You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Daily (Mon-Sun)
Daily Digest
Sign up for global news and reviews, a Wallpaper* take on architecture, design, art & culture, fashion & beauty, travel, tech, watches & jewellery and more.
Monthly, coming soon
The Rundown
A design-minded take on the world of style from Wallpaper* fashion features editor Jack Moss, from global runway shows to insider news and emerging trends.
Monthly, coming soon
The Design File
A closer look at the people and places shaping design, from inspiring interiors to exceptional products, in an expert edit by Wallpaper* global design director Hugo Macdonald.
Fashion was always set to be a protagonist at the 2026 Winter Olympics: Milan is, after all, one of the world’s major style capitals, home to a slew of houses which double as household names (Giorgio Armani, Prada, Bottega Veneta, to name a handful).
At Friday evening’s opening ceremony at the city’s San Siro stadium, fashion did indeed come to the fore, from a tribute to the late Giorgio Armani (his sporting line EA7 Emporio Armani will outfit Team Italy) to Ralph Lauren’s nostalgia-tinged uniforms for Team USA (underneath: Kim Kardashian’s Skims, which is providing base layers and underwear for the American team).
Moncler for Team Brazil at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen in a Moncler cape with intarsian Brazilian flag
Though perhaps the most intriguing – and indeed unexpected – looks of the opening weekend came courtesy of Moncler, who outfitted Team Brazil for the opening ceremony. The reason? Norwegian-born, Brazilian alpine ski racer Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who is one of the brand ambassadors for Moncler Grenoble, the house’s technically focused skiwear line. He seeks a historic first at the games: a medal for South America at the Winter Olympics.
It is a milestone which is on the cards: having won the World Cup men’s slalom race in Levi, Finland, late last year – a first major alpine skiing win for Brazil – Pinheiro Braathen is one of the favourites for the competition, which begins on 16 February. Indeed, his charismatic off-slope persona (samba dancing on the podium has become a signature) and a much-publicised switch from Norway to Brazil, after a brief retirement, have made him one of these Olympics’ most talked-about figures.
It was little surprise, then, that Pinheiro Braathen was chosen to be the flagbearer for Brazil at Friday’s opening ceremony, wearing a uniform co-designed in collaboration between Moncler – under the creative direction of CEO Remo Ruffini – and Oskar Metsavaht, a multi-hyphenate Brazilian artist and designer. A former snowboarder and sports physician, he rose to prominence in the 1990s by founding Osklen, a fashion label which began by selling winter sportswear and would later become synonymous with Brazil’s burgeoning luxury market in the early 2000s. In the time since, Metsavaht has become a prominent environmentalist (he is a current UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador) alongside various other pursuits, from filmmaking to photography.
‘My personal work has always lived in this space of contrasts, between art and science, fashion and medicine, city and nature, performance and lifestyle’
Oskar Metsavaht
‘Oskar is widely recognised as one of the leading references in design and art in Brazil,’ Ruffini told Wallpaper*. ‘That’s why, when Lucas and I first began envisioning this project, his name immediately came to mind. Beyond his creative vision, Oskar brings a deep understanding of life in the mountains and the demands of performance, learned from his own experience as a snowboarder. The natural connection between Oskar and Lucas made the difference. [It’s how a] project becomes authentic.’
‘My personal history is deeply connected to technical clothing,’ adds Metsavaht. ‘In the late 1980s, whenI was still a young sports medicine and orthopaedic doctor, I was already designing jackets and pants for my own snowboard trips and high-mountain expeditions. My genesis as a designer was not tropical luxury – which I later became known for – but performance wear for extreme environments.’
Indeed, Metsavaht characterises the uniform – which features bold Brazilian flag motifs and a striking use of colour, marrying optic white and navy with verdant green accents – as encapsulating a clash between ‘tropical culture and alpine tradition’. ‘My personal work has always lived in this space of contrasts, between art and science, fashion and medicine, city and nature, performance and lifestyle,’ he says. ‘I see design as a cultural language – not just about objects, but about ways of living. Fashion, for me, is a tool to express identity, environment, and values.’
The various pieces take inspiration from Moncler’s Karakorum jacket, which was created for Italian mountaineers Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli for their 1954 ascent of K2, a historic first. Here, its signature quilted exterior inspires voluminous shorts and skirts, as well as a cape, inlaid with an intarsia Brazilian flag and worn by Pinheiro Braathen on Friday night.
‘The central piece is the white cape for the flag bearers,’ says Metsavaht. ‘It’s a sculptural garment that represents snow – the essential element of the Winter Olympics – and carries a sense of ceremony and majesty. From the outside, it’s completely white, almost monastic. Inside, the Brazilian flag appears in intarsia, revealed only through movement.’
‘The Olympics carry a powerful symbolic meaning for our brand. We have always been deeply connected to sport and to the mountains.’
Remo Ruffini, Moncler CEO
The Winter Olympics is a key moment for Moncler, says Ruffini, who has also spearheaded ‘The Beyond Performance Exhibit’ which runs in the courtyard of the Portrait Milano hotel until the end of the month to coincide with the games. Tracking the history of Moncler Grenoble – which just last week hosted a blockbuster runway show on the slopes of Aspen, Colorado – it promises to evoke the brand’s beginnings in Monestier-de-Clermont, close to Grenoble, France, with a ‘lush forest trail’ that leads guests through various immersive exhibits.
Skeleton racer Nicole Silveira was Brazil’s second flag bearer
‘The Olympics carry a powerful symbolic meaning for our brand,’ says Ruffini. ‘We have always been deeply connected to sport and to the mountains. This return with Lucas and Team Brazil, nearly 60 years after the Grenoble Games in 1968, is not about doing something obvious. It is a deliberate choice – one that feels right, distinctive, and fully aligned with who we are.’
‘It is also a return shaped by people: by a talent like Lucas, with whom we have built an authentic relationship over time,’ he continues. ‘[It’s] why returning today feels like the right move for Moncler – a turning point in our history.’