Is athlete attire meant for function or fashion?
Athlete uniforms are meant to help optimise movement and promote team cohesion, but there has long been a debate about whether they are truly being designed for performance or spectacle. Let’s take a Deep Dive.
🤸 Uniform rules are largely fashioned after an idealised Western concept of femininity.
👚 On a global stage, ill-fitting uniforms are a distraction that can be demoralising.
🏅 As athletes push for change, policies are only recently being revised, like Gymnastics New Zealand amending attire rules in 2024 to allow females to wear shorts or leggings over leotards.
QUOTABLE
“Professional athletes should be able to compete without dedicating brain space to constant pube vigilance or the mental gymnastics of having every vulnerable piece of your body on display.”
— Lauren Fleshman, runner and coach
BY THE NUMBERS
$213 billion In 2023, the global sports apparel market was estimated to generate approximately $213 billion dollars in revenue.
70% Seventy percent of girls who quit sports cited clothing and body image concerns as their reasons for dropping out.
1932 The swimming costume standard for women became more streamlined and form-fitting in 1932.
2011 In 2011, the Badminton World Federation mandated skirts for female athletes so that players would “look feminine”.
QUIZ
In which sport were women fined in 2021 for wearing shorts instead of bikini bottoms during competition?
A. Swimming
B. Gymnastics
C. Beach handball
Scroll to the bottom for the answer.
DID YOU KNOW?
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the German women’s gymnastics team wore full-length unitards instead of traditional leotards to stand up against sexualisation in the sport, highlighting longstanding sexism in women’s sports attire. “We wanted to show that every woman, everybody, should decide what to wear,” said team member Elisabeth Seitz.
THE EDIT
👗 Got you covered. Women first participated in the Olympics in 1900 but had to wear long-sleeved, ankle-length dresses with high necks to avoid distracting male athletes.
📺 Setting a standard. The objectification of female athletes in the media due to attire can lead to low self-esteem and appearance anxiety in young girls.
🏃♀️ Minimal restrictions. Performance can be enhanced by wearing less material as it allows the body to move more freely.
WATCH
In April 2024, Nike faced criticism for its revealing US women’s track and field uniform design for the Paris Olympics, sparking renewed controversy over the design of “female athletes’ attire”. In this video, Nichole Berlie from NewsNation speaks to athlete Colleen Quigley who expressed surprise at the design despite the option to wear shorts.
THE FULL PICTURE
A unique algorithm developed by data company Launchmetrics, Media Impact Value (MIV) quantifies and compares the influence of various media placements and mentions within the fashion, lifestyle and beauty sectors. At $2.8 billion, Nike’s MIV is approximately 7.3 times that of Lululemon, ranked fifth.
KEY PLAYER
Chip Wilson
Founder and former CEO of Lululemon Chip Wilson experimented with different fabrics to achieve true comfort in performance. The brand designed athlete kits for Team Canada for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
HONOUREES TO KNOW
Aleah Finnegan
Filipino-American gymnast Aleah Finnegan won multiple medals at the 2022 Southeast Asian Games. She finished among the top 14 athletes in the women’s individual all-around qualification at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, securing a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Khiew Hoe Yean
Freestyle and backstroke swimmer Khiew Hoe Yean confirmed his status as Malaysia’s top star of the pool when he won the Southeast Asian Games gold medal in the 200m freestyle in 2021. He also holds the records in the 800m freestyle and 200m backstroke categories.
ONE FINAL THING
Uniforms in ancient Olympic Games were non-existent. All athletes in non-equestrian events competed in the nude, believing it enhanced performance.
