As US gymnast Jordan Chiles stood at the end of the vault runway, the lights of Dickies Arena reflected off the 4,400 Swarovski crystals on her leotard, creating sparkles reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower twinkling against the dark backdrop of a Parisian night sky. She lifted her arms to salute the judges, shimmering with tiny rainbows, and sprinted toward the vault table, becoming a glittering blur of blue, pink, red and green as she flipped and twisted through the air. Her leotard, the source of the explosion of colour and sparkle, was one-of-a-kind, a custom creation inspired by an outfit Beyonce wore during a Renaissance Tour concert last year.
Chiles found a photo of the megastar in a bold Pucci bodysuit and sent it to the designers at gymnastics apparel manufacturer GK Elite to use as a reference point for her competition look for night one of the 2024 US Gymnastics Championships (May 31). The result was an attention-grabbing blend of checkered patterns in green and orange, pink and blue, and red and white with pink and red stripes across the chest. The sublimated print was covered in crystals that formed a necklace-like triangle to recreate the look of the extravagant body chain Beyonce wore around her neck and waist.
“It’s gonna look like there’s a battery pack in the leotard. It’s going to be that blingy under the stadium lights,” said Jeanne Diaz, the design director for GK Elite, before the week’s championships. Indeed it did.
Leotards can capture a perso.
