Team USA’s uniforms for the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris were released Tuesday, redesigned by iconic American fashion designer Ralph Lauren.
The opening ceremony uniforms attempt to show a casual look, with jeans, a navy blue and white striped Oxford button-up shirt, an optional tie and a navy three-button blazer. It reflects Lauren’s ‘classic’ American design aesthetic, but one thing it doesn’t reflect is the concept of summer.
The blazers also feature Lauren’s Polo logo. Since 1936, polo has not been practiced at the Olympic Games.
The uniforms for the closing ceremonies are definitely more casual. Lauren has used white denim throughout, modeling the jacket after a classic racing jacket. Motorsport has never been contested at the Olympic Games.
Lauren had been designing Team USA uniforms since 2008, and from then on, Olympics fashion became less like “we play sports in the summer” and more like “hello and welcome to Ralph Lauren’s factory store, want to try this scent?” “
This is what the 2004 Summer Olympics uniforms looked like during the opening ceremony. They had shorts and sweatpants, T-shirts, hats and short-sleeved button-down jackets. It looked like something you could wear in the summer.
This is what they looked like in 2008, Lauren’s first year as Team USA designer. The vibe is definitely not summery, with long white trousers, a white hat, a white button-down Oxford shirt, Polo’s signature navy blazer and a ascot.
Nothing screams summer quite like wearing an ascot and a blazer to the boardwalk, right?
The next Summer Olympics in 2028 will take place in Los Angeles and will mark Lauren’s 20th year as an Olympic designer. Maybe by then he’ll be prepared to design an Olympic outfit that doesn’t include ascots, ties or blazers.
