Devin Booker stands out as Americans flash Ralph Lauren outfits at Olympics opening ceremony

Ralph Lauren provided every American athlete with the same fit for the Paris Olympics opening ceremony Friday, but Devin Booker was among those rocking something a little different.

Or at least he rocked it differently.

The USA Basketball delegation departs for #Paris2024 #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/Hzdz7VtuYx

— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 26, 2024

While he still wore the navy blazers, blue jeans and blue-and-white striped buttondown as every other United States athlete, Booker stood out with an untucked shirt and his sportscoat hanging over his shoulder. He also donned a backwards hat for the occasion.

And those were not the Olympic-standard shoes most everyone else was wearing.

It appears the navy tie was relatively optional for the Americans.

Booker walked out with a group of USA Basketball players that included Suns forward Kevin Durant, as well as Mercury stars Brittney Griner, Diana Taurasi and Kahleah Copper.

LeBron James also stood out among the other basketball players. As flag bearer with the United States alongside tennis star Coco Gauff, he got fitted with a white blazer.

Four teams, 32 Olympians.

Sending off our 5×5 & 3×3 athletes to the #OpeningCeremony#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/WlAHmGiw7Y

— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 26, 2024

A white coat fit for a king.

👑 LeBron gets ready for his @TeamUSA Flag Bearer duties. pic.twitter.com/Xaii47A8wD

— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 26, 2024

Ralph Lauren outfits Americans for Paris Olympics opening, closing ceremonies

For the last summer games in steamy Tokyo, Ralph Lauren outfitted athletes with something cool — literally — a technology that directed heat away through a fan device at the back of the neck.

For steamy Paris, he’s introducing another type of cool: good old American jeans.

“Nothing says America like blue jeans, especially when we’re in Paris,” said David Lauren, the label’s chief branding and innovation officer and the founder’s son, upon revealing the design in June.

For its ninth turn dressing Team USA for opening and closing ceremonies, Ralph Lauren says it will be fitting each athlete personally. For the opening ceremony they’ll be wearing tailored navy blazers with blue-and-white striped Oxford shirts — and those blue jeans.

For the closing ceremony, the team will wear white jeans with matching jackets in red, white and blue. Lauren called the closing ceremony looks “more graphic, more fun, a little more exciting.”

What other fashion brands will be represented at the Olympics?

Sure, they call it the City of Light. But Paris is also the City of Fashion, one of most influential fashion capitals of the world for decades, no, centuries (remember Louis XIV?)

So it’s no surprise that fashion designers across the globe are busy getting their national team uniforms ready for their unique spotlight. When it comes to high-end Olympic fashion — be it for Friday’s festive opening ceremonies, or for competition — all runways lead to Paris.

Stella Jean will be there, styling each of Haiti’s dozen or so athletes herself. Jean, an Italian-Haitian designer based in Rome, figures she has exactly two seconds, on opening ceremony night, to make an impression on the world — an impression that may reverberate for years. “For these athletes, it’s a victory just to be here,” says Jean, whose vivid, colorful design is intended to highlight the cultural vitality of the Caribbean nation.

On the other end of the size (and budget) spectrum is Ralph Lauren, who will outfit hundreds of athletes of the US team at opening and closing ceremonies, for the ninth time. Lauren, who’s presenting a casual look of blue jeans and blazers, is of course one of the world’s richest designers, along with Giorgio Armani, who has been designing Italy’s uniforms since 2012.

Countless other designers have gotten involved — including, this year, more young, “indie” labels eager to make a splash. It’s also a chance to emphasize qualities such as sustainability in fashion and adaptability, too, as in designs for the Paralympics.

“Designers and manufacturers now realize this can be a huge platform for them, for many things,” says Alison Brown, who co-hosts a podcast on all things Olympics, “Keep the Flame Alive.” For example: “Sustainability is a huge buzzword now for this whole Olympics,” she says.

And so is style — because, well, Paris.

“You always want to represent your country, and you want to represent the athletes. But it seems like this time, the pressure to do it well has been turned up a notch,” Brown says.

Some emerging details on various uniform designs:

The Associated Press contributed to this story