Nozomi Maruyama, Ryoyu Kobayashi, Sara Takanashi and Ren Nikaido in their stylish uniform jackets. (Photo: Getty Images)
\nMost cutting-edge look: Alysa Liu, USA<\/p>\n
With unmissable hair and figure skating costumes that look like they could have been designed by high-end labels Rodarte or Supriya Lele, Alysa Liu brings some edge to the Milano Ice Skating Arena.<\/p>\n
Figure skating golden girl Alysa Liu. (Photos: Getty Images, Team USA)
\nBest shoes: Mattia Giovanella, Italy<\/p>\n
Ciao bello! Curling shoes are surprisingly technical, with each pair including a \u201cgripper\u201d and a \u201cslider\u201d. Mattia Giovanella had his BalancePlus footwear customised<\/a> ahead of the Olympics, enlisting Italian artist Federica Dal Paos to hand paint them with a patriotic tricolour.<\/p>\n While some skeleton racers decorate their helmets with flags, dragons, Venom, or the Star of David, Vladyslav Heraskevych\u2019s \u201chelmet of remembrance\u201d is adorned with the images of 20 athletes, coaches and children killed since Russia invaded Ukraine. The design prompted the International Olympic Committee (IOC)to disqualify him 45 minutes before the competition began, deciding the helmet violated the \u201cathlete expression guidelines<\/a>\u201d (rule 50 of the Olympic Charter bans \u201cdemonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda\u201d). Heraskevych\u2019s subsequent appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport was unsuccessful. The ban has made headlines and prompted debate, with some calling the IOC\u2019s decision discriminatory and inconsistent<\/a>, pointing out that the helmet of Italian snowboarder Roland Fischnalle displayed a Russian flag, which, alongside the country\u2019s anthem and national colours, was banned<\/a> at the Games.<\/p>\n Best bomber jacket: Nigeria<\/p>\n Nigeria showed a refreshing alternative to the standard winter gear usually seen during the opening ceremony. Cross-country skier Samuel Uduigowme Ikpefan \u2013 the country\u2019s only competitor \u2013 wore a sick striped jacket paired with matching wide-leg cargos.\u00a0<\/p>\n Everyone else seems to hate these jerseys but I disagree with them. The dashing use of Breton stripes is a nice Gallic touch and the uniforms actually make navy look staunch (hard to do). They\u2019re the work of Nike, who will hopefully enlist Jean Paul Gaultier next time to take it up a notch.<\/p>\n While everyone else was marching around the opening ceremony in fancy puffer jackets and Nordic-looking sweaters, Mongolia\u2019s Olympians looked like they\u2019d just ridden in from the steppe.<\/p>\n Their distinctive, deeply symbolic deels (traditional robes) are the work of family-owned cashmere company Goyol Cashmere, headquartered in the capital city Ulaanbaatar, which won a competition to design the uniforms. Based on traditional Mongolian attire and made from premium cashmere, the uniforms quickly caught the attention of global media, including the Wall Street Journal<\/a> and Vogue, helped by a cinematic photoshoot and support<\/a> from the IOC, which put them on the runway ahead of the games. This isn\u2019t the first time the country\u2019s gone the historic route to much acclaim; the 2024 Paris Olympics uniforms<\/a> were inspired by the embroidered outfits worn during Mongolia\u2019s Naadam festival.<\/p>\n Puerto Rico\u2019s only winter Olympian had one of the best fits in the field of skeleton racing. While the sport looked terrifying, she looked incredible in this custom-made suit. Delka also wore a wildly creative helmet She wasn\u2019t the only one \u2013 the sport has become known for them, and has been on an exponential trajectory of funkiness since the early 2000s.<\/p>\n No, it wasn\u2019t a fever dream: Tom\u00e0s Guarino Sabate was dressed as a minion and it was critical to the figure skater\u2019s routine, though not without its challenges. The flamboyant Spaniard overcame a copyright<\/a> issue to perform his routine alongside music from Despicable Me 2 in Milan.<\/p>\n A cohort of colourful coffee pots made an appearance during the opening ceremony to represent Italian design. Bialetti\u2019s 1933 invention of the Moka Express coffee maker revolutionised stovetop espresso, and while the pots are largely unchanged nearly 100 years later, anthropomorphised Mokas of the Milan games appear to be a new and unprecedented development. With hats. Great hats.<\/p>\n Andorran alpine skier Jordina Caminal Santure makes a great case for simple black and white, as well as some flourishes that call to mind the halcyon days of Microsoft Paint.<\/p>\n If, like me, you only recently learned what the biathlon actually entails (cross country skiing and rifle shooting) and think it sounds an awful lot like ski warfare (it is), then you\u2019ll be pleased to see Maksim Fomin in this cheerful and not-at-all-threatening uniform designed by Aleksandras Pogrebnojus.<\/p>\n A solution to the eternal quandary of whether to wear colour or monochrome, Shannon Ognai-Abeda\u2019s ski suit is gorgeous. It was designed in the Eritrean capital Asmara and made by Italian sports brand DKB. This is Ogbnai-Abeda\u2019s last Olympics, and he\u2019s the only Eritrean to ever compete in three Winter Games.<\/p>\n Ilia Malinin looked like he\u2019d just trotted in from Rivendell for his short skate, set to a track from Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. The accompanying song for his free skate competition was also esoteric. The first competitor to use a recording of his own voice<\/a>, the track went: \u201cThe lost is in the unknown. Embrace the storm. You are something but not nothing. Past is not a chain but a thread; pull it, and it may lead you home. Begin where light no longer reaches, where no path has yet been made.\u201d His outfit was the work of acclaimed costume designer Ito Satomi<\/a>, who specialises in figure skating.<\/p>\n By combining a classic Fair Isle pattern with those unmistakable rings, this really screams \u201cWinter Olympics\u201d. It\u2019s made from 100% wool and is manufactured in the US, along with everything else in these opening ceremony outfits (very patriotic). They\u2019re courtesy of Ralph Lauren, the longtime official outfitter of Team USA and purveyor of Americana. Fancy yourself an Olympian? There\u2019s a retail range for the civilians, though that jumper is sold out, sorry. And if you\u2019re Snoop Dogg \u2013 Team USA\u2019s first \u201chonorary coach\u201d \u2013 you\u2019ll be kitted out<\/a> in the official closing ceremony uniform.<\/p>\n Haiti\u2019s opening ceremony outfits had more artistic flair than most, well deserving of one of those broken medals, if they gave them out for fashion achievement. They did get a write up in Vogue<\/a>, which lyrically described the \u201cred horse sweeping across a landscape of lush foliage\u201d that was hand-painted in Italy. Italian-Haitian designer Stella Jean is behind the outfits, which draw from the work of Haitian artist Edouard Duval-Carri\u00e9 (revolutionary hero Toussaint Louverture was omitted after the IOC deemed him too political).<\/p>\n It\u2019s an honour to wear a k\u0101kahu. NZ Team Chef de Mission Marty Toomey presented k\u0101kahu to New Zealand\u2019s ng\u0101 pou h\u0101pai, or flag bearers, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Ben Barclay. Barclay was cloaked in Aroha Atu Aroha Mai, while Sandowski-Synnott wore Te Hono Ki Matariki. The latter was created by R\u0101nui Ng\u0101rimu, alongside 12 master weavers; it took 16 months to make and was blessed<\/a> by Kiingi Tuheitia in 2024 before its debut at the Paris Olympics.<\/p>\nMattia Giovanella\u2019s hand-painted curling shoes. (Photos: @worldcurling, @freddy_creation)
\nMost sobering helmet: Vladyslav Heraskevych, Ukraine<\/p>\nVladyslav Heraskevych and the helmet that led to his disqualification. (Photo: Getty)<\/p>\n
Stripes! Cargo pockets! (Photo: Getty)
\nChicest stripes: Clara Rozier, Alice Philbert and Gabrielle De Serres, France<\/p>\nIce hockey uniforms with French flair. (Photo: Getty)
\nBest use of cashmere: Mongolia<\/p>\nTeam Mongolia\u2019s sublime Opening Ceremony outfits. (Photo: Getty)
\nCoolest skeleton suit: Kellie Delka, Puerto Rico<\/p>\nKellie Delka\u2019s custom suit. (Photo: Getty)
\nBest Despicable Me reference: Tom\u00e0s Guarino Sabate, Spain<\/p>\nMinion-core on Tomas Guarino Sabate. (Photo: Getty Images)
\nMost extravagant hat: Bialetti<\/p>\nStagetop espresso. (Photos: @olympics, @olympicmuseum)
\nBest op art: Jordina Caminal Santure, Andorra<\/p>\nAn artistic ski suit on Andorran athlete Jordina Caminal Santure. (Photo: Getty)
\nMost cheerful biathlon suit: Maksim Fomin, Lithuania<\/p>\nA high energy look on Maksim Fomin. (Photo: Getty Images)
\nBest use of contrast: Shannon Ogbnai-Abeda, Eritrea<\/p>\nEritrean athlete Shannon Abeda and his high-contrast suit. (Photo: Getty Images)
\nMost Middle Earth outfit: Ilia Malinin, USA<\/p>\nIlia Malinin and his fantastical figure skating costume. (Photo: Getty)
\nBest sweater: Erin Jackson and Madison Chock, USA<\/p>\nTeam USA\u2019s Erin Jackson and Madison Chock wear the Opening Ceremony outfits. (Images: @RalphLauren)
\nMost impressive hand-painting: Haiti<\/p>\nHaiti\u2019s Winter Olympics 2026 costumes by Stella Jean. (Photos: @stellajean_sj)
\nCoolest k\u0101kahu: Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Ben Barclay, New Zealand<\/p>\nAthletes Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Ben Barclay wear Olympic k\u0101kahu. (Photo: NZ Team)<\/p>\n