Ralph Lauren unveils Team USA’s Olympic uniforms

By ALYCE BROWN

NEW YORK (AP) — Ralph Lauren revealed Team USA’s Milan Cortina Winter Olympics looks Thursday, complete with Americana knit sweaters and plenty of vintage call-backs.

The formal opening ceremony look pairs a patterned red, white and blue knit sweater with tailored cream trousers and a matching wool coat. Moving sportier, the closing ceremony outfit features a graphic puffer coat inspired by vintage ski kits over a color-blocked sweater.

“We are creating something that we know has to become timeless and has to be something that people will wear forever and appreciate forever,” said David Lauren, the Chief Branding and Innovation Officer at Ralph Lauren. “So in creating jackets like this and creating things, we’re looking at the things that we most cherish. Things that are already enduring parts of the Ralph Lauren lexicon, and then we’ll build on that.”

Beyond the ceremony looks, a Team USA collection, which will also be given to athletes as Olympic village wear, became available to public Thursday.

The collection follows similar design themes as the opening and closing ceremony looks, with classic red, white and blue patterning on lots of knits, and includes Ralph Lauren’s versions of winter staples like bomber jackets and hockey jerseys.

The process of creating these looks is a long one. The Ralph Lauren team, which has been designing Team USA’s Olympic apparel since 2008, starts on each Olympics’ ...