,” she says, the athletes' appearance a counter-message to news of political unrest, poverty or natural disasters. “So I felt the responsibility to say as much as I can about the country.”

For that, Jean is collaborating with Haitian artist Philippe Dodard, whose vibrant painting will be incorporated into the ceremonial uniforms – a brightly hued skirt for women and trousers for men, along with traditional items such as a chambray shirt. The design has been constructed from “leftover” fabric – sustainability, yes, but not because it's trendy, says Jean, but because in Haiti it's both a tradition and a necessity.

Jean calls the Haitian athletes “ambassadors.”

“These ambassadors will be there, in Paris,” she says, “and they all know, even though they're very, very young, how important their presence is—and that it's not just about performance. They know that their bodies are a flag.”

USA: “Nothing Says America Like Blue Jeans”

For the final summer games in steamy Tokyo, Ralph Lauren outfitted athletes with something cool—literally—a technology that dissipated heat through a fan unit at the back of the neck.

For steamy Paris, he introduces another kind of cool: good old American jeans.

“Nothing says America like blue jeans, especially when we're in Paris,” said David Lauren, the brand's chief branding and innovation officer and son of the founder, when he unveiled the design in June.

For its ninth time dressing Team USA for the opening and closing ceremonies, Ralph Lauren says it will fit each athlete personally. For the opening ceremony, they'll wear tailored navy blazers with blue-and-white-striped Oxford shirts — and those blue jeans.

For the closing ceremony, the team will wear white jeans with matching jackets in red, white and blue. Lauren called the closing ceremony “more graphic, funnier, a little more exciting.”

India: Mix old and new

Indian designer Tarun Tahiliani is known for his ability to combine traditional elements with a modern feel. And that's what he and his menswear brand Tasva have tried to do for his country's Olympic team.

Tahiliani told GQ India that when he began researching India's uniform for the opening ceremony, he noticed a trend of countries incorporating their national flags into the design. So he started working on a design with tricolor shades of saffron, white and green.

For men, Tahiliani started with a kurta, the typical Asian long and loose shirt. He paired it with a bundi, or traditional sleeveless jacket. He told the newspaper that he wears a bundi every day, inspired by his father, who was an admiral in the Indian Navy.

Following feedback from the Olympic Committee, the designer moved away from a uniform look for women and opted for a sari, which he says “can flatter any body type, and that's exactly what we want for our female athletes.”

All designs feature embroidery of saffron and green. “The aim is to create apparel that empowers our athletes to represent India with pride and confidence,” Tahiliani said.

Italy: A mix of elegance and tradition

Italian athletes will be elegantly dressed in Emporio Armani uniforms, as they have done for every Olympics since 2012.

The podium tracksuit is emblazoned with “W Italia”, short for “Eviva Italia” or “Long live Italy.” The motto could extend to designer Giorgio Armani himself, who turned 90 on July 11.

“Looking for new solutions for the athlete's kit, which must mix elegance with practicality, is always an exciting challenge for me,” Armani said last year when the national kit was presented in spring-summer 2024 for the youthful and sporty Emporio Armani. trademark.

The athletes' tracksuits are in Armani blue, which has long been the color of the designer's daily uniform, either as a T-shirt or a fine pullover.

Athletes will have no excuse not to know the national anthem: the beginning is printed inside the collar of the polo shirts, and the entire first verse is inside the jackets.

Great Britain: Four Nations, Not One

The 60-year-old British clothing brand Ben Sherman, known for its menswear, is creating Great Britain's Olympic uniforms for the third time and this year wants to remind the world that Britain is four nations, not one.

Its design for the opening and closing ceremonies “represents the unity and diversity of Britain, reflecting the rich tapestry of our nation's identity.” says the brand's creative director, Mark Williams.

Williams described in an email his new four-nation floral motif, featuring a rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock, which serves as “a nod to the unique identities and histories of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.”

Williams emphasizes that the motif is not purely decorative, but meant to send a message of cooperation and unity. His floral motifs appear in the colors blue and red — on polo shirts, worn with a bomber jacket, and also on colorful socks, in collaboration with the brand Happy Socks.

South Korea: Inspiration from a national symbol

South Korea's athletes will sport uniforms inspired by the country's national “taegeuk” circular symbol, which occupies the center of its flag. The red and blue circle suggests harmony between the negative cosmic forces in the blue part and the positive cosmic forces in the red.

The designs on the North Face-branded uniforms also include one of the four black trigrams (groups of bars) from the corner of the flag, according to Youngone Outdoor Co., an official partner of the country's Olympic Committee that produces and distributes North Face clothing in South Korea. The trigram used symbolizes water.

A uniform for medal ceremonies features a jacket depicting the indigo blue waters off the country's east coast in an ink-washed painting style, a red belt and black pants, Youngone said.

Team Korea's uniform for the opening and closing ceremonies was designed by Mussinsa Standard, a brand operated by South Korean online fashion store Mussinsa. The all light blue uniform includes a jacket, lining engraved with traditional white and blue porcelain patterns, a belt and traditional style trousers.

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