Conversation about Olympic fashion – and the rain in Paris – at the star-studded Ralph Lauren fashion event

PARIS– Fashion. Sports. And of course, the rain.

These were the topics – separately and together – on everyone’s lips as a bevy of sporting, entertainment and media luminaries packed the Ralph Lauren restaurant in Paris on Saturday night, in yet another Olympic gathering of high-powered celebrities in the French capital.

The star-studded crowd at Ralph’s Restaurant included Oscar winner Jessica Chastain, Nick Jonas, John Mulaney and Alan Cumming, among other performers. First Lady Jill Biden arrived late and drew a large crowd around her.

Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels was there, pointing to his shoes and noting that they were still wet from the previous night’s epic, rainy opening ceremony. “These shoes are not for all weather,” he explained. The ceremony left many drenched, but most still very happy to be there – including Michaels.

“Let’s put it this way, I was watching it in a place with a lot of stars and no one was complaining,” he said.

Also not complaining: the Olympic athletes in attendance, who had spent much of the previous night on a boat in the rain. Were they worried about catching a cold?

“It was an idea,” said Jeffrey Louis, a member of the U.S. breakout team who competed in the sport’s Olympic debut, “but then I figured we would all get sick at the same time.”

“So we all accept it,” added Louis, who said he tried to cover himself briefly with a poncho, but when he put it down, someone stole it. But he survived the rains in good health – in any case, his competitor is not until the end of the Olympics.

Similarly, US volleyball player Chiaka Ogbogu decided not to worry about colds. “We’re in it, so we might as well not worry about it,” she said she thought at the time. Furthermore, she noted: Athletes are some of the toughest people around.

Ogbogu, who is competing in her second Olympics after Toyko in 2021, said she was delighted to be at a Ralph Lauren event because she calls herself a “fashion nerd.” Asked which team uniform she liked most – besides the USA team uniform, which she wore – she highlighted Mongolia’s elegant uniform, which has been widely acclaimed. She also admired Haiti’s vibrantly colored designs, which also gained attention

Singer and actor Nick Jonas cited a special reason for loving Indian uniforms in the three colors of that country’s national flag: “My wife is Indian,” he noted, referring to wife Priyanka Chopra. He had flown to Paris a few hours earlier to spend a busy few days at the Games, during which he plans to watch gymnastics with star SImone Biles, among other things.

Jonas missed the chance to see the opening ceremony in person – and get wet – but watched it on TV. He said he was surprised by the production values ​​– noting in particular the French tricolor smoke rising over a bridge. “This was unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” he said.

As for fashion – the theme of the night – almost everyone seemed to agree that the 2024 Olympics took fashion to the next level. Ogobogu, the volleyball player, said it was “almost inevitable – I mean, it’s Paris!”

David Lauren, the brand’s director of branding and innovation and son of founder Ralph Lauren, who was not in attendance, attributed this in part to the rise of social media and how quickly Olympic fashion images travel these days compared to 2008. when the brand started. outfitting the US national team.

To make his point, he pulled out his phone and showed an Instagram video of LeBron James, the US flag bearer with Coco Gauff, getting ready in his white Lauren jacket with red and blue trim. It had almost 850,000 likes.