The Olympics are different now.
Before circa 2018, what the athletes were dressed in wasn’t top of mind for anybody—even fashion-obsessed NYU students running archival fashion Instagram pages.
Times are different now. Anybody preparing to be seen in front of an audience, let alone representing a country on the global stage, will have a team behind them ready to capitalize on the pageantry in the form of clothing.
With the games taking place in none other than Paris, never have the masses been so fixated on who’s outfitting Earth’s strongest, fastest, and most precise—myself included.
Leading up to the 2024 Olympics, my Instagram feed is less about who each country is sending to compete, and more about which brand will be representing said country.
I’ve inspected them all, and these are the labels that are nailing three crucial aspects of the honor: infusing national icons, hailing originality, and, of course, making the athletes look like gods.
Spain: Joma Sport
Remove any text and flag insignias from Joma Sport’s lineup and you know exactly which country they’re producing threads for.
The carnation, Spain’s most symbolic flora (perhaps besides saffron), serves as the main inspiration for the collection. A bright red, yellow, and white gradient is an obvious homage to the Iberian country’s flag, only without the clean, organized stripes.
It’s hard to push the envelope with the athletic uniforms as function will always be #1, and while Joma Sport’s formal iterations aren’t revolutionary, they capture the essence of traditional Spanish dress with a bit of their own athletic prowess. The men will be seen in relaxed broken suits, and women pleated dresses with sash accents inspired by the ‘traje de gitana’ worn during flamenca dances.
Canada – lululemon
Athletes decked out in lululemon? Go figure!
The partnership could be seen from a shot put away, but it’s lululemon’s experimental side that evoked a (candidly) raised eyebrow from me.
Don’t get me wrong, no matter how much the yoga moms and sorority girls want to claim lululemon as theirs, it will always be a go-to for high-quality activewear with a damn-good warranty program. On the other hand, their designs have always been conservative—maybe a contrasted seam in a men’s collection.
Team Canada’s kit presents more of what I’d like to see from lululemon: eclectic prints, tasteful use of imagery, and relaxed fits. Between the consistent use of red and white, maple leaf motifs, and the brand itself, the ensemble is unmistakably Canadian—and a huge improvement over the Hudson Bay Company’s approach during Tokyo 2020.
Australia – Sportscraft
Australia, like every other country The Royal Crown has gotten its hands on at one point or another, bears the world’s most unremarkable color trio for a flag: red, white, and blue.
Only, those aren’t Australia’s national colors. Green and gold are. The former signifying eucalyptus and the forests, and the latter the golden wattle, the nation-continent’s national flower. Sportscraft’s application to suit-and-shorts regalia couldn’t look classier.
Shorts with a blazer only deepens my love for the look. Menswear classicists never hesitate to nay-say the combo, and they’re so easily trollable. It’s Australia we’re talking about. Shorts with a blazer is an honest depiction of formalwear given the kind of heat the land down under gets. It’s simple, contrarian, and I love it.
I also have to point out July’s capsule collection they released for Team Australia. White luggage isn’t common, but July might’ve done something when they added contrasting hints of green and brown.
United States of America – Ralph Lauren
The Ralph Lauren portfolio caters to the many sects of American culture, old-money, western, middle-class, and everything in between. I would argue that RL was the first brand to shift focus onto the olympian attire, and I’d wager that it will never be dethroned from it’s seat as official uniform designer for team USA.
Ralph Lauren’s opening ceremony garb usually gets the most press. I get that red, white, and blue suits combine the country’s colors and RL’s tailored ethos, but the brand has so much lore to work with.
Paris 2024’s racing-inspired outfit for the closing ceremony is a callback to early 90s Polo with big lettering, rigid color blocking, and heavy patchwork. The brand has leaned heavily into the western sub-label RRL and the high-end Ralph Lauren Purple Label, and this iconic design story has been largely lost. When Ralph Lauren wants to be playful, they always do it with steeze, as is the case here.
Mongolia – Mitchel & Amazonka
Team Mongolia’s opening ceremony attire, strictly from a design standpoint, is my favorite out of Paris 2024.
This isn’t the sister-designer-duo’s first rodeo, with Mongolia sending their best to Tokyo and Beijing dressed in Mitchel & Amazonka for the last two Olympics.
But it’s different this time around. Mitchel & Amazonka honors Mongolia’s intricate textile arts with hyper-detailed embroidery with metallic threads. Structured vests juxtapose the loose, free-moving shirts worn underneath, while the buryat hats and gutal boots cement the respect Mitchel & Amazonka have for traditional Mongolian dress.
Compared to past events, it’s clear that the Olympic committee/designer partnerships continue to up the ante for best-dressed team.
Not to discount the hard work of the athletes, but narrowing it down to five was a herculean feat.
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