Jeans at The Olympics

How do you go about designing a nations outfit for something so widely viewed as The Olympic Games?

I have no idea and I wouldn’t want to try. You would have to be open to so much scrutiny and opinion that even if you were the most resilient person in the world,

you’d still probably feel a little dejected if your design wasn’t positively received.

Easier if your country has a national costume, you just roll out a ”modern interpretation” of that. Problem solved.

But aren’t jeans America’s national costume?

I think so, but when Team USA took their boat ride down the River Seine during Friday evening’s opening ceremony, sporting

their Ralph Lauren designed stonewashed denims, it seems it was the jeans that were the problem.

For a lot of people.

On social media one person wrote ”So put together [USA flag] striped shirt, trimmed blazer, dig the tie for the men - and then ....jeans?”

Others wrote ”Can't say that I like the jeans. Looks like they came out the hamper”

and ”It’s giving yeehaw mixed with flight attendant” and

”They’re seriously having our athletes wear jeans to the f***ing Olympic opening ceremony?!”

But it wasn’t the first time the athletes of America have worn jeans at the Olympics...


Paris 2024

It’s an Olympic year again, time to get opinionated about sports you’ve never heard of and won’t care too much about by Christmas.

It’s also time for those lucky companies that were chosen to create the athletes outfits, to cash in on their designs.

Ralph Lauren has been designing the team’s U.S Olympic wear since 2008 and 2024 will be the ninth time the company has dressed Team USA.

The 2024 collection, inspired by the fashion famous host city of Paris, includes for the opening ceremony,

a dark blue tailored blazer with red and white detailing together with blue stonewashed blue jeans.

”Part of the Polo Ralph Lauren Team USA Collection, this version of our Parkside Active Taper jean is proudly made in California for Team USA to wear during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. Their twill fabric is crafted with American-grown cotton and other fibers. At the back waist, they feature a “Team USA 2024 Ralph Lauren Official Outfitter” patch”.

- The Ralph Lauren Company

The closing ceremony outfits which will feature white jeans

- All images Courtesy of Ralph Lauren


”Part of the Polo Ralph Lauren Team USA Collection, this version of our Parkside Active Taper jean is proudly made in California for Team USA to wear during the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. Crafted with American-grown cotton and other fibers, these basket-woven jeans combine moto-inspired detailing with our signature embroidered Big Pony and the official logo patch of the U.S. Olympic Team”.

- The Ralph Lauren Company

Jeans Before ’24

Looking back at previous Olympic Games’ outfits, it wasn’t until the 1976 games that the first designer uniform was used. That year the American fashion designer

Halston sponsored all of the official Team USA apparel.

In 1980 Levis Strauss took over the job for the winter games held in Lake Placid, NY.

Each Team USA athlete was sent equipped with a 30-piece, $1,200 (retail value) uniform kit, complete with a white Western hat, rancher's shearling jacket, cowboy boots, plaid shirts, wool sweaters,

jeans for men, bibbed denim skirts for women inspired by the ”Great Out West”

Cowboy inspired outfits designed by Levi Strauss for the Winter Olympics in 1980

The United States boycotted the Moscow Summer Olympics of 1980 due to the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan, leaving thousands of

denim-loving Russians feeling hard done by.


As well as outfitting Team USA, Levi Strauss had planned to distribute
17,000 pairs of jeans and T-shirts to ticket holders, ushers and ground crews from Moscow in addition to donating 6,000 Western jackets to Russians who would be working as Olympic chauffeurs.


The New York Times reported that young people in the Soviet Union prized American jeans and were willing to pay exorbitant prices on the black market for them, making the promise of receiving free merchandise from Levis a heartbreaking thing to lose.

This news story also puts into perspective just how big of a deal it was to have Levi Strauss outfit the Olympic team during the pinnacle of the Cold War: it was the ultimate way to flaunt what other teams coveted, and what Americans wore with nonchalance.


The cowboy look would make another appearance during the 1984 winter games. However, in the spirit of American democracy, Levi Strauss put the designs for the 1984 summer Olympics in L.A. to a public vote. Out of "active," "classic," or "Western," Levi shoppers picked the "active" style option, leading to red, white and blue zip-front jackets with diagonal striping, elastic-waist sport pants, and baseball caps. It was extremely casual, and exemplifies what we remember as the fitness craze of the 1980s.

Historical Designs

The Ralph Lauren Corporation was first approached by a representative for the United States Olympic Committee about potentially refreshing Team USA’s look for the 2008 Games.

Team USA at the 2008 Olympic Games

- Image courtesy of The Ralph Lauren Company

There was a desire to re-invigorate the spirit of the Olympics from it’s heyday and David Lauren, Chief Branding and Innovation Officer of Ralph Lauren Corporation (and Ralph’s son) recalls.

“They (USOC) said, ‘We want our athletes to walk on a global stage and to reflect the best of America, and to carry not just their athleticism, but the hopes and dreams of everyone.

They calm the anxieties in the world. They bring peace to nations,’”

“It was so inspiring and what we all dream the Olympics will be.”

London 2012

Ralph Lauren’s choice of attire in 2012 caused controversy as it was made in China, at a time when the American textile industry struggled economically with many U.S. workers desperate for jobs.

The uniform did include jeans though, even if they weren’t American made.....

- Image courtesy of The Ralph Lauren Company

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., commented at the time:

"I am so upset. I think the Olympic committee should be ashamed of themselves. I think they should be embarrassed.

I think they should take all the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them and start all over again,"

"If they have to wear nothing but a singlet that says USA on it, painted by hand, then that's what they should wear,"

Rio de Jean-eiro 2016

- Image Courtesy of The Ralph Lauren Company

In 2016 Ralph Lauren’s design included white jeans, blazers with a round neck striped top.

Tokyo 2021

Dark blue blazers and dark jeans were the theme at the 2020/21 Olympics.

Evidently jeans have been quite commonplace for USA at the Olympics. Maybe it’s the stonewashed factor of the 2024 jeans that some people have a problem with,

I thought it looked ok but I’m not American.

Both the men’s and Women’s stonewashed Jeans are sold out on Ralph Lauren’s online store so Ralph Lauren’s design did appeal to some people.

The 2028 Olympics will be held in the city of Los Angeles so it’ll be interesting what Team USA will be wearing and who will be designing it.