Yes, they call it the city of light. But Paris is also the city of fashion, one of the most influential fashion capitals in the world, for decades, no, centuries (remember Louis XIV?)

It’s no surprise then that fashion designers around the world are busy getting their national team uniforms ready for their unique spotlight. When it comes to high-end Olympic fashion — whether it’s for the opening ceremonies or the competitions — all runways lead to Paris.

Stella Jean will be there, styling each of Haiti’s dozen or so athletes herself. Jean, an Italian-Haitian designer based in Rome, figures she has just two seconds, on the night of the opening ceremony, to make an impression on the world — an impression that could resonate for years. “For these athletes, just being here is a victory,” says Jean, whose vibrant, colorful design is meant to emphasize the cultural vitality of the Caribbean nation.

At the other end of the size (and budget) spectrum is Ralph Lauren, who will dress hundreds of U.S. team athletes for the opening and closing ceremonies for the ninth time. Lauren, who presents a casual look of blue jeans and blazers, is of course one of the world’s wealthiest designers, along with Giorgio Armani, who has designed Italy’s uniforms since 2012.

Countless other designers have gotten involved — including this year more young, “indie” labels eager to make a splash. It’s also a chance to emphasize qualities like sustainability in fashion and adaptability, as in designs for the Paralympics.

“Designers and manufacturers are realizing now that this can be a huge platform for them, for a lot of things,” says Alison Brown, who co-hosts a podcast about all things Olympics, “Keep the Flame Alive.” For example, “Sustainability is a huge buzzword now for this whole Olympics,” she says.

And that also applies to style, because yes, Paris.

“You always want to represent your country, and you want to represent the athletes, but it seems like this time the pressure to do well has been turned up a notch,” Brown said.

Some notable details about different uniform designs:

Canada: Focus on Inclusivity and Adaptability

During the design process, the team at Lululemon, which outfitted the Canadian athletes for the second time, said they listened closely to the athletes and how they felt in the clothing. “When you feel your best, you perform your best,” said Audrey Reilly, creative director for Team Canada at the sportswear company.

She remembers listening to Alison Levine, a Paralympic athlete who uses a wheelchair, and realizing that the athlete had nothing suitable to train in, so she wore a lab coat.

“I was shocked that a professional athlete would have to do that,” Reilly said in an interview. So we said, “Let’s look into it.” One result was a “seated carpenter pant,” part of a collection meant to be inclusive and adaptable. Other features include specialized closures to make it easy to put on and take off, and knee pockets so an athlete like Levine can access her phone while training.

The collection covers all aspects of Team Canada’s journey, from travel to the Games, to opening and medal ceremonies, to training — everything but competition. To combat the expected scorching heat in Paris, Lululemon, which has a four-Games deal with the team, paid special attention to ventilation and moisture-wicking.

And for opening ceremonies, designers created what they call a “tapestry of pride.” Hand-drawn and woven into the fabric, it features 10 animals — nine representing Canada’s provinces and one representing France. “We wanted to evoke all of Canada, from coast to coast and north to south,” Reilly says.

Haiti: ‘They know their body is a flag’

Stella Jean is used to designing beautiful clothes. But beauty for beauty’s sake wasn’t a consideration in her designs for the Haiti team. It was all about the message.

“This is the first good news from Haiti in the last three years,” she says, adding that the athletes’ appearance is a counter-message to news of political unrest, poverty or natural disasters. “So I felt a responsibility to tell as much as I could about the country.”

To do this, Jean is teaming up with Haitian artist Philippe Dodard, whose vibrant painting will be incorporated into the ceremonial uniforms — a brightly colored skirt for women and pants for men, paired with traditional items like a chambray shirt. The designs are made from “leftover” fabric — sustainability, yes, but not because it’s trendy, Jean says, but because in Haiti it’s both a tradition and a necessity.

Jean calls the Haitian athletes “ambassadors.”

“These ambassadors will be there, in Paris,” she says, “and they all know, even when they are very, very young, how important their presence is — and that it is not just about performance. They know that their body is a flag.”

US: ‘There’s nothing more American than jeans’

For the recent Summer Games in sultry Tokyo, Ralph Lauren equipped athletes with something cool – literally – a technology that dissipated heat via a fan on the neck.

For sultry Paris, he introduces a different kind of cool: the familiar American jeans.

“Nothing says American like jeans, especially when we’re in Paris,” said David Lauren, the brand’s chief branding and innovation officer and the founder’s son, when he unveiled the design in June.

For the ninth time dressing Team USA for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Ralph Lauren says they’ll be fitting each athlete personally. For the Opening Ceremony, they’ll be wearing custom-made navy blazers with blue-and-white striped Oxford shirts — and those blue jeans.

For the closing ceremony, the team wears white jeans with matching jackets in red, white and blue. Lauren called the closing ceremony looks “more graphic, more fun, a little more exciting.”

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India: Blending Old and New

Indian designer Tarun Tahiliani is known for his ability to combine traditional elements with a modern sensibility. And that’s what he and his menswear brand Tasva have tried to do for his country’s Olympic team.

Tahiliani told GQ India that when he started researching India’s opening ceremony uniform, he noticed a trend of countries incorporating their national flags into the design. So he started working on a design that featured the tri-color shades of saffron, white and green.

For men, Tahiliani started with a kurta, the typical Asian long, loose shirt. He paired it with a bundi, or traditional sleeveless jacket. He told the magazine that he wears a bundi every day, inspired by his father, who was an admiral in the Indian Navy.

After feedback from the Olympic committee, the designer moved away from a uniform-like look for women and opted for a sari, which he says “flatters every body type, which is exactly what we want for our female athletes.”

All the designs feature embroidery of saffron and green. “The aim is to create outfits that allow our athletes to represent India with pride and confidence,” Tahiliani said.

Italy: a mix of elegance and tradition

Italian athletes will be elegantly dressed in Emporio Armani uniforms, as they have done at every Olympic Games since 2012.

The podium tracksuit features the text “W Italia,” an abbreviation for “Eviva Italia,” or “Long Live Italy.” The motto could also apply to designer Giorgio Armani himself, who turned 90 on July 11.

“The search for new solutions for athletes’ equipment, which must combine elegance with practicality, is always an exciting challenge for me,” Armani said last year when the national kit was presented at the spring-summer 2024 fashion show of the youthful and sporty brand Emporio Armani.

The athletes’ tracksuits are done in Armani blue, a color that has long been the designer’s everyday go-to, both as a T-shirt and a fancy sweater.

Athletes no longer have an excuse if they don’t know the national anthem: the beginning is printed on the inside collar of polo shirts and the full first verse is printed on the inside of jackets.

Britain: Four Nations, Not One

The 60-year-old British clothing brand Ben Sherman, known for its menswear, is designing the Olympic uniforms for Great Britain for the third time. This year, it wants to remind the world that Britain is four countries, not one.

The design for the opening and closing ceremonies “represents the unity and diversity of the United Kingdom and reflects the rich range of our nation’s identities,” said the label’s creative director Mark Williams.

Williams described in an email his new four-nation floral motif, featuring a rose, thistle, daffodil and four-leaf clover, which serves as “a nod to the unique identities and histories of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.”

Williams emphasizes that the motif is not purely decorative, but is intended to send a message of cooperation and unity. His floral motif appears in shades of blue and red — on polo shirts, worn with a bomber jacket, and also on colorful socks, in collaboration with the brand Happy Socks.

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South Korea: Inspiration from a National Symbol

South Korea’s athletes will wear uniforms inspired by the country’s national circular symbol “taegeuk”, which occupies the centre of the flag. The red-blue circle represents harmony between the negative cosmic forces of the blue part and the positive cosmic forces of the red.

The motifs on the North Face-branded uniforms also include one of the four black trigrams (groups of bars) from the corners of the flag, according to Youngone Outdoor Co., an official partner of the country’s Olympic Committee that produces and distributes North Face apparel in South Korea. The trigram used symbolizes water.

According to Youngone, a uniform for medal ceremonies consists of a jacket with an ink drawing of the indigo blue waters off the country’s east coast, a red belt and black trousers.

Team Korea’s uniform for the opening and closing ceremonies was designed by Musinsa Standard, a private-label brand run by South Korean online fashion retailer Musinsa. The all-light blue uniform includes a blazer, the lining of which is engraved with traditional white and blue porcelain designs, a traditional belt and trousers.

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Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, Leanne Italie in New York and Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report.