As we get closer to the Olympics, more fashion brands are getting in on the opportunity to sponsor teams and work directly with athletes. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Glossy Podcast for interviews with fashion industry leaders and Week in Review episodes, and the Glossy Beauty Podcast for interviews from the beauty industry. –Danny Parisi, sr. fashion reporter
The Olympic opportunity
The Olympics are just around the corner, and the fashion brand partnerships and campaigns continue to pile up.
At the beginning of last week, Athleta released a Paris Olympics-themed campaign featuring American gold medalists Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky. The campaign included a commercial, which was the brand’s first-ever TV ad.
Elsewhere, brands rolled out partnerships with Olympians and sports teams. J.Crew is working with the U.S. women’s swim team on a campaign featuring the team and a limited-edition product collaboration of swimwear and beachwear. Zenni Optical announced basketball player and soon-to-be Olympian Jrue Holiday as its new ambassador. And even Shein got in on the action, announcing a curated collection releasing this week in partnership with former Olympian and Olympics commentator Sanya Richards-Ross.
Glossy has already reported on ways brands are capitalizing on the Olympics moment in multiple stories this year. And considering the number of Olympics-themed collaborations, campaigns and collections pouring in, the topic is set to remain a theme across our fashion and beauty coverage.
In the latest Glossy Week in Review Podcast, editor-in-chief Jill Manoff and I discussed one of the downsides to the Olympics: It often leads to decreased retail revenue in the cities where it’s located. Executives at Paris-based Galeries Lafayette reportedly expect the retailer’s revenue will be down during the disruption of the event, but they’re confident the Games will have a halo effect on sales in the months after.
The drive for brands to sponsor or work with athletes has extended beyond the Olympics. For example, last week, in its first official sports partnership, Spanx became the official partner of League One Volleyball, the largest women’s volleyball league in the U.S. And on Thursday Italian luxury fashion brand Palm Angels became the official “life and style curator” of the Argentine national soccer team, dressing the players off the field as they compete in the ongoing Copa America.
As we get closer to the opening ceremony at the end of July, more brands will likely join the companies aiming to capitalize on the event’s popularity.
