Anika Begay
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games medals are displayed inside a custom trunk produced by Louis Vuitton, LVMH brand partner of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, during a meeting at LVMH in Paris on July 22, 2024, ahead of the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Stephane De Sakutin | AFP | Getty Images
Whether it was the Moët champagne poured to celebrate a victory or the custom trunks made by Louis Vuitton for the awards ceremonies, luxury was on full display at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
For Carly Duguid, creative director of tennis and fashion star Naomi Osaka, luxury fashion and athletics are the perfect combination.
“There are strong parallels between athletes and brands in their commitment to quality and excellence,” Duguid told Vscek.
In the age of influencers, fashion has quickly embraced the world of sports and elevated athletes to fashion trendsetters. These global stars help connect brands to a whole new market of fans and potential new buyers.
Osaka was the first athlete to partner with Louis Vuitton, whose roster now includes Victor Wembanyama, Carlos Alcaraz and many French Olympians and Paralympians.
LVMH isn’t alone. Gucci has an ambassador in British footballer Jack Grealish and has placed billboards in cities featuring Italian tennis champion Jannik Skinner. At the 2024 WNBA draft, Caitlin Clark was the first professional basketball player to wear Prada, and she continues to wear classic designer pieces throughout the season. Dozens of luxury designers dressed national teams for the opening ceremony for the first time, marking not only new connections between athletics and fashion, but also between athletics and the Olympic Games.
LVMH has set out to do much more than simply partner with athletes, becoming the first luxury brand to be an Olympic sponsor.
The investment of about $160 million, representing nearly 1% of LVMH’s 2023 earnings as the parent company of brands including Celine, Louis Vuitton, Loewe, Sephora and Dom Perignon, provided luxury elements to the Games, from medals designed by Chaumet to French athletes wearing Berluti-designed outfits during the opening ceremony to medal bearers wearing vintage-style LVMH uniforms that were quintessentially French.
LVMH Financials, Luxury Goods Purchases and Olympic Growth
Participation in the world’s biggest sporting events could give LVMH a boost at a time when overall spending on luxury goods is slowing.
LVMH missed its second-quarter revenue and sales targets, and the luxury sector more generally is reeling from falling global demand, largely due to growing financial instability and a shrinking market for “aspirational” consumers, or young, first-time luxury buyers.
Milton Pedraza, CEO of luxury consultancy The Luxury Institute, said that new potential buyers, rather than buying a “no-name belt,” will see athletes at the Olympics surrounded by LVMH branding and want to buy those luxury items.
Luxury brands used to focus on the most expensive and exclusive sports, like tennis and sailing, but now they sell what Pedraza calls “inclusiveness with exclusivity.”
“Today, with many of the emerging wealthy being athletes, actors, social media influencers, there is much more than a [idea that] “Regardless of race, creed, gender or any other background you may have, you too can participate in luxury if you reach the economic capacity,” Pedraza said.
A new era of luxury in athletics?
LVMH brought classic French glamour to the World Games with its cutting-edge opening ceremony, but the brand’s reach extends far beyond French culture.
“Sport, luxury and fashion unite us… Shared culture is the goal to ensure that luxury brands… extend,” Pedraza said.
The night before the opening ceremony, Osaka attended a party attended by famous athletes at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in the heart of Paris, alongside LeBron James and Serena Williams, as well as actors, artists and other business moguls wearing LVMH brands.
Duguid called it “the perfect opportunity for the athlete ambassadors to showcase themselves and support their partnerships with LVMH, while celebrating the start of the Games.”
As each medal tray carried to the champions’ podium is decorated with the chequered pattern that has long characterized the brand, “[LVMH’s] “Our presence will be felt in every aspect of the Games,” said Duguid.
Disclosure: Vscek’s parent company, NBCUniversal, owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder for all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.
