History, sport and fashion: The 500-plus artisans working on Olympics costumes

French television host and director of costumes for Paris 2024, Daphne Burki, poses in a manufacturing workshop where the costumes for the athletes for the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are made. Photo: AFP

An army of artisans is racing to complete thousands of costumes for the Paris Olympics ceremonies that the designers say will each be a unique combination of history, sport and flamboyance.

At a workshop in Seine-Saint-Denis on the outskirts of the French capital, some 20 costume designers and milliners were hunched over their creations during a recent visit by AFP.