LVMH and Berluti reveal Team France’s outfits for the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games
French house Berluti, founded in Paris in 1895, has pulled out all the stops in styling Team France for the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024.
Outfitting outstanding athletes and coaches for a momentous occasion
For the partnership between LVMH and the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024, Berluti has brought together the savoir-faire and experience of its artisans to ensure that the French athletes look their very best for the Opening Ceremonies Paris 2024 on July 26th and August 28th.
Berluti has taken on a challenge of athletic proportions to help the selected French athletes of Paris 2024 make an impression right from the starting line. 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, every one of the Maison’s teams devoted months of energy and creativity to designing an outfit that embodies true elegance à la française. Berluti has reprised the stylistic codes that make up its identity, such as noble materials and patina effects, to create a tuxedo-inspired outfit adapted to a wide range of body types.
The Opening Ceremonies will see French athletes and coaches clad in Berluti tuxedos and shoes, all custom-tailored to immortalize this unique occasion that already represents a significant achievement for any sportsperson – that of being selected to take part in the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024.
This summer, Berluti’s artisans will be focused on one key objective of showcasing both the Maison’s savoir-faire and France’s athletes to the whole world.
Berluti: a unique French house
Between offbeat classics and technical virtuosity, Maison Berluti has always remained true to its character. Its story began in 1895, when a young, 30-year-old Italian came to Paris to practice his trade as a master shoemaker. His first model was a lace-up court shoe, which he dubbed the Alessandro after his given name, while offering the Maison his surname of Berluti.
For generations, this French house has continued to cultivate its exceptional savoir-faire, mastering form, leatherwork and patina, all to craft its models of unparalleled elegance and comfort. Since its creation, Berluti has made shoes for men of refinement, including the likes of Jean Cocteau, Andy Warhol and Marcello Mastroianni. Its boutiques have played host to many distinguished clients, all of them passionate about and enticed by the timeless elegance of its exceptional shoes, which stand as genuine works of art.
Much more than a prestigious shoemaker, Berluti has been the constant signature of a certain art of living. It has naturally come to explore new realms of expression, such as leather goods in 2005 and ready-to-wear in 2011. Berluti has continually evolved to become the reference for men’s elegance. Through its Paris ateliers on Rue Marbeuf and Rue de Sèvres, it also offers a unique, bespoke service that provides its clients with toe-to-top tailoring.
Today, Berluti once more proves its daring and creativity by designing and producing the Team France outfits for both Opening Ceremonies of Paris 2024. This exercise in style also marks historic firsts for the Maison both in creating outfits for women and for an event of such tremendous scope.
Styling Team France: a very special order
Berluti called upon the efforts of every one of its expert artisans to create the 1,500 outfits for Team France. The Maison will dress each member of the team for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 from toe to top, including tuxedo, shirt, belt, scarf or pocket square, and shoes. The entire ensemble will be presented in a bag created especially for the occasion.
These outfits were designed in France and made in Italy at the ateliers that traditionally produce the Maison’s collections, using fabrics sourced exclusively within Europe. All the garments comply with Berluti’s exacting criteria regarding quality and finish.
Naturally, the outfits must also meet certain requirements in line with the athletes and the event. To cater to all body shapes and ensure a perfect fit for each athlete, Berluti has designed and crafted the outfits in a vast array of sizes, with clothing from 3XS to 6XL and shoes in sizes 1 to 22. In doing so, the Maison has expanded its standard size chart to offer the 14 sizes required by all the hopefuls on Team France.
For several months, under the creative direction of Fashion Consultant and Stylist Carine Roitfeld, the Maison consulted the athletes themselves along with the Paris 2024 Organising Committee, the French National Olympic and Sports Committee and the French Paralympic and Sports Committee, to gather their experiences and understand their specific needs. The resulting outfits brim with style, elegance, flexibility, and comfort, leaving each athlete free of constraints in the runup to the major sporting events and intense Opening Ceremonies. These outfits have been designed to invoke pride among the French athletes and coaches and to live up to their ambitions. By wearing them, the members of Team France will become ambassadors of French savoir-faire, all primed to make a lasting impression during this momentous occasion.
Elegance à la française for Team France
Replete with a sense of ceremony, the tuxedo designed for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 is cut from elegant, midnight-blue wool. The jacket includes a shawl collar that sports a motif inspired by an all-new “French flag” patina. This motif has been created especially for the occasion in shades of blue and red, standing as a tribute to the Maison’s historic savoir-faire. Forming the centrepiece of each French athlete’s outfit, the jacket is also presented in a sleeveless version [for women].
This garment will be paired with a white shirt ([sleeved for men and sleeveless for women] with or without sleeves) cut from a cotton-silk blend.
Female athletes will be able to choose between trousers with a trim or an elegant silk wrap-around skirt.
Gracing the men’s feet will be a pair of Berluti Shadow trainers, whose emblematic navy blue has been redesigned with the French national colours. The female athletes and coaches, meanwhile, will sport either the Shadow or the Maison’s flexible Lorenzo leather loafer.
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