Later this month, Team USA will be heading to the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Notably, the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team will include five leading athletes: Simon Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera—all of whom will compete wearing custom leotard designs by GK Elite, the sportswear company that has been manufacturing Team USA’s uniforms since 2000. “We’ve really come to know exactly what the athletes like,” says Jeanne Diaz, GK Elite’s design director.
ROBERT J POLETT
Unveiled today, are this year’s sparkly—and performance-ready—designs. Diaz and her design team have spent the last two years bringing Team USA’s 2024 leotards to life. “We started that far in advance because we really wanted to make sure we had a strong foundation,” says Diaz, “to come out with a really cohesive collection, in addition to surveying the athletes and getting their input.” GK Elite created over 10 different leotard designs —all in patriotic shades of red, white, and blue, of course.
Though it was important for the leotards to have style—theatrics is part of gymnastics, after all—Diaz says it was crucial for the garments to be built around function. “First and foremost, it is a performance garment; We have to think about their comfort and movement,” she says. To that end, four-way stretch fabrics were employed, including a custom red-dyed stretch satin. “It moves with the body, so that their mind isn’t on what they’re wearing,” says Diaz.