Prior to fashion giants like Dior and Louis Vuitton using athletes in campaigns or as ambassadors, and before dressing them for their tunnel walks, athletes wore their own clothes before, during, and after their games. As the 2024 Olympics kicks off in Paris, with a fashion conglomerate such as LVMH as a sponsor, and a month after Vogue World: Paris, we can expect some frills with our thrills.

Everyone watches sports, whether it is one in particular or a general viewing of all. This makes athletes the perfect walking campaign as all eyes are on them even in the off-season. We went from David Beckham being mocked for wearing fashionably feminine fits ahead of his time, to Instagram accounts with millions of followers chronicling the styles of athletes. We are now in the era of tennis players being allowed to break the all-white rule at Wimbledon to carry a Gucci bag onto the court. All in the name of fashion.

In the 70s, things started to pick up and it wasn’t just games. The game of basketball saw the first stars of fashion in sports. The coaches.

Larry Brown, Jack Ramsay, and Lenny Wilkens coaching courtside
Courtesy of Sports Illustrated/Scott Cunningham

Larry Brown was known as the “Modfather” back then before taking a more conservative approach to fashion. Jack Ramsay was known for his staple blazers and adventurous fashion choices, and the only Blazers coach to win a championship. Lenny Wilkens fashion style might be bold, but his coaching style was gentle and consistent.

Walt Frazier courtesy of TSN/Bettmann Archive, 1970

And then, of course, there were the players. Walt Frazier, outside of his amazing career in the NBA is known for his fantastic threads. Other icons of the era include Bill Walton, Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, and notably Magic Johnson in the 80s, who dared to wear big fur coats that radiated gaudy energy, eras before the “mob-wife” trend.

Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse with his uniform Jordan 1s

In the 1970s and 1980s there was Stan Smith, a world No. 1 tennis player, that every sneakerhead knows. Adidas Stan Smith launched in 1965 and are a classic staple in any sneakerhead’s closet to this day. Sneaker culture was already a giant niche but really came to a head when Michael Jordan released his infamous shoes. You know the ones. Jordans. Air Jordans alone have become a fashion classic and a signal to all that sports has influenced us in ways we were unaware of a la the legendary “cerulean” monologue from A Devil Wears Prada. That is how the stylish decisions from athletes have trickled down into our everyday wear.

Continuing, another ahead of his time was Dennis Rodman in the 90s, becoming an unsigned face to the likes of Von Dutch and Ed Hardy.

Dennis Rodman via Pinterest

Through the 1980s and 90s, Michael Jordan inspired a trend in oversized suits, and into the early 2000s, Allen Iverson brought us a fresh hip-hop aesthetic that is the blueprint for modern street-wear today.

Allen Iverson via Pinterest

The style of these sports stars bled into pop culture. Britney Spears can be seen mimicking the likes of those aforementioned in her music video for “Outrageous” in 2004, wearing a basketball jersey, gold jewelry, and a cap sitting side-ways; a precognition of a future Billie Eilish.

In 2005, David Stern declared a mandatory dress code for the NBA, requiring all players to dress in “business or conservative attire” while arriving or departing an official game. This left no room for jerseys or jeans. The league’s image was officially changed and redefined. We have him to thank for this collaboration of two worlds. Without this call being made, we would not have the style icons across the board that we have today working as heavily as they are with those in higher fashion. Of course, the dress code has become more lenient, especially after 2020, but the individual styles we see represented off the court are modern and polished. Many eras of the business itself and those who have influenced the fashion of sports are healthily noted.

Now, sports are influencing high fashion while athletes are stepping up their style, creating a cohesive fusion where both are at an equal playing field of power. From football players like Odell Beckham, Jr. who also attended the 2019 MET Gala and Patrick Mahomes in 2023, we are now seeing that Formula 1 drivers, like Lewis Hamilton, have caught the eyes of fashion lovers. Hamilton went as far as buying a table at the 2023 Met Gala to host a set of Black designers: Kenneth Nicholson, Edvin Thompson of Theophilio and Jason Rembert of Aliette, whom previously dressed Kehlani and Sha'Carri Richardson, a participant in the 2024 Olympics in Paris this year.

Additionally, P.J. Tucker attended the MET Gala in 2021 dressed in Gucci and Serena Williams attended in 2024 wearing a gilded gown by Balenciaga. Serena Williams, one of, if not the great of tennis, won Fashion Icon Award in 2023, becoming the first athlete to do so.

Serena Williams dressed by Thom Browne via Getty Images

Everything is coming together, weaving a moment in fashion history where it seems that sports is finally being recognized as the cultural phenomenon it has always been. The individual style of its players as well as the athleisure of it all has allowed a freeing sensibility of what one can wear.

In 2024, right after Vogue World took Place Vendôme in Paris, here comes the Olympics. The likes of Burberry, Prada, Ralph Lauren, and Berluti have teamed up with leagues and players to release clothing items as well as designed uniforms. In the place where fashion as we know it began, the other teams competing this summer will be the fashion houses, and those participating will be in competition outside of the Olympics for best dressed. Especially with a mega sponsor such as LVMH. The luxury of being a sports star coincides perfectly with high-fashion and the two will be, and have been, forever paired.

Article by Seana Watson, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine
Tearsheets by Bradley Duley, Graphic Design Intern, PhotoBook Magazine

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