Paris’ newest designer runway might be on its gymnastic tumbling flooring on the Olympic Video games later this month. Throughout this unofficial trend week, its fashions would be the U.S. gymnastics workforce, who will tuck, roll, and flip in eight bespoke leotards adorned with 47,000 Swarovski crystals. The uniforms aren’t on the market, however would retail for about $3,000 every.
“I think about how special the moments are, especially the Olympic Games, with it only being once every four years, and how they’re going to feel,” mentioned Annie Heffernon, vp of the ladies’s program at USA Gymnastics, instructed the Washington Publish. “Regardless of their performance, I want them to feel amazing and beautiful when they go out and represent the U.S. in a leotard that they can be proud of.”
Designed and produced by Studying, Pennsylvania-based attire firm GK Elite, the leotards have as much as 10,000 crystals utilized in intricate patterns to customized material. The purple, white, and blue coloration scheme is an apparent nod to the rivals’ nationality, however the ornate sample of the crystals—in addition to the unmistakable glow emanating from them—is a nod to Paris’ nickname of the Metropolis of Lights. The brilliant designs comply with a conference of Olympic gymnasts donning themselves with ornamented uniforms, a pattern that has elevated in depth since 2008 when gold medalist Nastia Liukin’s leotard had solely 184 crystals on it.
The uniforms could also be visually tough to overlook, nevertheless it’s the athletes who’ve garnered spectators’ consideration. A peak of 8.2 million viewers watched gymnast Simone Biles safe her spot within the U.S. Olympic gymnastics workforce final month, among the many highest scores of this 12 months’s U.S. trials. With seven Olympic medals, Biles has helped catapult herself and gymnastics into American widespread tradition.
All that glitters is gold
The U.S. gymnasts have expressed pleasure about their leotards, however the Olympic uniforms, embellished with jewels and patterns, are additionally stitched in with controversy; some ladies’s outfits have drawn scrutiny for being too revealing on the expense of an athlete’s consolation and efficiency. U.S. nationwide champion distance runner Lauren Fleshman mentioned the ladies’s observe uniforms—with excessive bikini strains that deviated from the shorts of the lads’s equipment—was a mirrored image of sports activities’ “betrayal of women’s bodies.”
“If this outfit was truly beneficial to physical performance, men would wear it,” she mentioned on Instagram.
USA Gymnastics, the nationwide governing physique of the game, instructed Fortune athletes have the choice, per worldwide rules, to put on lengthy leggings as a part of their equipment. As an alternative, gymnasts want to put on the standard leotard.
“We are charged to create this beautiful intersection of fashion and sport and the Team USA leotard represents that at its pinnacle,” GK Elite CEO Matt Cowan instructed the Los Angeles Instances. “But ultimately they’re there to perform. They’re there to win gold medals.”
Certainly, past dazzling viewers, the flowery leotards have instilled confidence in athletes. Throughout the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, U.S. gymnasts referred to as one leotard “our lucky leo” as a result of every athlete who wore the design earned a medal.
Because the garment has grown in reputation amongst rivals, gymnasts have tailor-made the colours and patterns of the clothes to their very own tastes and draw inspiration from the wardrobe of superstars like Beyoncé. In an business the place athletes typically make extra in endorsements and model offers than they do in winnings (Biles’ $7.1 million 2023 earnings consists of a $100,000 wage plus $7 million in endorsements), constructing a recognizable model is a big a part of being an expert athlete.
“What Simone has with us is our equivalent of a Jordan brand,” Cowan mentioned. “Simone has her signature collection that is inspired by her performances, her likes, her aesthetic, her innovation. She truly can bring a product that’s catered and representative of her to the community.”
