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FEDERATIONS
IOC
Dressed for winter
The Olympic Museum has a rich collection of winter sports apparel, including uniforms, accessories and clothes worn by athletes, and the equipment they have used, at dif- ferent editions of the Games. This collection offers a window into the development and evolution of both equipment and of winter sports themselves, and can be used to trace the main trends of winter sports both within and beyond the Olympic context.
When winter sports finally joined the Olympic fold at Chamonix in 1924, the athletes who took part were already en- joying the benefits of a number of innova- tions in sportswear and accessories. Much of the winter sports fashion in the 1920s was influenced by what had been devel- oped during the First World War. Female skiers could finally throw off their skirts and adopt wide-legged woollen trousers. The outfits worn by both sexes were inspired by military clothing, with jackets featuring several pockets, caps instead of hats and sombre colours, generally made of thick wool, gabardine or tweed. Previously used only for work clothing among the lower echelons of society, mesh brought new freedom and became fashionable.
In the 1930s, some manufacturers tried to make clothing waterproof, with rub- ber-based flexible material used for cuffs and ankle coverings to help keep the wearers dry. Skiers wanted to be more aerodynamic, which led to more form-fit- ting clothes. The adoption of zip fasteners made it easier to put clothes on and take them off, and to wear several layers.
For the rest, accessories like helmets and gloves were made of leather, with wood or bamboo used for skis, ski poles and hock- ey sticks. In every sport, including bob- sleigh, there was minimal protection.
After the Second World War, new materials like nylon and polyester appeared. These
PyeongChang 2018 Winter OG, Skeleton, individual Men - 2nd run, Akwasi FRIMPONG (GHA) leaps onto the sled at start. © 2018 / Comité International
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offered better waterproofing and insulating properties, leading to more functional and comfortable winter clothes that allowed their wearers to stay outside and train for longer. Other materials found new uses in the sports industry like aluminium, wel- comed for its lightness. Frenchman Jean Vuarnet became the first skier to win a medal on metal skis, at the Olympic Winter Games in 1960.
This period marked a turning point, with the introduction of double-lens goggles to avoid the build-up of condensation, and plastic boots to replace the heavy leather ones. The use of polyurethane foam ex- panded after the war, improving the com- fort and safety of a wide range of winter sports accessories, particularly boots and helmets. In the 1970s, the clothes became brighter and more form-fitting. Since 1960, all figure skating competitions have
been held indoors. The skaters’ outfits have got shorter and more theatrical, even though it was not until the 1980s that cos- tumes were chosen to match the music used.
Composite materials that combine the properties of several different materials revolutionised the equipment used in many sports. Wind tunnel testing became obliga- tory for developing equipment, sometimes with unexpected results, like the egg- shaped helmets used by the German lugers at the 1976 Games in Innsbruck, although
these were later banned on safety grounds. In the decades that followed, technological innovation sped up further, with the advent of sophisticated materials like in the out- fit worn by the US alpine ski team at the Olympic Winter Games Turin 2006, which included foam designed to harden when subjected to a sudden impact. Other trends have emerged in recent years. These in- clude: shapes, fabrics and structures in- spired by nature; compression to reduce the build-up of lactic acid; laser cutting; 3D printing; and captors built into accessories. Equipment manufacturers seek to outdo each other in finding ingenious solutions to offer greater comfort and safety, and at the same time reduce their industry’s carbon footprint. The focus is now also on the style and design of sportswear, with input from fashion designers. In these sophisticated outfits, Olympic athletes look more like su- perheroes.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Diane Elisabeth Poirier (2002) Le ski et ses modes; 100 ans de sports d’hiver, La Table Ronde, Levallois
Marie Grasse Ed. (2015) En Mode Sport, exhibition cata- logue, Musée National du Sport, Nice, Somogy éditions d’art, Paris
Mohammed El Khatib (2021) La passion du mouvement; l’épopée Fusalp, Editions La Martinière, Paris
Sarah E. Braddock, Marie O'Mahony (2002) Sportstech; Revolutionary Fabrics, Fashion and Design, Thames & Hudson, London
This article was first published in Edition 121 of Olym- pic Review, the Official Magazine of the Olympic Movement. It is reproduced here with the permission of the IOC – all rights reserved.