With less than 30 days to go until the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, preparations in Paris are in the final stages of the sprint. At the same time, in the past few months, the sponsors of the various sports delegations have also released their clothing and equipment for the Olympic Games.
Generally speaking, the delegation will prepare a series of costumes for the opening and closing ceremonies, competitions, award ceremonies, Olympic Village and other occasions, some will be packaged to a sponsor, and some will be distributed to different brands, such as the Chinese sports delegation, the opening and closing ceremonies are in charge of JOEONE, the medal clothes are from ANTA, and each event also has its own sponsor to provide competition equipment for the athletes.
Judging from the Olympic equipment that has been released so far, "stability" or "continuation of tradition" is still the mainstream, especially the combinations that have been cooperating for many years usually do not blindly seek change, and the few surprises are born in the new combinations.
About: The 33rd Summer Olympic Games will be held in Paris from July 26 to August 11. The opening ceremony begins on July 26 at 7:30 p.m. local time in Paris (July 27 at 1:30 a.m. Beijing time).
The 17th Summer Paralympic Games will then be held from 28 August to 8 September.
Chinese Sports Delegation: There is no "tomato scrambled eggs", there are Chinese elements
On June 25, ANTA unveiled the award-winning equipment of the Chinese sports delegation for the 2024 Paris Olympics in Beijing, and this time the creative consultant was Zhang Yimou. At first glance, it is still a familiar style, with white as the main tone and red details, and a Chinese-style stand collar on the basis of the classic sportswear fit, but the buckle that was so well received at the previous Tokyo Olympics has been removed.
However, new elements have been added to echo the theme of this year's Year of the Dragon, with dragon scales and dragon whiskers on the chest, arms and cuffs of the dress, and a dragon head on the zipper pull. In addition, since 2012, when ANTA first created an Olympic medal uniform for the Chinese sports delegation, it put forward the concept of "champion dragon suit", and the blessing of the dragon element has also transformed the concept of dragon costume from abstract to concrete.
In addition, environmental protection is emphasized in all aspects of production, which is the first set of carbon neutral award-winning equipment in China.
On June 28, JOEONE released the dress "Dream Chasing" created for the Chinese sports delegation in Chengdu. JOEONE has been a supplier of dresses for the Chinese sports delegation since 2018 with a contract of 6 years.
Like ANTA's award dress, the dress also continued to abandon the "tomato scrambled egg" color scheme, focusing on red and white, and the style combined elements of traditional Chinese clothing, women's skirts were modified from cheongsam and Song Dynasty costumes, and men's shirts were designed with small stand-up collar buckles. The pattern is hidden in the fabric in the same tone, the jacket uses the traditional racerman, and the women's skirt adds a bamboo pattern.
For example, FILA FUSION for skateboarding, Kaile Stone for rock climbing, adidas for volleyball, Speedo for swimming, Li-Ning for table tennis, ANTA for gymnastics and weightlifting, and NIKE for track and field and basketball.
The French Sports Delegation: a new host
As the host, the French delegation naturally paid more attention to this appearance, and it happened to change sponsors, showing a new atmosphere in all aspects. The French team's previous sponsor was Lacoste, but since 2020 it has been replaced by Le Coq Sportif, and the opening and closing ceremonies have been handed over to LVMH's Berluti alone.
Berluti's gown is an elegant tuxedo in a midnight blue hue with a shawl collar with a gradient of color that echoes the French flag and the brand's signature Patina dyeing technique.
For men, wear a long-sleeved suit with a white shirt and Shadow sneakers; Women's tops are sleeveless, bottoms can be worn with trousers or wrap skirts, and shoes are available in Shadow sneakers and Lorenzo leather loafers. The negative comments about this group are mainly focused on the old-school differences between men's and women's clothing, with references to the designs of the United States, Canada and Great Britain below, all of which are more neutral.
The rest of the French team's equipment - including game uniforms (except for some sports such as football), medal uniforms, warm-up clothes, etc., was created by Le Coq Sportif, and the brand invited Pigalle founder Stéphane Ashpool to be responsible for the design of the Olympic equipment, and the final result was a set of trendy collections, based on white, with the gradient of the French flag as the main element, simple and high-end, and it gained quite a good reputation in the early stage.
Blockbusters are also trendy
But Le Coq Sportif has its own troubles. The "French Rooster", who was hoping to get back on the run through the Olympics, was a little embarrassed before the Olympics began. At the beginning of June, Le Coq Sportif's parent company, Airesis, was suspended from trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange due to the delay in the release of its earnings report, and on June 28, Airesis finally released its 2023 earnings report, with annual revenue falling 14% to 121 million euros.
It is reported that due to delays in payment to suppliers, there have also been delays in the delivery of branded Olympic equipment. Whether the Olympics will be able to help the "French Rooster" be reborn is still unknown.
U.S. Delegation: It's still American
Since 2008, Team USA's Olympic opening and closing ceremonies have been created by Ralph Lauren. On June 18, Ralph Lauren unveiled the design for the Paris Olympics, and as usual, the brand created a gown for the opening and closing ceremonies.
The opening dress was preppy with a single-breasted wool jacket of the classic cut paired with a striped shirt and jeans. The closing gown was sporty, more specifically motorcyclist-style, with a white denim cycling jacket paired with a polo shirt. Both looks are familiar American styles.
At the same time, Ralph Lauren has prepared a series of casual pieces for the U.S. team to wear in the Olympic Village, which are mainly retro-American styles, and some of these items are commercially available.
Canadian delegation: lululemon's inaugural Summer Olympics
Following the critically acclaimed debut at the Beijing Winter Olympics, lululemon's partnership with the Canadian delegation continues, marking the brand's first appearance as a partner of the Canadian delegation at the Summer Olympics.
The lululemon Canada team prepared the opening and closing ceremonial dresses, medal dresses, and more casual outfits. The whole collection is based on the red and white color of the Canadian flag, which is in the same vein as the design of the Winter Olympics, but this time the print will be more presence.
For example, the red opening costume was incorporated with prints that celebrate Canada's art, architecture and natural diversity; The dark closing costume was printed by artist Mason Mashon and was inspired by nature's luminous landscapes such as the Northern Lights.
Delegation of the United Kingdom: Decent and decent
Ben Sherman presented the British delegation's opening and closing dresses, the brand's third consecutive Olympic tour with the British team, following the Tokyo and Beijing Winter Olympics, and the brand's first sponsorship of the British team was at Athens 2004 – which also marks its 20th anniversary this year.
Somewhat similar to the Canadian team's thinking, the opening dress was a bomber jacket, and the closing dress was a short-sleeved shirt set. Roses from England, thistles from Scotland, daffodils from Wales and clover from Northern Ireland are used.
What's special this time is that Ben Sherman and Happy Socks have teamed up to create 4 specially patterned socks for the athletes.
Comparatively speaking, adidas' sports gear and medal uniforms for the British team may be more in line with most people's aesthetics. They are presented in a simple, solid colour scheme featuring the British red, white or blue, with the main emblem being the "GREAT BRITAIN" lettering on the chest, inspired by the equipment of British athletes in 1924.
Swedish delegation: It's still a collaboration with Uniqlo
The Swedish delegation was also sponsored by Uniqlo, which had previously collaborated at the Tokyo Olympics and the Beijing Winter Olympics. UNIQLO has created clothing and equipment for many occasions such as travel, opening and closing ceremonies, competitions, warm-ups, interviews and other occasions for the Swedish team, and the whole series takes a simple and sporty style, with the blue and yellow tones of the Swedish flag in the classic navy blue tone, and there are not many highlights in the design, and the main focus is to make the athletes comfortable to wear.
The collection is powered by UNIQLO's fabric technologies, including DRY-EX, Ultra Stretch, AIRism, UV protection, and more. The collection also emphasises eco-friendliness, with 98% of its pieces made from recycled materials, compared to 33% in Tokyo and 50% in Beijing. And this time, it uses used clothes recycled from UNIQLO stores, which is the first time that UNIQLO has used used used clothes brought to stores by consumers to make new fabrics.