“Wasn’t Meant to Be So Literal”- Nathan Chen’s Designer Reveals the Idea Behind his Fire Costume at Beijing Winter Olympics 2022

It was the last performance at the Men’s Figure Skating finals. In came Nathan Chen. He performed a routine that made the World Record that made him the Olympic Champion. But the one thing that caught everyone’s eye was Chen’s outfit.
Decked in an orange fit, which screamed fire, his shirt had flames depicted on it. However, this was very different from Chen’s usually black and white suit, which is his signature outfit. Therefore, his outfit became a hot topic quite soon.

Now, the designer of the outfit, Vera Wang has revealed what went into it, the idea behind the design, and much more.

Nathan Chen’s final performance outfit

At 72 years, Vera Wang falls among America’s most unique designers. Vera Wang, herself was a skater when she was young. Therefore, she was chosen to make Chen’s final performance outfit at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022.

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Nathan Chen is usually seen in a simple outfit; a white Nike t-shirt and a black blazer. So when he came into the ice rink, in brilliant shades of orange, red, and black, people were quick to question who the designer was.

For Chen’s galaxy printed outfit, Vera Wang studied space exploration and rocket launches. She revealed the idea was to make it look like the costume was on fire.

“I had to open up in my own mind in another direction for ‘Rocket Man’ and it wasn’t meant to be so literal,” said Vera. “It was meant to refer to the fire and power to propel man out of the atmosphere…I wanted this costume to look like he was on fire.”

Wang, who herself wanted to become an Olympian, felt extremely privileged to have been given this opportunity. She put everything in it. And it was all worth it when Chen won the Gold medal in that outfit.

Chen’s involvement in his outfit

Vera Wang has also revealed that Nathan was really involved in the whole process of designing the outfit. Wang had warned him that this outfit was going to be very different from his usual Nike t-shirt. But Chen was up for the challenge.

Moreover, Chen made it clear to Wang that he wanted an outfit that had the most comfortable and stretchable fabric. Something that allowed him to do all the jumps and tricks with ease. That was of the utmost priority. Wang spent months studying different types of fabric to finally choose the right one.

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Wang has previously also designed outfits for Olympians Nancy Kerrigan, Michelle Kwan, and Evan Lysacek.  Chen is the 4th Olympian she designed a costume for.