As the excitement builds for the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, luxury brands step up to create exclusive designs that align with the grandeur of Paris 2024.

Dior’s Ateliers of 30 Montaigne spent several thousand hours embroidering, bead by bead, sewing and assembling each look. Image: Dior

As part of the partnership between LVMH and Paris 2024, the luxury conglomerate has been providing direct support ahead of the Games to athletes whose achievements make them ‘Artisans of All Victories’. 

Sports has a tailor-made fan base, a coveted demographic for many brands. 

With the excitement of sports combined with the allure of fashion, invitations to the opening ceremony are reserved for a select few and tickets to the big games are so expensive that it has become a luxury signifier. This is when luxury fashion stepped in. 

LVMH is supporting seven Olympic and Paralympic athletes including Rugby player Antoine Dupont; swimming world champion Léon Marchand; European gymnast champion Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos; fencing champion Enzo Lefort; French champion in wheelchair tennis Pauline Déroulède; Marie Patouillet with ten years in military service; and visually impaired French sprinter Timothée Adolphe.

For the partnership between LVMH and the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024, Berluti ensured that the French athletes look their best for the Opening Ceremonies Paris 2024 on July 26th and August 28th. In collaboration with the athletes, as well as the Paris 2024 Organising Committee, the French National Olympic and Sports Committee and the French Paralympic and Sports Committee, the Maison’s teams devoted months to designing a tuxedo-inspired outfit and shoes. 

“Berluti has been given an extraordinary opportunity in styling Team France for the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. I am delighted with the outcome of this creative collaboration between our artisans and the French athletes, as well as the teams of Tony Estanguet, Marie-Amélie Le Fur and David Lappartient. With this outfit, we have sought to honour French elegance and to serve French athletes and coaches,” Jean-Marc Mansvelt, CEO of Berluti, said on lvmh.com

Dior contributed to the magical Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games Paris 2024. This celebration was orchestrated through twelve tableaus for which Dior’s Ateliers of 30 Montaigne spent several thousand hours embroidering, bead by bead, sewing and assembling each look with meticulous precision. 

Dior for Celine Dion’s performance at the Opening Ceremony. Image: Dior

The inaugural tableau was led by Lady Gaga, dressed in an ensemble that paid homage to French cabaret. Aya Nakamura wore a gold one-shoulder dress with a caged miniskirt, enhanced with feathers, accessorised with Dior shoes. Delivering La Marseillaise on the roof of the Grand Palais, Axelle Saint-Cirel wore an artfully draped 8-m long dress. Juliette Armanet was dressed in haute couture handcrafted in collaboration with iconic embroiderer Clara Daguin as she performed John Lennon’s Imagine, on a boat. Céline Dion closed the ceremony with a performance on the second floor of Eiffel Tower, in haute couture embellished with thousands of beads and over five hundred meters of fringing, reflecting the magnificent embroidery expertise of the House of Dior.

Aya Nakamura wore a gold one-shoulder dress by Dior. Image: Dior

LVMH and Paris 2024 partnership

Luxury conglomerate LVMH and the Paris 2024 Organising Committee designed outfits for volunteer medals bearers as well as the trays designed by Louis Vuitton to hold the medals for each Victory Ceremony during the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. Embracing circular fashion principles, the outfits are designed from eco-designed materials crafted from upcycled textile offcuts sourced from LVMH brands. 

Employing the strength of Louis Vuitton’s trunk-making heritage and craftsmanship, the medals trays were crafted by Louis Vuitton artisans at the Beaulieu-sur-Layon workshop in Maine-et-Loire, specialising in leather goods. The lightweight trays are covered by the maison’s Damier canvas, lined with matt black leather and will display medals crafted by LVMH-owned jewellery brand Chaumet. The first jeweler in the history of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to design these medals, Maison Chaumet drew inspiration from its heritage, its stylistic repertoire, and iconic symbols of France and Paris, resulting in a unique design.

The medals trays were crafted by Louis Vuitton artisans. Image: Luis Vuitton

“This first ever Olympic medal created by a jeweler is emblematic of LVMH’s role as creative partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. In a close creative dialogue between Paris 2024 and Chaumet, the artisans of the Maison delved into their archives and explored powerful symbols of Olympism to imagine a medal inspired by high jewelry creations. Building on its centuries of rich history, Chaumet is writing a new page that will remain engraved in the heritage of the Maison for eternity,” Antoine Arnault, LVMH Image and Environment, said on lvmh.com.

Chaumet is the first jeweler in the history of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to design the medals. Image: LVMH.

Athletes and fashion endorsements over the years

In recent years, athletes have become a powerful marketing tool for fashion brands. It was perhaps Michael Jordan who began this trend when he began attending press conferences impeccably dressed in a suit and tie. Even before inking a reported $2.5 million deal with Nike in 1984, Jordan perceived the leverage how fashion could complement his image as a sportsman and he created a template that has been emulated by illustrious athletes over the years. The game-changing collaboration evolved Nike into the world’s largest athletic apparel company and Michael Jordan into a global, cultural phenomenon. 

Serena Williams announced her retirement from tennis and then commanded the runway at Vogue World during New York Fashion Week. The tennis champion opened the show in a silver Balenciaga tank dress and cape. Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady launched an eponymous brand of lifestyle casual wear. The athlete named Jens Grede as CEO and co-founder and also brought former DKNY designer and cofounder of streetwear label Public School New York, Dao-Yi Chow, onboard.

Ferrari staged a runway show at Milan Fashion Week. The luxury sports car manufacturer unveiled its Fall Winter 2022-23 collection on an 180 m-long catwalk where its commitment to sustainability was evident in organic cotton and GRS-certified recycled nylon; even the jacket padding was Ecodown, a material obtained from recycled plastic bottles.

Ferrari staged a runway show at Milan Fashion Week. Image: Ferrari

Louis Vuitton’s new campaign features tennis stars Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Captured through the lens of Annie Leibovitz, Federer and Nadal illustrate how each personal journey can reach legendary heights when pursued with determination and a pioneering spirit. In 2022, Louis Vuitton launched a brand campaign, starring football stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Titled ‘Victory Is a State of Mind’ and photographed by Annie Leibovitz, the campaign made its debut ahead of the opening day of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. 

German runner Alica Schmidt collaborated with BOSS for a capsule collection titled BOSS x Alica Schmidt. Designed in collaboration with the athlete, it captures shared values including drive, determination, and aesthetic. The BOSS Global Campaigns for Spring/ Summer and Fall Winter 2022 also capture her passion and dedication as she shares her perspective on what it means to #BeYourOwnBOSS.

BOSS x Alica Schmidt. Image: BOSS.

Activewear is stronger than ever in the post- pandemic era, where athleisure took the world by storm and is one of the most prominent illustrations of the sport-fashion overlap. Per Precedence Research, “The global athleisure market size was valued at USD 394.24 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach around USD 1,069.84 billion by 2034, expanding at a CAGR of 9.5 per cent from 2024 to 2034.”