MILAN — Milan Fashion Week may have kicked off last month, but the fashion capital of Italy is in for another dose of style as more than 90 nations prepare to turn the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics into their runway.
Each country will put its best — and most fashionable — foot forward during Friday’s opening ceremony, a spectacle that has grown in pomp and circumstance over the years. The Parade of Nations offers each delegation the unique opportunity to showcase its culture and heritage on a national stage through their ceremonial outfits.
The first Olympic medals won’t be awarded until Saturday, but there’s some serious style points up for grabs. Which country has the best opening ceremony look? Which outfit is the most controversial? I went through each nation’s lookbook so you don’t have to, and awarded a range of superlatives. (I’m Cydney, by the way. Nice to meet you!)
Check out our 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic style guide:
Best Dressed:
Team Mongolia
Designer: Goyol Cashmere
Please give me a moment to pick up my jaw off the floor. Mongolia turned heads at the 2024 Paris Olympics with its intricate ceremonial garb and the country has earned flying colors yet again. Goyol Cashmere created a Mongolian deel that effortlessly merges Mongolia’s identity and heritage with traditional garments that still feel modern. The opening ceremony look is inspired by the Great Mongol Empire of the 13th and 15th centuries, “one of the most powerful periods in our nations history,” Goyol Cashmere explains. The outfit incorporates Mongolian cashmere, silk trim and embroidery for an ornate finish that is worthy of applause.
Runner-up:
Team France
Designer: Le Coq Sportif
Le Coq Sportif takes French elegance to another level with an opening ceremony look that rivals high-fashion couture. The French sportswear company switched out the nation’s iconic tricolor for an icy color palette that channels mountain peaks, which seems appropriate for the Winter Games. The ceremonial collection includes a cream Saharan puffer jacket with a hood that features a topographical map graphic motif in a subdued blue, white and red. I’m particularly a fan of all the layers that add drama and depth to the silhouette. Le Coq Sportif balanced the modern flair with a touch of vintage by bringing back frosty blue snowsuits from its 1976 archives for an effortlessly chic blast from the past. Bravo.
Most wearable:
Team USA
Designer: Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren has been the go-to designer for Team USA for 20 years and the Milano Cortina Winter Games is no different. Team USA’s outfit at the 2024 Paris Games proved polarizing, but the Americans’ Winter Olympic ensemble has the potential to unite the internet like ‘Marvel’s Avengers,’ if that is even possible.
Ralph Lauren’s opening ceremony look features a winter-white wool coat with wooden toggles, an American flag wool turtleneck sweater and tailored wool trouser, which are both clean and patriotic. The uniform is completed by knit mittens and brown suede alpine boots with red laces. Each piece is ‘proudly manufactured in the United States,’ Ralph Lauren added, and could become a staple piece in any Winter wardrobe.
Most polarizing:
Team Canada
Designer: Lululemon
Canadian athletic apparel giant Lululemon went all-in on the red maple leaf for the opening ceremony, opting for a maroon-colored quilted vest covered by the oversized symbol. Some have slammed Lululemon’s avant-garde approach, but I personally think the large maple leaf works because it’s memorable, whether you like it or not. The motif screams Canada, which is the entire point of the Parade of Nations.
Canada’s podium outfits highlight the nation’s landscape with a topographic map printed on bright red puffer coats, ‘the brightest red we could chemically do on our fabric,’ Lululemon design director Catherine Lebrun joked. Lululemon added an additional pop of color with green, inspired by glaciers and icebergs in Canada.
Lululemon collaborated with the nation’s top athletes, including hockey player Sidney Crosby, to create the functional and stylish collection. The gear is also inclusive with braille, magnetic zippers and adaptive footwear.
Most cozy:
Team Great Britain
Designer: Ben Sherman
Ben Sherman mastered a stylish, yet functional Olympic collection that can be worn after the Games. The British clothing brand dressed the national team in a cream, wool-blend knit jacket that features a continuous Union Flag motif. The striped accents give the relaxed zip-up a refined look that makes it an instant classic. ‘Each element combines warmth and detailing, reflecting the timeless British aesthetic,’ according to Ben Sherman, which has created Great Britain’s ceremonial looks for four consecutive Games.
Remember when Great Britain diver Tom Daley went viral for knitting in the stands at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021? Well, the five-time Olympic medalist hand-knit scarves and winter hats for the flag bearers at the opening and closing ceremony. Daley held the Union Flag at the opening ceremony at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Honorable Mention: Team Norway
Dale of Norway’s 70-year history of creating Olympic sweaters dates back to the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, so the 2026 Milano Cortina Games marks a full circle moment for the brand. The half-zip knitwear features pure Norwegian wool and traditional Nordic geometric patterns that would complement anyone’s closet.
Most meaningful
Team Italy
Designer: EA7 Emporio Armani
The Italian national team will don EA7 Emporio Armani for the 2026 Games on their home soil, marking the Italian fashion house’s eighth overall collection for the Summer and Winter Olympics, but the last created by namesake Giorgio Armani before he died Sept. 4, 2025 at age 91. The nation’s Olympic uniform features a white puffer jacket that features ‘Italia’ embroidered in milky-white letters on the back with a red, white and green collar.
‘Milan and the Olympic and Paralympic Games: I couldn’t imagine a more stimulating collaboration, uniting the city that has given me so much and sport,’ Giorgio Armani said in May, shortly before his death. ‘Working for and alongside Italian athletes is always a pleasure and a great source of pride. I chose a single colour – white – to evoke harmony with the snow-covered peaks. Among sport’s values, respect is perhaps the most important, and I have distilled it into a vision of simplicity, clarity and purity.’
Best touch:
Team Australia
Designer: Sportscraft (opening ceremony), Karbon and XTM (competition wear)
The Australian national team ditched its signature gold for the opening ceremony, opting instead for a white cable sweater and wool blend blazer designed by Sportscraft formal wear that features the coat of arms and gold buttons. The inner lining of the blazer also has all the names of every Australian Winter Olympian sewed on the inside, a special touch that Australian Olympic curler Tahli Gill said sends ‘shivers down my spine.’
‘To see our names listed among so many remarkable Olympians gives me shivers down my spine and a deep sense of gratitude,” said Olympic curler Tahli Gill. ‘It reminds me how far we’ve come, and how special it is to stand as part of something much bigger than ourselves.’
Most innovative:
New Zealand
Designer: Kathmandu
New Zealand athletes will be wearing their hearts on their sleeves… literally. Kathmandu’s black opening ceremony jackets feature the silver fern on the back and each have a QR code woven inside. ‘Scanning the code will connect them to a digital platform filled with messages of support from New Zealanders and fans around the world, reminding them that the team of five million is right there with them on their journey,’ the New Zealand Olympic Committee announced.
Most edgy:
Czechia
Designer: Alpine Pro
Alpine Pro continued Czechia’s long-standing tradition of featuring Czech artists in the nation’s Olympic collections. This Olympic cycle highlights famous Czech graphic designer Vojtěch Preissig’s motifs combined with retro elements from the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics. The finished product is a range of knitted sweaters and winter jackets that feature bold and distinctive patterns in blue, red, white and yellow. The nation’s wildly-successful ‘Raškovka’ hat, a nod to ski jumper Jiří Raška’s Olympic win in 1968, will also make a return.
Lead designer Anežka Berecková said she wanted the collection to have a ‘loungewear feel, evoking the mood of a winter holiday in the mountains and blending iconic pieces with a more contemporary approach.’
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.