This Friday, the Olympic Opening Ceremony will transform into a global runway of cultures, as leading designer brands look to showcase their style on the world’s biggest sporting stage. Sure, they call it the City of Light. But Paris is also the , one of most influential fashion capitals of the world for decades, no, centuries (remember Louis XIV?) Fashion designers worldwide are preparing their national team uniforms for their moment in the spotlight.
In high-end Olympic fashion, especially for the opening ceremonies, 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, figures she has exactly two seconds, on opening ceremony night, to make an impression on the world - an impression that may reverberate for years.
“For these athletes, it’s a victory just to be here,” says Jean, whose vivid, colourful design is intended to highlight the cultural vitality of the Caribbean nation. On the other end of the size (and budget) spectrum is Ralph Lauren, who will outfit hundreds of athletes of the US team at opening and closing ceremonies, for the ninth time. , another top designer, has been designing Italy’s uniforms since 2012.
Countless other designers have gotten involved - including, this year, more young, “indie” labels eager to make a splash. It’s also a chance to emphasise qualities such as sustainability in fashion and adaptability, too, as in designs for .