In the capital of fashion, Olympians are competing for best dressed.
The kitted athletes are serving up their best looks as they go for gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, sporting uniforms meticulously crafted to reflect the home country of each team.
While captivated audiences tune in for the athletic mastery, the enviable fashion is worth staying for, from the stylish, star-studded opening ceremony featuring Olympians in designer wear, to the apparel worn during competition — some of which has already placed first in viewers’ hearts.
Team Mongolia
Mongolia’s opulent uniforms — decorated in ornate gold detailing — enthralled the internet, with viewers at home championing the design as “high fashion,” “fire” and “the best” in the competition.
Designed by Michel & Amazonka — who have previously designed attire for Mongolian Airlines and Team Mongolia at past Olympics — the kits are inspired by the Mongolian Naadam Festival, with the event’s “Nine White Banner” depicted on the top of the vest, followed by the Olympic rings.
At the bottom of the embroidered vest is Mount Everest, which mountaineers climb and “become the best,” director Batbaatar Munkhbaya told GQ. The gold thread, Munkhbaya continued, symbolizes the desire to bring home gold medals.
The flag-bearers wore traditional deels underneath their vests, which was part of a multi-piece ensemble complete with accessories and shoes.
The set of 120 uniforms, Munkhbaya revealed, was completed in just 12 weeks and required 20 hours of sewing.
Team USA
What — or who — embodies true Americana more than Ralph Lauren?
The New York fashion house designed Team USA’s uniforms worn during the opening ceremony, which consisted of jeans, a dark blue tie, a striped button-up shirt and a navy blue blazer adorned with red and white striped trim and made from materials gathered from across the country.
“A lot of the young athletes have told us this is their first blazer, this is the first time they’ve ever worn a tie,” Lauren told GQ. “And it’s not just an opening ceremony. They really are very proud that they’ll continue to wear this jacket for the rest of their lives. It’s a piece of history that they’re wearing.”
The closing ceremony attire is more athletic in nature, with a white denim moto jacket emblazoned with “USA” against red and blue stripes, as well as matching white jeans.
Lauren added: “I’d say the village gear is where you have the most flexibility to go from something that’s classic or traditional to something that’s a lot more fashion and fun.”
Team Haiti
Created by Haitian designer Stella Jean, the colors of the uniforms are a nod to the nation’s flag, the print produced by artist Philippe Dodard.
The men’s baby blue jackets, according to Time, are a take on the traditional guayabera shirt worn by people in the Caribbean. But Jean revealed that one of the biggest hurdles to overcome when designing the apparel was sourcing materials, resorting to using a dress her grandmother gifted her.
“Haiti has no materials now. We have nothing to sell to the world. Our strength right now is this intangible richness [from] our deep culture,” Jean told the outlet. “We are here, we are joyful, and we will be back on our own two feet again.”
On the world stage, Jean could paint Haiti in a positive light, rather than a country shrouded in political unrest and devastated by natural disasters.
“When the General Secretary of the Haitian Olympic Committee called, it wasn’t just a call, it was a call to arms — with no hostility,” Jean said. “No wasn’t an answer.”
Team Mexico
Team Mexico took a progressive approach to their Olympic uniforms with unisex ensembles featuring a magenta-collared shirt jacket adorned with the iconic monument Angel de la Independencia, or Victoria Alada, which is located in Mexico City.
On the sleeves, “milagritos,” or symbolic amulets, were printed as “a little piece of all of us for the athletes” to show solidarity and support from the other side of the globe, designer Marijose Rivera told the Associated Press.
The pops of pink, known formally as “rosa mexicano” or Mexican pink, was an intentional attempt at bending preconceived notions of gender and fashion, the 26-year-old said.
“We want to break paradigms not only in terms of design but also in this sense that pink is not only for girls,” she added.
“I wanted to represent Mexico as something different, something avant-garde, fashionable, but without neglecting what we are (in) culture and tradition.”
Team France
The home team took a button-up approach to their ceremonial garments, opting for chic navy two-piece sets designed by Berluti, who added the fashion house’s signature burnishing to the brilliantly blue lapels.
“We needed outfits that reflect French know-how, the heritage of France, and Berluti is a French house,” Brice Guyart, a double Olympic medallist fencer and the senior manager for the 2024 Olympians, said in a statement to the Olympics.
“France welcomes the whole world and we really have to succeed in establishing ourselves from the start, showing that the French delegation is ready to make history.”
The mission was to create an ensemble that was both “elegant and “high performance,” per Guyart, which was a “big challenge,” added Berluti’s director of industrialization, Agnès Fillioux.
“Everything was produced in the same way as all of our products in store,” Fillioux said. “We have changed absolutely nothing, it is the same craftspeople and the same workshops who made this production.”
Team Chinese Taipei
Designer Justin Chou, of JUST IN XX, took a communal approach to craft the Chinese Taipei Olympic uniforms, collaborating with “individuals who have deep roots in Taiwan and have shined on the international stage to form a dream team for uniform design,” according to the brand’s Instagram.
“Together, they have created an Olympics opening ceremony uniform that contains the spirit of culture, art, craftsmanship, and sustainability, all in preparation to carry out an exciting fashion and culture diplomatic mission on the world stage,” the fashion house wrote.
Team South Sudan
Basketball players from South Sudan were dunking on the competition — at least in style.
The Olympians were dubbed the “best-dressed basketball team” at the opening ceremony, arriving in dapper, double-breasted black blazers designed by Moshions, adorned with glitzy gold buttons and trim that matched the nation’s flag.
Team Philippines
Imagined by Filipino designer Francis Libiran, Team Philippines’ Olympic uniforms incorporate the traditional white barong, an embroidered shirt customary in the nation’s culture.
“Our barong is very Filipino. The rich culture shows in the embroidery and fabric itself,” Libiran told L’Officiel.
Against the white shirt, a blue and red silk sling — the colors of the country’s flag — embroidered with sun rays crosses across the athletes’ chests, which he likened to “armor.”
“I wanted our athletes to wear the iconic sun rays [of our flag] closer to their hearts,” he continued.