Fashion brand Ralph Lauren on Wednesday unveiled the outfits that Team U.S.A will wear for the opening ceremony at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. 

What You Need To Know

  • Ralph Lauren on Wednesday unveiled the outfits that Team U.S.A will wear for the opening ceremony at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics 

  • The look includes a navy blazer, a striped T-shirt, a printed scarf, a striped belt, a slim denim pant and both shoes and a mask made from U.S.-grown cotton

  • During the opening parade, Team U.S.A’s flag bearer will wear a coat equipped with a state-of-the-art “self-regulating temperature cooling device"

  • The International Olympic Committee announced winners at the Tokyo Games will have to put their medals around their own necks to protect against coronavirus

The look includes a navy blazer, a striped T-shirt, a printed scarf, a striped belt, a slim denim pant and both shoes and a mask made from verified U.S.-grown cotton. The entire outfit was created with sustainability in mind, the company said in a press release.

During the opening parade, Team U.S.A’s flag bearer will wear a coat equipped with a state-of-the-art “self-regulating temperature cooling device,” technology developed by Ralph Lauren to cool off the wearer during hot summer months. 

“Recognizing Tokyo’s summer heat, we sought to develop a solution for Team USA that fuses fashion and function—allowing them to look and feel their best on one of the world’s biggest stages,”  David Lauren, Chief Branding and Innovation Officer at Ralph Lauren, wrote in a statement. 

According to the company, RL COOLING technology works by dispersing the wearer's own body heat "through a sophisticated device that monitors and optimizes temperature," for long-lasting relief in hot climates. 

The Olympics will kick off in Tokyo on July 23, 2021. Tokyo’s average temperature hovers around 78°F in July, with an average high of 83°F and an average low of 73°F. 

Heat won’t be the only obstacle for this year’s Olympic Games, as Japan continues to battle increasingly high rates of COVID-19. 

Just last week, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga banned fans from attending the games in-person to mitigate the spread of the virus. The spectator ban was agreed to by Japanese Olympic organizers, the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, and the metropolitan government of Tokyo.

“Many people were looking forward to watching the games at the venues, but I would like everyone to fully enjoy watching the games on TV at home,” Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said following the announcement. “It’s gut-wrenching because many people looked forward to watching at the venues.”

And on Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee announced a further “very significant change” to traditional medal ceremonies: Winners will have to put their medals around their own necks to protect against spreading the coronavirus.

“The medals will not be given around the neck,” International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach told international media on a conference call from Tokyo. “They will be presented to the athlete on a tray and then the athlete will take the medal him or herself.”

“It will be made sure that the person who will put the medal on tray will do so only with disinfected gloves so that the athlete can be sure that nobody touched them before,” Bach added.

Bach confirmed Wednesday that in Tokyo there will be no shaking hands and “there will be no hugs there during the ceremony.”

Olympic medals are typically presented by an IOC member or a leading official in a sport’s governing body.

The IOC had previously said medalists and ceremony officials would have to wear masks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.