Paris 2024 Olympics: Updated Sailor Top “Made in France”: Here’s the outfit for 45,000 volunteers

They will be, as Tony Estanguette, president of the organizing committee, regularly emphasizes, “the face, soul, heart and smile of our Games.” » The 45,000 volunteers who will be on duty at next summer’s Olympic and/or Paralympic Games gathered at the Arena de la Défense on Saturday. A convention that allowed them to take the pulse, get to know the world of the 2024 Games (the main points of the Games were explained to them) and find out what uniform they will wear. It is the result of a collaboration between Paris 2024 and Décathlon designers dedicated to eco-design. Made in France and meaning.

Sailor T-shirt in game style

“The volunteer uniform is a source of pride and a strong symbol of belonging,” says Joachim Ronsen, artistic director of the Paris 2024 exhibition. “We wanted to create unique clothes. So we dug into the past to find out which uniforms represented France. Very quickly we approached the sailor’s top, which became the basis of the creation. We didn’t want it to be classic, we modernized it to tell our story. »

The turquoise sailor suit is the centerpiece of the 15-piece volunteer kit. Paris 2024 flock on the back, three-quarter length sleeves. “We are proud of the result as we pay homage to France and its history, taking inspiration from the codes of the sailor shirt and linking it to the codes of modern sport,” says Philippe Daguillon, artistic director of Decathlon. Turquoise green trousers (84% recycled polyamide) transform into shorts, making the outfit easily adaptable to atmospheric conditions.

The same goes for the light gray jacket with pink zippers that converts into a vest. Volunteers will also have a pair of shoes, a fanny pack (with pockets for storing personal items and a net to hold a water bottle), and a blush pink bucket hat made of UPF50+ fabric for sun protection. Sun.

T-shirts and socks are 100% made in France.

“We worked on the use of equipment depending on the limitations of the volunteers, as well as on environmental design,” explains Virginie Sainte-Rose, director of the Paris 2024 partnership at Décathlon. The brand, which had just made strategic changes such as the adoption of a new logo, wanted to work with suppliers in France. Fil Rouge, a Marseille-based social and solidarity economy company that has seen early growth in mask production during Covid, will produce 103,000 of the 250,000 T-shirts.

“We watched the Games from afar, and this idea was not even possible. Decathlon called us in July 2022 and said: we have a project, we would like to talk to you “explains Jean-François Hauphor, President and CEO. Fil Rouge, which now has between 200 and 250 employees (up from 40 five years ago), is riding a wave of reindustrialization. “We are in the learning phase to become a real factory. Games are the catalyst, the element that allows us to accelerate,” continues the CEO, whose company also produces some OM T-shirts.

“We are attracted not so much by the Olympic adventure, but by the fact of working with Decathlon. We are developing our processes, attracting more and more people to work, recruiting employees from Pôle emploi. Our clients are now reporting that they are working with us, we have not been in the public eye for a long time, we are counting on the Olympics to have some recognition. »

Kits distributed in May

The Volunteer Congress is the first major meeting of volunteers. In the period leading up to the Games, they will receive a schedule (during April) and receive training (in person or online, depending on their objectives). Outfits will be distributed starting in May. Operations will be managed by Décathlon, which intends to revitalize this community with a reception space reserved for a soon-to-be-announced reception. “The challenge is to make the brand known internationally by being present in the clothes of these 45,000 volunteers who will be at the center of the Games,” emphasizes Virginie Sainte-Rose. These volunteers are like our Decathlon clients, they are like us. »