Big names in fashion are outfitting Olympic teams at the Paris Games

Transcript

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Some of the world's biggest names in fashion are outfitting the teams at this year's Olympic games. There's Ralph Lauren, of course, dressing Team USA. There are also designers like Stella Jean outfitting the Haitian Team and Telfar Clemens outfitting Liberia. I spoke with New York Times chief fashion critic Vanessa Friedman about what draws fashion designers to the Olympics as well as the way that sports and fashion have become ever more intertwined.

VANESSA FRIEDMAN: On one level, there's simply the romance of the Olympics. You know, it really...

FADEL: Yeah.

FRIEDMAN: ...Is the greatest competition. Fashion is a competition. You get to represent your country and to rise to the occasion of your country, everyone is looking at it, right? I mean, this is an incredible marketing opportunity for any brand, right? You get billions of eyeballs on you.

So I think it's a combination of all of that and the fact that athletes themselves have become celebrities, right? You know, they've become superheroes. And increasingly, you see kind of relationships between athletes and fashion brands the way we used to see relationships between movie stars and fashion brands or musical artists and fashion brands.

One of the things that I thought was really funny is, you know, LVMH is a premium partner of France for the Olympics. It's one of the main sponsors. And they now refer to athletes as artisans of sport...

FADEL: Oh, wow.

(LAUGHTER)

FRIEDMAN: ...Artisans being the terminology they use for, you know, their designers, their seamstresses, their incredible embroiderers, you know, their goldmakers. Everything is a brand now, right? Athletes are a brand. Individuals are a brand. Fashion brands are brands. And given that mindset, the connections are getting ever deeper.

FADEL: If you've been watching the Olympics this year, you may have noticed some particularly eye-catching uniforms. After all, the athletes are competing in the fashion capital of the world. Here's Friedman again.

FRIEDMAN: The one thing that really stands out is the one uniform where people really get to play with the fashion aspect of the garment, and that's the leotard, the woman's gymnastics leotard. And certainly, you know, looking at the leotards that we've seen so far, you know, they are beautiful, and they are very elegant. And I think that is clearly a reflection of Paris and a desire on the part of the designers to kind of rise to the capital of fashion. You see it in the Americans, where they have one leotard style that has over 10,000 crystals on it.

FADEL: Ten thousand?

FRIEDMAN: Over 10,000.

FADEL: Wow. Personally, that sounds heavy.

FRIEDMAN: They've somehow - Swarovski, which makes the crystals, has somehow figured out a way to both cut them in a particularly sparkly but also very light manner and...

FADEL: Incredible.

FRIEDMAN: ...And to get as many as possible on.

FADEL: I mean, that's honestly - it's amazing what they can do, but also these outfits - they were just incredible.

FRIEDMAN: They are, and they stand out, you know? And they use them partly to draw eyeballs - right? - 'cause you've got, you know, very small women in a very large arena trying to attract attention. They can also use them to accentuate their movements, so the length of their arms, the - what happens when they flip or twirl. And then they use them to express their own personalities.

FADEL: And then, LVMH - I mean, for people don't - who don't know these, like, very expensive brands - is this the first time they've partnered in this way?

FRIEDMAN: It is the first time any luxury brand has played this big a role in any Olympics. And what's interesting is that besides sponsoring to a tune of 150 million euros, which is...

FADEL: Wow.

FRIEDMAN: ...A lot of money, LVMH is what they call a creative partner. This is the first time any Olympics has had a creative partner, and that means that they're not just giving money. They design the medals. Chaumet, which is their high jewelery brand, made the medals.

FADEL: Wow.

FRIEDMAN: They dressed the French delegation for the opening ceremony, right? Berluti, their menswear brand, did those outfits. Dior was the couturier for Lady Gaga and Aya Nakamura and Celine Dion during the opening ceremony. Louis Vuitton has made the medal trace...

FADEL: Really?

FRIEDMAN: Literally - and the trunk that held the Olympic torch on its journey, and they also have dressed the medal bearers.

FADEL: Wow.

FRIEDMAN: And so this is potentially the most branded Olympics, I think, ever.

FADEL: That's Vanessa Friedman. She's the chief fashion critic at The New York Times. Thank you so much, Vanessa.

FRIEDMAN: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG SONG, "LA VIE EN ROSE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.