This Is What Goes Into Making Team USA’s Gymnastics Uniforms

There’s one sport that, for many of us, makes the summer Olympics worth watching — and that’s gymnastics.

Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera will be hitting the city of lights at the end of July to represent the U.S. at the Paris 2024 Games. In many ways, they’ll be sparkling just as bright, thanks to their dazzling new leotards (some are covered in thousands of Swarovski crystals), designed specifically for the Paris Games in partnership with GK Elite Sportswear.

Headquartered in the small town of Reading, Pennsylvania, the company began supplying official athlete uniforms ahead of Tokyo 2020, but it’s been a longstanding partner of USA Gymnastics, outfitting its athletes representing the USA in international competitions for many years. A lot goes into designing and producing uniforms for any sport — while aesthetic is obviously a huge priority, so is performance.

“Our company was founded on putting the athletes first, so they’re always at the forefront of our minds when designing,” says Jeanne Diaz, design director at GK Elite Sportswear. “Designing with function in mind comes second nature to us, which is really unique in the industry, [being] so performance-led.”

“This is the moment that every gymnast hopes and dreams for,” adds Erica Schnebel, director of marketing for GK Elite Sportswear. “We worked to make this obviously special to the athletes who have made it [to the Olympics], but also for us to push the envelope a little and introduce new things — using this world stage, it’s another time to really flex our design muscles, and show the world that we’re innovating.”

And innovate they did. The team at GK began thinking through what the gymnastics leotards should look like two years before the Games. They started with an athlete survey (given in 2022) that focused on their preferences — things like high necks vs. low necks, types of sleeves, types of finishes and more. They then got to work on developing designs that marry these style preferences with the gymnasts’ performance needs. They gathered inspiration from past events, runway fashion, architecture, art and more. Then began the sketches.

For this year’s Olympics, GK also wanted to fuse two motifs — that of Team USA and that of Paris in all its grandeur — which presented the biggest challenge overall.

“We needed to design something that was distinctly Team USA [Gymnastics], while also with a nod to the host city,” says Diaz. “Really having it really be fashion-forward, as Paris is the fashion capital of the world, and at the same time, unmistakably Team USA.”

Focusing on three different “themes,” the design team worked on the concepts and mood boards that fit into these buckets: “American Woman,” which takes its cues from star-spangled, powerful Americana concepts; “Opulent Femininity,” which has a lot of Art Deco inspiration and 1920s glamor; and “Chic, Shimmer, and Shine,” which, as you might imagine, incorporates a lot of sparkle.

GK worked with performance fabrics alongside “special” touches, like red satin, pearl adornments and no less than 450,000 authentic Swarovski crystals to outfit the entire five-person team (plus four potential alternates, so nine in total). “These are the most Swarovski crystals that we’ve used in the Olympics,” confirms Schnebel.

The designs were put into production in March 2024 and are now being revealed to the public for the first time. There are nine new leotard designs (eight for women, one for men), which Team USA will cycle through for the various events in which they compete. (GK also produces and sells replicas for those who may want to dress as their favorite Olympian at their next practice.)

“We do definitely try to keep the olympic leotards as unique to the Olympic athletes as we can, because it is an earned privilege to wear those leotards,” says Diaz. “It’s about honoring the athletes and showing how really extra special this all is.”

Keep scrolling for more images and details of the official Paris 2024 USA Gymnastics leotards.

Created specifically for the Women’s Team Final event, this leotard is described as “a tribute to American triumph” and is meant to evoke the moment when a winning athlete is draped with the American flag. It features 9,929 crystals and pays homage to the 1996 Women’s National Team — the first to win gold at the Olympics.

This corseted design is inspired by high fashion and superhero motifs; its royal- and navy-blue ombre, accented by 10,000 crystals, is meant to evoke the night sky. Per GK, it’s meant to “celebrate the extraordinary, almost superhuman achievements of our nation’s finest gymnasts.”

With a mesh upper body featuring a constellation of stars, this leotard is adorned with 6,359 crystals in six different colors so as to “sparkle under the spotlight.” Athletes requested the velvet detailing along the neck and waistline, which adds a touch of sophistication.

Inspired by haute couture runway gowns, this corseted leotard features 3,494 crystals and 9,070 white pearls arranged in a cage-like criss-cross pattern. In a nod to the host country, the jacquard mesh on the upper body mimics French lace.

This Art Nouveau-inspired leotard features a navy-to-white gradient designed to guide the eye upwards towards the face, as well as 5,297 crystals that create a sweetheart design and define the waist.

Also inspired by French fashion and Art Nouveau, this leotard features a red and navy body with over 5,000 crystals, including a corset design with a zigzag trim.

All-red leotards have been important to USA Gymnastics since 2004. As a nod to the City of Lights, this one is meant to evoke the refraction of light coming off buildings and streets in Paris — accomplished via 3,600 artfully placed crystals and stretch satin.

Adorned with 3,423 crystals, this leotard is also meant to dazzle like the City of Lights. The design is inspired by the Eiffel Tower shimmering in the night sky, and also nods to Fourth of July fireworks.

Designed specifically for the Men’s Team Final, this look includes a shirt with a bald eagle wing motif intertwined with the American flag.

Never miss the latest fashion industry news. Sign up for the Fashionista daily newsletter.