DecathaLAW Series 2026: Article 2
When athletes first competed at the Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix in 1924, survival mattered far more than style. Early competitors competed through snow and ice wrapped in thick wool sweaters, leather boots, and heavy cotton trousers. The goal was simple: stay warm long enough to finish.
A century later, Winter Olympians are wrapped in garments engineered with precision, designed not merely to protect against cold, but to shave milliseconds from a downhill run, stabilize muscles mid‑rotation, and regulate body heat. As the Winter Games head to Milan Cortina, winter sports apparel has become one of the most technologically sophisticated frontiers in elite performance.
1920s and 1930s: Warmth Over Performance
In the early decades of the Winter Olympics, clothing focused on warmth, which often hindered athletic movement. In the 1920s and 1930s, winter athletes wore competition gear made of wool to keep warm. Speedskater Irving Jaffee won two gold medals at the 1932 Winter Games wearing thick sweaters and leggings made of wool [1]. Female figure skaters often competed in full-length wool skirts and sweaters [2] [4]. However, wool absorbs moisture, causing the gear to become heavier as events progress.
As time passed, competition quietly drove innovation. By the 1940s and 1950s, athletes began tailoring garments closer to the body. Ski fashion house Bogner developed the first stretchy pants for women in the early 1950s, a giant leap from the wool trousers and long skirts worn previously [3].
1970s: Synthetic Fibers Revolutionize Competition Wear
The true transformation began in the mid‑20th century with the arrival of synthetic materials. Nylon and polyester revolutionized winter sports by offering warmth without weight and insulation without bulk. These materials resisted water, dried quickly, and retained shape under stress, easily overtaking wool as the preferred fabric of competition wear.
Nylon, the first fully synthetic fiber, was invented in the mid‑1930s by Dr. Wallace Carothers at DuPont and patented in 1937 (U.S. Patent No. 2,071,250) [5]. Nylon entered everyday consumer markets rapidly, most notably through women’s hosiery in 1939, before integrating into Olympic performance wear for the first time via swimwear at the 1948 Summer Games [6]. British chemists John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson expanded the work of Carothers to invent and patent “polyethylene terephthalate,” commonly referred to as polyester, in 1941 [7]. DuPont acquired the U.S. patent rights for polyester in 1945, which was then registered under the trade name Dacron®, to conduct further development, and around a decade later, DuPont chemist Joseph C. Shivers invented and patented spandex (U.S. Patent No. 3,023,192) [8]. Spandex is characterized by its unprecedented elasticity and compression properties as its fibers do not break down when exposed to harsh conditions. Introduced to the public in 1962 under the trade name LYCRA®, spandex exploded in popularity, particularly in the undergarment industry [9]. By the 1970s, DuPont pivoted to market spandex in athletic wear and, not long after, Olympic competition clothing began to incorporate spandex [9].
These synthetic fabrics revolutionized apparel worn by athletes. In 1974, speed skater Franz Krienbuhl debuted a one piece, form fitting speed skating suit, a remarkable change from the typical two-piece outfits worn by him and his competitors during the 1968 Winter Olympics [10]. These smooth, one-piece suits included gloves and a head cap to make the skater drastically more aerodynamic. As a result, his skating time decreased drastically between 1968 and 1974, influencing other skaters to switch to one-piece suits [10].
Similar to the one-piece suits worn by speed skaters, alpine skiers sport sleek suits to maximize their speed. However, not all innovations to suits worn by these skiers were successful. In the 1970s, rubber had begun to integrate into nylon-based suits in an effort to increase aerodynamic properties [11]. However, rubber impeded the breathability of the suit, causing wearers to overheat. Further, if a skier fell on the slopes, the friction created would cause the fabric to melt and burn the skin. As a result, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) ultimately imposed air porosity rules, requiring each suit to pass 50 millimeters of air pressure [11].
1980s and 1990s: Bold Fabrics and Colors
Throughout the 80s and 90s, winter Olympic competition apparel became unmistakenly bold, reflecting the visual culture of the era. Figure skaters wore spandex-nylon blend costumes having vivid jewel tones, neon accents, and high color contrast combinations, moving away from the muted, wool dresses of earlier decades [12]. Costumes often featured bold embellishments, such as sequins and feathers, to enhance stage presence and visibility to the audience. This era marked an emphasis on visual impact as an integral part of competitive storytelling and performance.
2010s and 2020s: A Step Towards Sustainability
Recent decades have seen a shift towards sustainability in Olympic apparel. For the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, Team USA’s opening ceremony uniforms were developed with sustainability at the forefront. The opening ceremony outfits contained polyester fiber developed from recycled plastic bottles. For Team USA’s podium look, the uniform featured materials and dyes that took 90 percent less water to produce than traditional options [13].
As the Winter Olympics arrive in Italy in 2026, the future of apparel lies at the intersection of sustainability, data, and personalization. Where athletes once layered wool simply to survive the cold, they now wear garments leveraging technological advancements to perfect competition day performance.
Special thanks to Abby Clark, a Foley summer patent engineer in the Chicago office, for her contributions to this article.
[2] https://www.nydailynews.com/2022/02/07/winter-olympics-figure-skating-fashion-through-the-years/
[3] https://www.brandassembly.com/articles/evolution-of-ski-style
[4] https://www.romper.com/entertainment/olympic-speed-skating-uniforms-photos
[6] https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/history-high-performance-olympic-uniforms-flna922033
[7] https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-polyester-4072579
[8] https://biologyinsights.com/who-discovered-polyester-the-story-of-its-invention/
[10] https://www.danielyeow.com/2014/sochi-special-speed-suits/
