These are the Figure Skating Costumes for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games are under way, and so are its figure skating competitions — one of the games’ most beloved sports.

The rhinestones and cascading chiffon of figure skating costumes at this year’s Olympics will color what is considered the deepest field in the sport’s history, with the first female quads laid down on Olympic ice and a potential attempt at the first quadruple axel landed in competition.

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While the world’s top figure skaters compete annually on a global scale, the Olympics is their sport’s biggest stage — bringing widespread attention, fame and potential endorsement contracts. Their costumes, in many ways, are an indelible part of the medal-winning picture, integral to the imagery that will define winning skaters’ careers.

But the average viewer often does not know that top skaters wear their costumes at competitions for months leading up to the Olympics. Little is left to chance and skaters use competitions like the Grand Prix circuit not only to qualify for Olympic team spots, but also to get a feel for costumes and make tweaks for overall comfort and presentation.

“It’s rare [that a skater would debut a new costume at the Olympics], it’s a bit of a risk,” said figure skating costumer Josiane Lamond, who has created looks for past Olympic contenders, including two-time U.S. champion Gracie Gold and 2010 Olympic gold medalist Yuna Kim.

While costumes do not outweigh athletic elements in the scoring system, skating is a subjective sport that also doles out points for choreography and interpretation. This, too, is reason for skaters to see how a costume performs in the Olympic build-up. “The skater has to be very comfortable in their costume, but also the response from judges and the skating community could not be good so it’s a bit of a gamble. If all you see is a bad costume, you cant see the maximum of the program,” said Lamond.

Skaters wear two costumes in competition — one each for their short program and free skate. Most of these looks have already been seen at events earlier in the season, like last month’s European Championship.

A Russian sweep looks possible for the women’s single skaters podium, with the three disciples of star coach Eteri Tutberidze attempting a combined total of eight quadruple jumps.

Alexandra “Sasha” Trusova, who will look to complete half of those elements alone, has costumes in a palette of red and black, complementing her new fiery hair color and electric style of skating. Anna Shcherbakova, regarded for her competitive prowess and musicality, has a pair of more elaborate dresses woven with ribbons of organza and sequins. The costume most likely to appear atop the podium is Kamila Valieva’s tunic-style dress with contrast red gloves and graphic black tights, created for her balletic interpretation of “Bolero” with a planned line-up of three quads and a triple axel — most of those landed in a signature arabesque “spiral” position.

Lamond said looks like U.S. champion Mariah Bell’s blue velvet, bateau neckline short program dress; Belgian rising star Loena Hendrickx’s skin-tone, bejeweled minidress, and Japanese champion Kaori Sakamoto’s watercolor freeskate dress evoke the “very elegant and feminine,” look signature to skaters from North America, Europe and Asia, which run contrast to the “edgy, intense,” costumes hailing from Russia.

Vera Wang, a onetime professional figure skater who has designed costumes for greats like Michelle Kwan, Nancy Kerrigan, and Evan Lysacek, has observed a rapid evolution of skating fashion since her own championship days. The invention of stretch fabric, she said, has contributed to sports advancement toward triple and quadruple jumps — “mind boggling,” elements that Wang said she “never thought were possible, certainly back when I was skating in the ’50s and ’60s.”

“Skating has always been a telegenic sport because you see someone in 360 degrees, but now it’s become entertainment as well. People dress not to gain attention but I think to discern themselves from others,” said Wang, who designed this year’s costumes for six-time U.S. Champion Nathan Chen in his second Olympic bid.

Wang said that she “subliminally” feels added pressure when creating Olympic year costumes, and pays particular attention to quality control. If a single loose thread catches on a bootlace or blade, it could derail an entire program.

For this reason, skaters have specific costume preferences that contribute to temperature control, mobility and lightness. “Michelle [Kwan] didn’t like sleeves and wanted a very lightweight costume, whereas Nathan [Chen] wants a two-piece costume,” Wang said.

Lamond added that with the advent of quadruple jumps, skaters are looking for lighter and more flexible costumes. “A triple-axel costume has to weigh under 500 grams, and that’s not a lot once it’s all beaded so we have to place lining in strategic areas,” she said. Two years ago, Swarovski released crystals that are approximately 50 percent lighter, which Lamond now relies on for more advanced skating costumes.

With the skating stakes so high this year, it is possible that this year’s Olympics could propel the sport further onto the global stage.

Figure skating is already immensely popular in Japan, South Korea and Russia — where skaters are household names and can make millions annually through tie-ups with companies like Nike, Puma, Shiseido and Lotte.

Current Japanese men’s champion Yuzuru Hanyu, who has a fanatic following, is said to be worth in excess of $13 million, while Yuna Kim is said to have amassed a net worth exceeding $20 million.

At the 2019 World Championships, Russian skater Evgenia Medvedeva, who won silver at the last Olympics said: “I’m representing the world’s biggest sports company, Nike, and in my opinion people are so interested in figure skating because it’s half sport, half art. People are always interested in art, they are always also interested in watching a fight. Figure skating has that all in one place — it’s an art and a fight.” She’s since become a major sports broadcaster in Russia and represents brands spanning health cereal to online shopping.

Medvedeva has also recently been spotted at events for Christian Dior, posting the house’s handbags and accessories to her social media channels as well. Considering skaters’ large online following and resonance, it seems like luxury and high fashion brands could soon follow the skating endorsement bandwagon.

Launch Gallery: Figure Skating Costumes for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

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