Lifestyle
From Team South Sudan to Team Nigeria, Black brands and designers are getting in on the Paris Olympics.
In 2016, during the Rio Olympic Summer Games, Team Nigeria famously arrived for the opening ceremony in simple white and green tracksuits. Their actual opening ceremony kits failed to arrive in time. By the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, Black-owned sportswear brand Actively Black, founded by former professional basketball player Lanny Smith, sponsored Team Nigeria, outfitting them for the games and their opening and closing ceremonies.
This partnership has continued for the 2024 Paris Olympics, with Nigeria once again donning duds by the small Los Angeles-based sports apparel brand.
According to a release to theGrio, this year’s kits include looks for the entire 200-plus member delegation, including apparel for the opening and closing ceremonies, uniforms for competing athletes in track and field, and all casualwear for the delegation at the Olympic Village.
“To see a Black-owned brand on the same global stage as Nike and Lululemon and Adidas, it makes everyone start to look at us differently,” Smith told the New York Times. “It’s a major moment for us.”
The release said the Actively Black Olympic kit “brings together the traditional and the modern.” The uniforms for competing athletes feature silhouettes designed for optimal performance. Meanwhile, at the Olympic Village, the delegation will sport athleisure and casualwear featuring “traditional” Nigerian prints in a black, green, and white colorway embellished with the Nigerian Olympic logo.
“Designers Jordan Jackson and Danielle McCoy evoked the traditional, reimagining The Market as a conceptual vehicle to showcase the diversity and cultural nuance of Nigerian identity,” the release said.
Haniyah Philogene
Associated Press
Kay Wicker
Associated Press
Kay Wicker
Kay Wicker
Haniyah Philogene
Kay Wicker
The opening and closing ceremonial looks also feature a classic block print in the green and white of the Nigerian flag, and are made from Funtua cotton, which is named after the Nigerian state where it is produced.
Since Actively Black kicked off this partnership with Team Nigeria, it hasn’t been the only Black brand to join the fun. This year, several teams and athletes have been outfitted by Black brands and designers throughout their Olympic journey.
Before the opening ceremonies, Alaysha Johnson, a Black runner on the U.S. team, qualified for the Paris games while wearing HMN ALNS. Liberian-American designer Telfar Clemens made headlines when it was revealed his eponymous brand had once again designed the official Olympic kits for Team Liberia, which include opening ceremony looks and uniforms for the competing athletes. Team Haiti’s 15-member delegation arrived in elegant opening ceremony looks designed by Haitian-Italian designer Stella Jean that reimagined the colors associated with their flag and paid homage to Haitian painter Philippe Dodard.
“For these athletes, it’s a victory just to be here,” Jean told AP News, referring to the fact that since 2021, Haiti has been experiencing one of its worst periods of instability and political turmoil in modern history.
Meanwhile, Team South Sudan nearly broke the internet when they arrived in Black suits designed by Moses Turahirwa with more drip than the whole of the River Seine (including custom cuts for each team member!). As their Olympic rival LeBron James said, “Them boys was clean AF.”
Team Nigeria’s 2024 Paris Olympic kits by Actively Black. (Photo credit: Actively Black)
Blessing Ejiofor #22 of Team Nigeria looks on during the Women’s Group Phase – B match between Team Nigeria and Team Australia on day three of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade Pierre Mauroy on July 29, 2024 in Lille, France. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Amy Okonkwo #0 and Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah #3 of Team Nigeria cele r during the Women’s Group Phase – B match between Team Nigeria and Team Australia on day three of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade Pierre Mauroy on July 29, 2024 in Lille, France. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Athletes from team Liberia disembark their boat on the River Seine during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on July 26, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Annegret Hilse-Pool/Getty Images)
Thelma Davies and Emmanuel Matadi, Flagbearers of Team Liberia, are seen on a boat waving their flag along the River Seine during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on July 26, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Team South Sudan are seen on a boat on the River Seine during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on July 26, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Lynnzee Brown and Philippe Abel Metellus, Flagbearers of Team Haiti, are seen on a boat waving their flag along the River Seine during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on July 26, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Bronze medalist Grace Stark, silver medalist Alaysha Johnson, and gold medalist Masai Russell pose with their medals after competing in the women’s 100 meter hurdles final on Day Ten of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials at Hayward Field on June 30, 2024 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Team Nigeria’s 2024 Paris Olympic kits by Actively Black. (Photo credit: Actively Black)
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