Name: An Inside Look at Team USA’s $3,000 Gymnastics Leotards With 47,000 Crystals
Uploaded: 2024-07-29
Duration: 4 min 58 s
Description: The Olympics gymnastics tumbling floor is basically a designer runway, with athletes donning $3,000 leotards adorned with thousands upon thousands of Swarovski crystals. Fortune spoke with design team GK Elite about the craft that goes into these stunning garments and the evolution of Olympic gymnastics fashion over the years.

The Olympics gymnastics tumbling floor is basically a designer runway, with athletes donning $3,000 leotards adorned with thousands upon thousands of Swarovski crystals. Fortune spoke with design team GK Elite about the craft that goes into these stunning garments and the evolution of Olympic gymnastics fashion over the years. 

An Inside Look at Team USA’s $3,000 Gymnastics Leotards With 47,000 Crystals

Luxury

The Olympics gymnastics floor is a runway, with athletes in $3,000 leotards covered in Swarovski crystals. Fortune discussed the craft and evolution of these garments with GK Elite.

Paris is set to showcase a unique runway this summer on its Olympic gymnastics tumbling floor. This unofficial fashion week has the US gymnastics team fighting for gold and eight custom made leotards sparkling with 47,000 Swarovski crystals. The dazzling costumes aren't for sale but would retail for about $3000 each. The entire collection. We wanted to make sure that we were elevating the looks of team usa and connecting fashion which Paris is the world center of fashion. So connecting the location of the Olympics with team USA created by the Pennsylvania based company GK Elite. These leotards feature up to 10,000 crystals each meticulously arranged on custom fabric. The red, white and blue color scheme shows off the athletes nationality. While the intricate crystal patterns pay tribute to Paris. The city of light, the crisscross design comes into play mimicking corsetry and then also having the pearls hand placed in the back too. The mesh used in this leotard is called Jac card mesh and we are the only gymnastics manufacturer in the world to offer this mesh to our customers. It's super soft, super comfortable and it has a lace effect to it without actually being lac. So has that comfort element but also has the high fashion element with the Olympic Games only happening once every four years. Annie Heffernan, vice president of the women's program at USA Gymnastics told the Washington Post quote, regardless of their performance, I want them to feel amazing and beautiful when they go out and represent the US in a leotard that they can be proud of when designing. We don't really have to worry about how our designs are going to affect functionality. Certain gym bring in their own personality into each garment that they wear. So even though it was designed with team mentality with the styling of it, they can really let their own skills and personality shine on that world stage. Though gymnastic uniforms have always been eye catching according to the New York Times bedazzled leotards emerged around the early two thousands with just a few crystals here and there to catch the light in the arena. But the trends accelerated dramatically this century with the of crystals per leotard going from under 200 in 2008 to up to 10,000 per uniform. Now, back in 2016, a rep from GK le even predicted quote, we may have hit peak crystal only for the number of Swarovski crystals to double. Since that we wanted to make sure that we were keeping with patriotic red, white and blue tones. We incorporated our slate mystique and then we paired it with a grounding black to really let the crystal design pop and do the talking and then the negative space stars are created through the stone being clustered on the outside of the star. And we have touches of gold in the crystal design to really pay homage to our dynasty that USA Gymnastics has built. These eye catching uniforms might be hard to miss, but it's the athletes who truly steal the show a whopping 8.2 million viewers tuned in to watch Simone Biles clinch her spot in the US Olympic Gymnastics team last month making it one of the top rated moments of this year's US trials with seven Olympic medals. Biles has rocketed herself and gymnastics into the heart of American pop culture being so overtly inspired by the American flag just helps that sense of patriotism and representing your country, which is really what the Olympics is all about and that spirit of strong athleticism and strong patriotism just merging together beyond their stunning appearance. These intricate leotards have boosted athletes confidence at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. US. Gymnasts dubbed one particular leotard quote our lucky leo because every athlete who wore it won a medal as these garments have become more popular among competitors. Gymnasts have personalized the colors and patterns to reflect their own tastes. Strong inspiration from icons like Beyonce in a sport where athletes often earn more from a endorsements than from competition winnings creating a recognizable brand is essential. And these stunning leotards play a crucial role in that branding. I think as Americans, we all have kind of this universal experience of going to fireworks and having the bright, bold, beautiful lights in the sky with the sparkling streams, kind of leaving everybody wanting for more. I think there's no better way than to embody the national team in that same way. They're bright, they're beautiful, they're strong and we've all just been dying to see what they're going to do next.