By: Mike DeStefano and YJ Lee
The 2024 Paris Olympics is finally upon us. First and foremost, the big sports games are about the athletes competing in their respective sports, but like so many other facets of life, fashion has become a crucial element of the international affair.
This year, heavy-hitter brands from the likes of Ralph Lauren and Emporio Armani, to sportswear giants Nike, Puma, Adidas, Asics, and Lululemon have provided their design expertise for various national team uniforms. But rather than just looking at the best official fits from this year’s Paris Olympics, we decided to take a look back on our favorite Summer Olympics uniforms of all time. Some items in this list are indeed part of this year’s games, and others date all the way back to 1992.
For this list, we did focus strictly on uniforms worn by countries in the opening ceremony or during competition. As much as we love Ato Boldon’s Oakley Over the Tops from the Sydney games in 2000, or Michael Johnson’s metallic gold track spikes from 1996, those don’t qualify here.
See our picks below.
10.Switzerland Opening Ceremony (2024)
Year: Paris 2024
Designed By: On Running x Ochsner Sport
Switzerland’s On stepped up to design its home country’s Olympics and Paralympics gear this year, in collaboration with Zurich-based retailer Ochsner Sport. The 24-piece collection will be donned during both the Opening Ceremony and Closing Parade. The sleek color gradients symbolize the coming together of Switzerland’s 26 cantons by blending the different colors of their coat of arms. A beautiful call for unity, while embracing diversity and comfort. Some of these limited-edition pieces are available to purchase on On now. —YJ Lee
9.Liberia (2021)
Year: Tokyo 2021
Designed By: Telfar
New York designer Telfar Clemens and his business partner Babak Radboy went all-out on their collaborative unisex collection for the Liberian Olympics team in 2020. The West African country’s red, white, and blue colors show up in unitards as well as Telfar’s signature asymmetrical one-shoulder tank tops, emboldened with a lone star which also takes from Liberia’s flag. The crème de la crème of their collection is Telfar’s take on the African lappa, a skirt or dress with a wraparound waist shawl. Add to that the NY brand’s recognizable T-branding at the chest, and these pieces become some of our most coveted Olympics gear to date. —YJ Lee
8.USA Skateboarding (2021)
Year: Tokyo 2021
Designed By: Parra x Nike
The 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo were a monumental moment for skateboarding. It marked the first time that the sport would be featured. Unfortunately, Covid-19 made us wait one extra year as the global pandemic delayed the games until 2021, but it was still just as big of a deal to see skate legends like Nyjah Juston participating on the global stage. Nike made sure to honor the occasion accordingly by tapping longtime collaborator, Dutch artist Piet Parra, to design Team USA’s uniforms. Parra’s signature color palette and wavy artwork was featured across polos, v-neck jerseys, tank tops, tracksuits, socks, and more. That year, Parra also designed the gear for Brazil, France, and Japan. All of them are fantastic and incorporate abstract easter eggs that nod to each respective country—the silhouette of Mt. Fuji is woven into Team Japan’s artwork, while the Eiffel Tower can be spotted on the French shirts. For the sake of picking one, we’ll ride with the home country for this one. —Mike DeStefano
7.France Competition Uniforms (2024)
Year: Paris 2024
Designed By: Stephane Ashpool x Le Coq Sportif
As cool as some Olympics uniforms are to look at, it isn’t often that we see a piece that we wish was hanging in our closet. The leather jacket, designed by Pigalle founder Stephane Ashpool in collaboration with Le Coq Sportif for French Olympians in the 2024 games, is exactly that. It’s fitting that the 2024 host country just so happens to be one of the freshest. The jacket is complete with giant Olympics rings and “FRANCE” block lettering across the back, with France’s blue/white/red tricolors. Ashpool’s riff on the French flag continues in the tops treated in the same tricolor gradients, and wavy stripes on track pants. This is something Ashpool has been doing with Pigalle for years—elevating classic basketball apparel into stylish everyday wardrobe staples. The final result of Team France’s outfits proves that Ashpool was the perfect hometown designer for the job. —Mike DeStefano
6.Japan Opening Ceremony (2000)
Year: Sydney 2000
Designed By: Kazuko Tagawa
These standout rainbow capes were made by an anonymous team of designers under Tokyo’s Nippon Uniform Center, supervised by Kazuko Tagawa. They were top secret until the day of the Opening Ceremony, shocking even the Japanese Olympic Committee themselves. It was the first time Japan had ever seen Olympics uniforms with bright multi colors. At the time of their reveal, some netizens criticized them as being “the worst uniform” for being too flashy. Looking at them now, we have to agree that the optimistic rainbow was the perfect choice to celebrate “the Aussie’s carefree nature and the city’s deep blue sky”—Tagawa’s words. —YJ Lee
5.USA Medal Stand (1996)
Year: Atlanta 1996
Designed By: Champion
All of the merch created for the 1996 games in Atlanta is incredible to this day. You could still scour eBay for a lot of it. Our favorite pieces of ‘96 Olympics gear are the jackets worn by Team USA athletes on the podium. Designed by Champion, the windbreakers featured a navy blue-to-white gradient pattern across the body, red and blue stars scattered across the sleeves and shoulders, and a giant torch flame referencing the official logo of the ‘96 games on the chest. Athletes paired them with plain blue pants that allowed the bold design to pop even more. As good as these are, they still aren’t the best jackets worn by the USA on the medal stand in Olympics history. More on those in a bit. —Mike DeStefano
4.Mongolia Opening Ceremony (2024)
Year: Paris 2024
Designed By: Michel & Amazonka
You may not have heard of the designer sisters behind Michel & Amazonka, but you’ve probably seen the Mongolian team uniforms they made for this year’s Olympics, which went viral on social media. Couturiers by trade, Michel & Amazonka incorporated their country’s traditional gear such as buryat hats and gutal boots into beautifully constructed modern sportswear, namely paneled caftans embroidered with gold thread showcasing the country’s amazing landscapes. —YJ Lee
3.USA Medal Stand (1992)
Year: Barcelona 1992
Designed By: Reebok
There aren’t many occasions where wearing a jacket covered with the American flag is particularly stylish. Standing on the podium accepting a gold medal for your country is an obvious exception to the rule.
These jackets by Reebok are most famously tied to the Dream Team, who all donned them on the podium during the medal ceremony. The bold design, complete with giant “USA” lettering slanted across the chest is quintessentially ‘90s. Michael Jordan, a Nike athlete, draping an American flag over his shoulder to cover up the Reebok Vector logo on the podium is an interesting wrinkle in their lore. To this day, the 1992 Dream Team is one of the most celebrated squads in basketball history. Part of that story are these amazing warm-ups. —Mike DeStefano
2.Lithuania Men's Basketball (1992)
Year: Barcelona 1992
Designed By: Greg Spiers
Is this the most important tie-dye T-shirt ever? Chances are, you’ve seen this one plenty of times before. Vintage versions from the ‘90s are still collector’s items. Many people mistakenly assume these Skullman T-shirts worn by the Lithuania men’s basketball team in 1992 were gifts directly from the Grateful Dead (a mistake we’ve also made. How could you not?). The band did donate $5,000 to help fund Lithuania’s participation at the Olympic qualifiers (it was their first time competing as an independent country after breaking away from the Soviet Union), but the shirts were actually courtesy of Mike Fitzgerald and Martin Leffer, who each owned companies that sold licensed Grateful Dead merch. The duo was inspired to create the gear after hearing about the band’s charitable donation. Greg Spiers is the artist responsible for creating the dunking skeleton that still acts as a symbol of Lithuania basketball over 30 years later.
As good as the T-shirts are, don’t forget about the rainbow tie-dyed shorts to match. Seeing the whole squad wear the psychedelic ensembles on the medal podium is something to behold. It’s even funnier that, as the story goes, the team loved the tie-dyed pieces so much that they opted to wear them instead of their Adidas-issued tracksuits to accept their medals. To this day, the getup is so different from everything else we’ve seen Olympians wear, which is why it is still so celebrated decades later. The Lithuanian men’s basketball team may have taken home the bronze medal at the 1992 summer games in Barcelona, but their postgame attire was worthy of the gold. —Mike DeStefano
1.Lithuania Opening Ceremony (1992)
Year: 1992
Designed By: Issey Miyake
Nothing beats Lithuania’s 1992 national uniform designed by none other than the great Issey Miyake. Mr. Miyake donated his designs free of charge for the Baltic state which was competing in the Olympics as an independent nation for the very first time. A dramatically silhouetted jacket with roomy sleeves, a cinched waist, and zipped hoods was constructed in Miyake’s iconic signature pleats. This collaboration between the Japanese designer and the Olympics became the turning point and catalyst that pushed other high fashion brands to start endorsing Olympian teams. —YJ Lee