Artpress explores fashion and sport connections in Olympic-themed alphabet series

Artpress magazine has published the fourth installment of its "Art & Sport" alphabet series, coinciding with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Written by Marc Donnadieu, the entry for the letter "M" focuses on fashion ("Mode") and its relationship with sport, referencing the exhibition "Mode et sport, d'un podium à l'autre" at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, running until April 7, 2024. The article highlights the recent appointment of French basketball star Victor Wembanyama as an ambassador for Louis Vuitton, and traces the history of sportswear, including the first tracksuit worn at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics by British athlete Gwendoline Alice Porter, and the commercialization of the tracksuit by Le Coq sportif in 1939. It also discusses the development of the polo shirt by René Lacoste and André Gillier in 1933, and the Fred Perry polo shirt founded by British tennis champion Frederick John Perry and Austrian footballer Tibby Wegner in the late 1940s. The article notes the invention of the jockstrap by American firm Bauer & Black PAL in the 1920s, and its later adoption by the gay community in the 1970s. The series is published in the context of the Paris 2024 Olympics.