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Louise Thomas
Editor
As the world prepares for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which is scheduled to kick off on July 26, each country is readying its team with the unveiling of uniforms.
While Team USA’s Ralph Lauren looks mimic a resounding patriotism with Ivy League-style garments, fans are particularly captivated by Mongolia’s Olympics uniform symbolizing the country’s striking culture.
On July 2, Michel & Amazonka revealed Mongolia’s uniforms for the opening and closing ceremonies, marking the third year as the country’s official Olympic designers.
Models Solongo-Uyanga and Kio were pictured in long white pleated skirts, cream-colored pointed-toe flats, a white deel with a black collar, and an embroidered vest. The female athletes will also wear drop-down red earrings and a black coin purse with intricate stitching. Meanwhile, the male competitors will don a similar ensemble: ivory trousers and a blue, red, and gold-hued deel.
Each article of clothing pays homage to the country’s culture with embroidered symbols like the moon, the sun, and the mythical deer from traditional folklore, a Gua-Maral.
Michel & Amazonka, helmed by design duo Michel Choigaalaa and Amazonka Choigaalaa, confessed the individual uniforms took more than 20 hours to make. In a Facebook post from July 8, the couture brand noted how each garment was constructed to fit the exact body measurements of the athlete it was created for. What’s more, the brand spent three months on the entire collection.
Instagram and TikTok users were mesmerized by the carefully crafted garments and adornments, flooding the comments section of Michel & Amazonka posts to compliment the brand’s work.
“This is Mongolian Haute Couture!!! Giving lessons in the country of the Haute Couture,” one Instagram user wrote, while another admitted: “Very very beautiful I would like to wear it myself.”
One person questioned whether the brand planned to offer replicas for spectators, asking: “It will be available for the public?!”
Bee Jamieson, a self-proclaimed sports enthusiast, has been reviewing each country’s uniforms as they’ve come out. When her followers caught wind of Mongolia’s ensembles, they impatiently requested her opinion.
“I love it,” Jamieson started her TikTok video. “I did see one comment saying that there are mixed reviews, think it’s a bit too dated, a bit over the top.”
“I’m a white Australian so, like, I don’t have, like, a lot of tradition and history - all of my family members are English,” she continued. “So I look at this and I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s incredible.’ The detailing is really beautiful. It looks like everything’s been really well thought out.”
Jamieson specifically favored the “little bags” designed for the female athletes. She added: “I think that when it comes to the Olympics, you have to be over the top. And this is beautiful.”
Her followers agreed, like one person who proclaimed: “People should really take a note from Mongolia. This is elegant, traditional but at the same time modern. I LOVE it.”
