Team USA’s uniforms for the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris were released on Tuesday, designed once again by iconic American fashion designer Ralph Lauren.
The opening ceremony uniforms attempt to display a casual look, involving jeans, a navy and white striped Oxford button-down shirt, an optional tie and a navy blue three-button blazer. It reflects Lauren’s “classic” American design aesthetic, but one thing it does not reflect is the concept of summer.
The blazers also feature Lauren’s Polo logo. The sport of polo has not been contested at the Olympics since 1936.
The closing ceremony uniforms are definitely more casual. Lauren has used white denim throughout, modeling the jacket after a classic racing jacket. The sport of auto racing has never been contested at the Olympics.
Lauren has designed Team USA’s uniforms since 2008, and from that point Olympics fashion has looked less like “we’re playing sports in the summer” and more like “hello and welcome to the Ralph Lauren factory store, would you like to try this cologne?”
Here’s what the 2004 Summer Olympics uniforms looked like for the opening ceremony. They featured shorts and joggers, T-shirts, hats and short-sleeved button-up jackets. It looked like something you might actually wear in the summer.
Here’s what they looked like in 2008, Lauren’s first year as Team USA designer. The vibe is decidedly un-summer, with long white slacks, a white hat, a white button-down oxford shirt, Polo’s signature navy blue blazer and an ascot.
Nothing screams summer like wearing an ascot and a blazer to the boardwalk, right?
The next Summer Olympics in 2028 will take place in Los Angeles, and it will mark Lauren’s 20th year as Olympics designer. Maybe by then he’ll be willing to design an Olympics outfit that doesn’t feature things like ascots, ties and blazers.
