How Fashion Is Going for Gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics

On Friday, Pharrell Williams carried this year’s Olympic torch to the top of the Basilica of Saint-Denis in Paris, signaling the Games’ commencement and revealing his new adidas Adizeo Adios Pro Evo 1 footwear collab in tow. Near the Eiffel Tower, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, wearing Louis Vuitton and Thom Browne, respectively, shuffled into the Opening Ceremony’s VIP section while promoting their forthcoming film, Wicked. Just prior, Lady Gaga performed “Mon Truc En Plumes” on the banks of the Seine, in fanciful Dior Haute Couture, while French singer Aya Nakamura (also in Dior) sang a mash-up of her songs “Pookie” and “Djadja” on the Pont des Arts. Simultaneously, the best athletes in the world sailed down the river in boats, representing their countries in outfits meticulously crafted by international designers for the monumental, heavily watched occasion.

Alas, the 2024 Summer Olympics are underway, the ultimate cultural moment for fashion to take its largest stake yet in the globe’s most influential sporting event — right in its own world capital.

 

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LVMH, the largest luxury conglomerate, home to labels like Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chaumet and Tiffany & Co., is the premium partner for this year’s iteration, marking the first time that a high-fashion company has backed the elite sporting competition. The sponsorship, which reportedly cost $163 million USD, has previously belonged to less-glamorous megabrands like Visa, Procter & Gamble and General Electric. LVMH’s coup means its suite of deluxe, heavyweight labels will be showing up throughout the Games in all sorts of inventive ways, giving the most-watched sporting event a high-end makeover that feels particularly fitting for its host city.

Among LVMH’s touch points, winning athletes will be presented Chaumet-designed medals on trays crafted by Louis Vuitton, which feature the House’s signature Damier canvas and matte black leather interiors, nodding to the brand’s historic “Torches and Medals” trunks. Team France’s athletes are wearing Berluti's menswear, designed in collaboration with French fashion editor Carine Roitfeld, for official appearances; the country’s Judo team will sport Kenzo's kimono-inspired suits; attendees will sip on Moët’s bubbles, and Sephora’s signage across the Olympic Torch Relay was certainly no coincidence.

On Thursday evening, LVMH hosted the “Prelude to the Olympics,” an opening ceremony of its own, if you will, at the Fondation Louis Vuitton. There, Serena Williams, Zendaya, Jeremy Allen White, LeBron James, Mick Jagger and Snoop Dogg were among the many famous faces that took their starting positions on a racetrack-inspired green carpet in a legion of LVMH-backed looks. Tennis star Naomi Osaka wore a sheer blue Louis Vuitton blouse with a matching tufted bag; basketballer Angel Reese arrived with a classic LV scarf tied around her neck, and gymnast Aly Raisman carried one of Vuitton’s signature trunks. “Sports stars are the new superstars,” Anna Wintour, a co-host of the soirée, told The New York Times at the event. “It’s all about bringing people together to celebrate one cause, which is love,” Snoop, who carried the Olympic torch into Paris, added.

The 2024 Paris Olympics are set to become the most-watched edition of the Games since the 2016 Games, according to Business of Fashion. They will also be the first to occur since all pandemic restrictions have been lifted, and visitors are projected to spend approximately €2.6 billion EUR ($2.8 billion USD) while in town — so, naturally, businesses are latching on firmly. In particular, the market for fashion’s involvement in and around the games is quite saturated, but for those able to effectively capitalize on the event, the payout looks quite fantastic.

Outside of the LVMH circle, global designers are cashing in on the Olympics’ sky-high viewership by crafting athletes’ uniforms. Team Mongolia’s kit, which sisters Michel, Amazonka and Munkhjargal Choigaalaa of the couture label Michel & Amazonka crafted in just three months, catapulted across the internet for its beautiful embroideries of birds and mountains, meant to symbolize freedom and hard work, respectively, in the nation’s colors of blue, red and white. Lululemon created bespoke prints for Team Canada’s collection; Stella Jean spearheaded the design of Team Haiti’s uniforms, which include chambray shirts and full skirts decorated with Philippe Dodard’s artwork; Ralph Lauren built Team USA’s kit, comprising 14 pieces building on the designer’s signature preppy design codes; menswear label Concrete made Team Egypt’s wares, and British-African heritage brand Labrum joined adidas for Team Sierra Leone’s clothing, platforming the prosperous Cowrie Shell motif on the sportswear giant’s Three Stripes, and the list goes on.

Fashion has always existed at the Olympics, but its overwhelming presence at this summer’s edition feels all the more current when you consider the industry’s hearty lean into the sports domain over the last several months. Brands like LOEWE, Jacquemus and Palomo Spain have inked sportswear collaborations with the likes of On Running, Nike and Puma, respectively. Labels including Gucci and Louis Vuitton entered the tennis court, with the former outfitting Italian champion Jannik Sinner and the latter hiring Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to star in an outdoorsy campaign.

Meanwhile, football kits continued to soar in popularity during the EUROS and Copa América, and the WNBA merged as a prominent fashion frontier, with Caitlin Clark being dressed by Prada — the first for any draft prospect of the NBA or WNBA — and Angel Reese climbing the notoriously exclusive steps to this year's Met Gala. During June’s Paris Fashion Week, Vogue World, the namesake publication’s annual runway celebration, connected the dots between fashion and athletics over the last century with a melting pot of notables from both worlds.

One might argue that the connection between fashion and sports has never been stronger. Perhaps the rise of trendy run clubs, the fanfare surrounding the Challengers press tour or the mounting attention on the WNBA can be thanked, in part, for the industry’s recent veers toward athletics. (If one thing’s certain, fashion will corral around anywhere the zeitgeist treads.) But it’s likely that these brands have been eyeing the Olympic Rings from afar all along, finding alternative ways to align themselves with the sports sphere ahead of the Games' commencement. And now that the podiums are set, fashion labels are appearing tangentially, externally and alongside the Olympics in any way possible.

Youssouf Fofana — the Parisian fashion designer behind Maison Château Rouge and the philanthropic founder of United Youth International (UYI) — stepped up as Jordan Brand's creative director for the Summer Olympic Games. In his role, he revamped the 18th arrondissement’s Tati Barbes building to become District 23, a curated, community-oriented hub where Jordan Brand will host fashion design courses, present cultural exhibitions, facilitate shoot-around basketball competitions and more for the youth during the Games.

One of the largest athletic sponsors of the event, Nike established a partnership with Centre Pompidou, the French landmark that inspired the design of the Air Max 1 almost 40 years ago. In collaboration with the museum, the sportswear mammoth has taken over the building’s entire facade with “Art of Victory” imagery spotlighting its athletic designs across track, basketball, football and more.

Kim Kardashian's SKIMS signed on as the official Team USA undergarments, pajamas and loungewear sponsor and has subsequently become the subject of several TikTok vlogs from athletes currently in the Village. Oakley also dressed the American squad in its elevated eyewear, as the team’s “Official Offshore Outfitter.” In a less direct manner, Kith dipped into the archives to produce a well-rounded collection for Team USA fans, with a campaign starring Kevin Durant.

King of surrealist marketing Simon Porte Jacquemus crafted a viral string of campy Olympics-inspired clips, in which models swim in kiddy pools on grass fields and giant iterations of its hero accessories line running tracks. Elsewhere, OMEGA debuted a $12,000 USD, bronze gold timepiece inspired by Olympic medals; J. Crew designed an unofficial swimwear line with USA Swimming; Athleta dropped an “Anthem” collection for spirited spectators, and Tracksmith's “Federation” line nods to athletes’ outfits throughout the entire process of being at the Olympics — from Opening Ceremony blazers to competitive, performance-oriented singlets. Even casual streetwear brands, like Anti Social Social Club, have put their spin on the Games, with capsules inspired by its motifs. While none of the aforementioned drops have an official connection to the Olympics, their association with the Games alone is enough to perk consumers’ ears.

 

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In divisive times, the Olympics become a rare stage on which the world’s gaze is momentarily united. It’s a marketer's dream, and fashion brands, in particular, are smartly placing themselves in the center of the action, whether that be on the backs of the globe’s most talented athletes or on their own shelves in the spirit of cheering them on.

There’s a unique communal sensation — the idea that you, as a spectator, can feel connected to something much larger than yourself, even if only for a brief period — that makes the Games so affecting. While fans across the world watched Olympic athletes parade under Pont Alexandre III, the same destination where John Galliano’s Artisanal 2024 show for Maison Margiela left the fashion world in an emotional trance earlier this year, the link between the two universes became clear: both fashion and sports evoke the kind of strong emotions that fuel culture, form identities and, most importantly, provide belonging. The 2024 Paris Olympics mark the pinnacle of their collision, and it’s safe to say the forthcoming Games will be the most fashionable ones yet.

 

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How Fashion Is Going for Gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics

How Fashion Is Going for Gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics

How Fashion Is Going for Gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics

How Fashion Is Going for Gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics

How Fashion Is Going for Gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics