How fashion and sports delivered a stylish victory in 2024

This year, the fashion and sports craze is at its peak.

Brands and groups competed to sponsor sporting events around the world, while top athletes took pride in being in the front row and continued to set trends with their style.

There was plenty on the scoreboard to confirm its status as a high-profile arena, from numerous ambassador announcements and national team uniforms to F1 and tunnel style.

And this year has been rich with opportunities thanks to large-scale events such as the Super Bowl in February, the Euro 2024 Football Championship in June, and the Annual Championship.

Throughout the year, it was clear that fashion had become a competitive sport for many athletes.

A great example of this is the NBA and WNBA tunnel walkouts. It’s a way for fashion and sports fans to take note of an athlete’s unique looks, showcase their personality, and also start a partnership.

The biggest stage of all was the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics, dubbed the “Fashion Olympics,” with LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton as a premium sponsor and a runway-like opening and closing ceremony.

The most talked about uniform was the Mongolian national team’s uniform, designed by local brand Michel & Amazonka. They weren’t the only ones who left their mark on Olympic fashion history.

From LVMH-owned Berluti, which outfitted the hosts France and Team USA’s delegation, to IGC Fashion, the Ugandan streetwear label that upcycled hundreds of garments to outfit their breakdancing compatriots, Companies responded to calls from the sports world to provide costumes for the 204 participating athletes. Belgian national team design by dressage rider and designer Alexa Fairchild.

The athletes all wanted to accessorize with their crowning jewel: the medals designed by Chaumet for this year’s Olympians and Paralympians. For Louis Vuitton, they created trunks to store valuable prizes, trays, and uniforms of athletes holding medals.

LVMH also sponsored seven French athlete executives, along with headliners Louis Vuitton and Dior. The latter also separately named a group of 15 female athletes for the Olympics.

Who won the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Games?

“Fashion brands are harnessing the power of social media to connect with fans, and this is the summer of the well-dressed athlete,” said Jay Prasad, CEO of California data company Relometrics. There is no doubt that it happened,” he commented. A sports marketing measurement company that uses AI to power data analysis.

And for the brand, it was a winning formula in terms of name recognition.

Relo noted that all social media posts that connected the brand to the national team performed on average 21 times better than brand-only content.

LVMH took gold for social media visibility, followed by Ralph Lauren and Lululemon.

Overall, LVMH’s premium partnership with the Olympics has raised the bar for fashion brands and the visibility of their brands in terms of media impact value as measured by Launchmetrics.

Dior took first place, earning $53 million in MIV across the games, much of which was generated by Celine Dion and Lady Gaga wearing the LVMH-owned brand at the opening ceremony.

Ralph Lauren and Skims also scored in partnership with Team USA, while Oakley used its campaign with soccer player Kylian Mbappé to generate buzz during the tournament.

There was plenty on offer for spectators as well, with brands tapping into the Olympic spirit with capsules and limited edition products.

The impact of the Olympics on sports-related fashion purchases is clear. Another report released in August by marketplace StockX and end-to-end AI search platform Algolia found that consumers are more interested in shopping in the primary and secondary markets to support their national teams and top athletes. A rapidly increasing number of details have been pointed out.

Athletes as fashion stars

This year also confirmed the importance of athletes as ambassadors for fashion brands.

Fashion takes a lot of heat, and much of it is deserved, because it focuses too much on the surface and not enough on the essence. And tying it to sports brings out some of the better angles of the industry, WWD’s Evan Clark wrote in July.

Much of fashion marketing relies heavily on glamor, but by using athletes on the pitch, brands can reach other points and rely on things like fortitude, performance, and competitiveness.

Brandon Brown, president of the Sports Marketing Association, called sports a “unique medium” that resonates around the world.

“Today’s athletes and sports convey values ​​of excellence, passion, and high standards, which are reflected in the craftsmen who perform each movement with precision every day to create some of the world’s most beautiful products. It reflects our values,” he told WWD about the environment at LVMH.

“From a strategic perspective, collaborations and partnerships with sports and athletes allow us to reach a wider audience than more ‘classic’ ambassadors and campaigns,” he continued.

Therefore, reservations were quickly and abundantly received throughout the year, and athletes continued to shine at fashion weeks.

The year started with golf, with Jason Day named the first ambassador for Malbon, the streetwear-inspired golf brand founded in 2017 by Stephen and Erica Malbon. LPGA pros Charlie Hull and Jeong-Eun Lee (Lee6) soon followed. Jesper Parnevik is a Swedish professional golfer currently playing in the PGA Tour Champions League.

There have also been tie-ups with sports giants, such as Reebok partnering with NFL star Julian Edelman and the WNBA’s Angel Reese, who will release her signature sneaker in 2026.

After the Olympics, boxer and Olympic gold medalist Imane Kerif brought her $4.4 million Echo MIV to attend Bottega Veneta’s Spring 2025 show in Milan. Tennis champion Jannik Sinner also brought in $263,000 for Gucci that week.

At New York Fashion Week, gymnast Sunissa Lee and track and field athlete Gabby Thomas teamed up to bring a total of $636,000 in MIV to the Tommy Hilfiger show.

On racetracks, courts and runways

In 2024, the fashion world also showed its love for F1, with a surge in the number of sponsorships between brands, teams, drivers and the sport itself.

British driver Lewis Hamilton was appointed Dior brand ambassador in July and will also be guest designer for the French brand’s new lifestyle collection.

And despite motorsport’s long-standing association with luxury goods, its now vast range means more brands are capitalizing on its popularity.

Trendalytics data shows brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Reese, PacSun and Palm Angels, as well as luggage brand Tumi, topping the popular list, as well as LVMH-owned Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer. Ta.

And tennis did not sit on the bench.

Lacoste returned to the runway under creative director Pelagia Kolotouros in March, extended its partnership with Roland Garros until 2030 in June, and announced the launch of the Rolex Paris Masters Tennis Tournament in October. Became a premium partner.

Gucci spotlighted its historical ties to sport dating back to the 70s. First, Italian ace Yannick Sinner spearheaded the campaign by appearing on court at Roland Garros with a Gucci x Head all-white leather duffel bag, the result of a one-off collaboration. Then the Italian luxury brand presented a capsule collection.

Meanwhile, Nike has teamed up with tennis superstar Naomi Osaka and fashion designer Yoon Ahn to create a competition kit to celebrate Osaka’s return to the US Open.

In sailing, Loro Piana was the official title sponsor of the 71st Giraria Regatta, a five-day coastal race held along the coast of Italy and Saint-Tropez in June.

And after making a splash at the Olympics, Louis Vuitton is heading into even bigger territory with the America’s Cup. Pietro Beccari, chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton, said in an interview with WWD that sport is very much “in the air” and closer to fashion and luxury than ever before. Prada was once again one of the challengers for the America’s Cup, but lost to England’s Ineos team in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, Barcelona-based beauty and fashion group Puig has become a major sponsor of the first women-only America’s Cup, launching a race series it aims to continue for years to come.

According to fashion search engine Tagwalk, sports gained more attention in September and emerged as a prominent trend in the spring 2025 shows.

Overall, sportswear increased by 25% in spring 2025 compared to spring 2024, according to fashion search engine Tagwalk.

It wasn’t a full-fledged sportswear look, but more of a mix-and-match approach with sports-inspired pieces sprinkled into your everyday wardrobe.

These include hoodies with sequined dresses from Burberry, windbreakers paired with midi skirts from the likes of Miu Miu, baseball caps incorporated into preppy outfits from the likes of Ralph Lauren, rugby polo shirts, and Loewe. There were dresses like this and sneakers that matched with tailored pants like Gucci.

According to Tagwalk, brands such as Dior, Miu Miu and Casablanca are leading this trend.

Looking to the future

The industry as a whole plans to continue its winning streak into 2025 and beyond.

Agache, a holding company run by the family of luxury brand mogul Bernard Arnault, announced in October that it had entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire a majority stake in soccer club Paris FC.

In the same month, Arnault’s LVMH announced it had signed a deal to become F1’s global luxury partner for the next 10 years, starting with the 2025 season.

Touted as the most prestigious auto racing competition, the Automobile Championship Series attracted 6 million race participants and a total television audience of 1.5 billion over 24 races last year. The average number of spectators per race is around 70 million, but some numbers exceed 100 million. The tournament’s social media tally also exceeds 60 million fans across all platforms.

Meanwhile, soon-to-be former F1 sponsor Rolex has turned its attention to another moto racing discipline: sailing. In November, the watchmaker announced it would become SailGP’s title partner for 10 years. SailGP is a championship co-founded in 2018 in which national teams race on identical high-tech, high-speed 50-foot foil catamarans in 14 events around the world.

Chanel also takes to the water. The French fashion house has become the title sponsor and official timing partner of Britain’s oldest major sporting event. The event is a boat race held every spring between Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and from next year it will be known as the Chanel J12 Boat Race.

Therefore, there is no time to cool down while the match lasts.