The Paris Olympics was formally opened on Friday, July 26 with over a thousand athletes competing in various disciplines, including football, tennis, swimming and fencing. While the most significant aspects of the Olympics are the games, in recent years, the opening ceremony has also gained prominence.
Competing countries use the ceremony to make fashion statements, which speak to their identity. Historically, white designers have dominated the fashion landscape at the Olympics, excluding black designers.
Limited access to capital, mentorship, and industry connections largely prevented Black designers from shining at the Olympics. However, in recent years, black designers have been breaking barriers, becoming some of the top designers at the games.
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Below are some of the Black designers making waves at the Olympics:
Actively Black
Actively Black dresses the Nigerian Olympic team. Their designs celebrate Nigerian heritage while incorporating modern elements, creating a powerful and visually striking look, according to Shoppe Black.
The brand was founded by former professional basketball player Lanny Smith. He created the brand after seeing a void in representation. The brand’s mission is to uplift and re-invest back into the Black community and to improve the mental health and physical fitness of black people.
Telfar
Telfar has won over the internet after dressing the Liberian Olympic team for the opening ceremony. The brand was founded by Telfar Clemens in 2005. The designer was born in Queens, New York to Liberian parents in 1985. The family tried to live in Liberia but had to resettle in the United States at the onset of the Second Liberian Civil War. But the designer has always spoken about being proud of his Liberian heritage.
Phillip Mims’ HMN ALNS
Phillip Mims is behind HMN ALNS clothing company. Olympic hurdler Alaysha Johnson proudly wears his creations. In late June, she adorned clothes created by Mims during the Olympic Track and Field Trials. Runway fashion, streetwear and anime inspire Mims’ designs.
Stella Jean
Haitian-Italian fashion designer Stella Jean designed Haiti’s Olympic uniform. Jean linked with Haitian painter Philippe Dodard for his artwork titled “Passage” to be incorporated into the uniforms. Haiti has been in chaos following the assassination of its president Jovenel Moïse in 2021, with local gangs taking over. Jean believes that the 15 athletes competing in the Olympics are “standard bearers of peace [who] will have an even more demanding task than arriving to the podium as medal recipients. They are 15 living symbols of rebirth and renewal that extend beyond what is usually shown.”
