Fashion Triumphs and Missed Opportunities at the Paris Olympics

The summer Olympics in Paris are a pivotal moment for sportswear brands of every stripe, and this year proved to be the biggest. Average viewership for the first ten days of the Olympics reached 33 million, up 80 percent from the 2021 Tokyo games, according to data from NBC Sports.

It was a boon for sports sponsors, whose bets paid off as their leading ambassadors racked up medals. Nike ambassador Simone Biles took home three gold and one silver medal, becoming the most decorated gymnast in Olympics history. The US women’s gymnastics team all wore Nike’s Air Max DN sneakers on the winners’ podium while taking home the gold medal for their knockout performance.

Meanwhile, tennis-inspired Lacoste basked in the glory as its biggest celebrity ambassador, Novak Djokovic, snagged a coveted gold medal in tennis. Fila had its own moment when a photo of South Korean shooter, Kim Yeji, wearing a jacket with a visible Fila logo, became a meme.

With the Olympics taking place in the world capital of luxury fashion, a few non-sports brands managed to be omnipresent as well. Official timekeeper Omega was especially visible at speed challenges like swimming and track and field, having placed its logo on touchpads and clocks fashioned in a signature red hue.

LVMH, one of the Olympics’ biggest local sponsors, was perhaps the noisiest. In addition to supplying Louis Vuitton medal trays for every competition, the brand’s monogrammed trunks were featured in a dance number on the Seine at the opening ceremony, where it also dressed celebrity guests including Cynthia Erivo and French first lady Brigitte Macron. LVMH’s Berluti produced the French team’s ceremony look, while Dior costumed most of the musical guests: Celine Dion’s sequined silk georgette gown and Lady Gaga’s feathered showgirl gown helped Dior capture 34 percent share of brand mentions on social media in the first 10 days of the games, according to analytics firm Brandwatch.

A cadre of young French designers managed to nab a piece of the spotlight during the ceremony. Modern couturier Charles de Vilmorin dressed dancers hoisted on poles in his signature abstract prints. Jeanne Friot, who has a penchant for metallic elements, sent a cavalier down the Seine in Joan of Arc-inspired silver leather armour. Fellow Parisian upstarts Ouest Paris, Weinsanto, Maitrepierre and Germanier outfitted drag queens and dancers for a catwalk and dance battle fusion.

Offstage, Ariana Grande captured fashion lovers’ attention in an ethereal box pleat drop waist dress in baby pink from Thom Browne, a clever nod to her role as Glinda the Good Witch in “Wicked.” That look generated $3.1 million in media impact value — a measure of buzz — according to data firm Launchmetrics. Grande’s co-star Cynthia Erivo’s coordinating and equally eye-catching green look from Louis Vuitton generated $2.1 million in value.

VIP Dressing’s Missed Opportunity

After the opening ceremony, however, many opportunities for fashion to nudge in on the huge cultural moment fell flat, or were left unattempted.

Coverage of VIP attendees and their looks was limited—a surprising turn for what many had expected to be fashion’s biggest Olympics.

In recent years, social media has created new opportunities for brands to latch onto the sports world and its moments filled with inspiring achievement. In addition to the longstanding practice of sponsoring athletes’ actual gear, non-sports brands can now provide ensembles for athletes to be photographed in before and after events. Social coverage of VIP dressing at recent events like Wimbledon felt like a preamble to a big push for attendees of the Olympics, but ultimately it didn’t take hold.

That might partly be blamed on LVMH’s sponsorship deal: While the agreement wouldn’t have blocked fashion brands from sending ambassadors to watch the games, luxury brands may have been wary of provoking the industry’s biggest player by trying to steal focus.

There’s also the question of Europe’s long August holidays, a tradition that is particularly immutable for luxury brands ahead of September’s fashion month crunch. Image makers including VIP and press offices, ateliers, stylists, agents, and photographers mostly took off for the summer in spite of the games.

That led fewer stars to attend, and most of those who did come appeared to have styled themselves in civilian clothes calibrated for enjoyment rather than making a splash. Even LVMH, which paid reportedly €150 million for its status as a “premium” partner to the games, didn’t activate many of its ambassadors to attend the games. A notable exception was swimmer Leon Marchand, who wore a damier-motif denim ensemble by Pharrell Williams to watch the men’s basketball quarter-finals.

Many of the world’s biggest stars had competing events: Taylor Swift is on the European leg of her record-breaking Eras Tour; Blake Lively — a polarising but engagement-driving red carpet fixture at the moment — is promoting her new film “It Ends With Us”. Another notable absence was Rihanna, who didn’t attend despite announcing last month that Fenty Beauty was an official partner of the games.

Ralph Lauren’s Team USA Success

Ralph Lauren was an outlier, having made and marketed Team USA’s opening ceremony outfits. Most US stars attending the games opted for items from the capsule: Snoop Dogg, Martha Stewart, Spike Lee, Kendall Jenner, Nick Jonas and Jessica Chastain, all wore the collection as they cheered from the stands.

One standout moment for the brand was influencer Emma Chamberlain wearing an archival Ralph Lauren white jacket with black stripes on the sleeves, generating $2.5 million in media impact value for the brand, according to Launchmetrics.

But even Ralph Lauren took a light touch to marketing its fashion moments on social media. The brand mostly posted about events at its restaurant in Paris, where influencers like Vinnie Hacker, Tinx and Kelsey Merritt hobnobbed with athletes and major celebrities.

It’s unclear whether it was the brand or media outlets like NBC who supplied stars’ Team USA looks. None of the stars wearing Ralph Lauren’s garb at the Olympics were sponsored by the brand, according to a person familiar with the matter.

No brand managed to nudge in on Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart’s bombastic arrival at the equestrian events at Versailles wearing dashingly coordinated black tail coats, styled with crisp white dress shirts and slacks tucked into riding boots. Considering that equestrianism is a key reference for myriad designers, that one felt like a missed opportunity.

The closing ceremony at Stade de France, which featured acrobatic performances and Tom Cruise descending from the top of the stadium onto a motorcycle, was less of a fashion spectacle than the opening ceremony. One of the more exciting moments during the three-hour showcase came from Paris designer Kevin Germanier, who created a show-stopping, gold-encrusted, alien-esque bodysuit worn by a masked performer who emerged from the sky for the raising of the rings. French singer Yseult turned out a gorgeous rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” decked in a black silk faille Dior suit by Maria Grazia Chiuri and translucent hat by Stephen Jones. But Ralph Lauren won until the very end as Billie Eilish performed on a Santa Monica beach in Los Angeles wearing an oversized Ralph Lauren polo.

Lessons Learned

Even if the Olympics provided fewer buzzy fashion moments than hoped, the Paris games reaffirmed the event as culture’s biggest and brightest monocultural spotlight. Brands will be hungry to do better next time, when the Olympics take place in Los Angeles in 2028.

Savannah Engel, the founder of public relations firm Savi—which represents indie brands like womenswear label PatBo, CFDA award nominee Tanner Fletcher and eyewear maker Krewe —said her firm may set up a showroom in Los Angeles in 2028 to increase visibility of its brands among celebrities attending the Olympics, ultimately treating it like an awards season where star-studded red carpets abound.

“There’s going to be a lot more opportunities for celebrity-focused dressing,” Engel said.