From Fringe to Baby Oil, Here Are 9 Eye-Catching Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony Looks

The displays did not disappoint.

US Olympic luge veteran Erin Hamlin carries the US flag at the 2018 opening ceremony.Mark Reis via ZUMA Wire

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Fashion Week kicked off in New York City on Thursday, but nearly 7,000 miles away in Pyeongchang, almost 3,000 Olympic athletes from 92 countries were preparing for a fashion show of their own. Cue the 2018 Olympics Parade of Nations, a highlight of the opening ceremonies in which athletes marched wearing international couture, their countries’ respective flags held high.

Replete with a rainbow of puffy parkas, the South Korean stadium became a personal runway for the Olympians. Some outfits screamed fashion, while others elicited storms of online snark. We’ve brought you the good, the bad, and the body-oiled below. 

The American team stepped out in uniforms designed by Ralph Lauren, whose brand is famous for its all-American aesthetic. Although the team’s opening ceremony outfits were unveiled in January, social media exploded with commentary on Friday, when the athletes took to the stadium.

Twitter users compared the athletes’ workman-style gloves to looks from Dumb and Dumber, Marvel’s Doctor Strange, and falconers

David Lauren, chief innovation officer for Ralph Lauren, said the design combines “fashion and function” that also “celebrates the American spirit.”

These guys seemed to enjoy them:

An athlete from team USA points during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics

Clive Mason/Pool Photo via AP

The Nigerian team wore my personal favorite ensemble—crisp, green-and-white blazers.

Athletes of Nigeria enter the stadium during the opening ceremony.

Kyodo via AP Images

Slovenia’s team was decked out nearly head-to-toe in a shade that calls to mind bright lime highlighters. Their athletic ensembles were designed by Chinese sportswear company PEAK, which also created the uniforms for Teams Brazil, New Zealand, Iceland, Ukraine, and Romania.

Cross-country skier Vesna Fabjan of Slovenia carries the national flag during the Parade of Nations.

Sharifulin Valery/TASS via ZUMA Press

Several other teams decided to go green this year. Here’s Bulgaria…

Bulgarian athletes march in the Parade of Nations.

Ulrik Pedersen/CSM via ZUMA Wire

…and Jamaica.

Jamaica’s team enters the stadium at the opening ceremony.

Michael Kappeler/DPA via ZUMA Press

Australia’s dark teal snow pants make for a nicely-rounded color scheme.

Snowboarder Scotty James of Australia carries the national flag during the Parade of Nations.

Sharifulin Valery/TASS via ZUMA Press

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan came through in a baby blue ombre.

Delegation from Kazakhstan takes part in the Parade of Nations.

Sharifulin Valery/TASS via ZUMA Press

Notably absent of color were the outfits of the Olympic Athletes of Russia—not to be confused with the Russian team, which was barred from the Games by the International Olympic Committee in December. Instead, they wore “neutral” uniforms designed by Anastasia Zadorina, who launched her ZA Sport line in 2012.

Participants from Russia during the opening ceremony.

Petter Arvidson/Bildbyran via ZUMA Press

Tonga’s flag-bearer did the most with the least. 

Pita Taufatofua from Tonga carries his country’s flag into the stadium at the opening ceremony.

Daniel Karmann/DPA via ZUMA Press

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate