Georgia’s old-fashioned Olympic opening ceremony uniforms are widely criticized

Georgia will be sporting a rather unique costume for the Rio 2016 Olympics Opening Ceremony on Friday evening. The uniforms, which include ankle-length skirts and large red jackets for the women, are supposed to invoke Georgia’s medieval history, according to designer Samoseli Pirveli, but have been criticized since their unveiling from multiple groups.

Women’s rights activists in Georgia have asked the country’s Olympic Committee to pick a different design for its female athletes, criticizing the outfits as sexist and archaic. The uniforms also include a high-necked top, and “depict a stereotypical approach towards women,” Nana Pantsulaia, executive director of Women’s Fund in Georgia, said to Reuters after their unveiling.

Male athletes representing the country will don a dark grey suit, white shirt and red cravat. In addition to the women’s uniforms drawing criticism, both sets have drawn plenty for the obvious reason that neither is exactly good attire for the scorching heat in Rio. Neither the men nor the women will find themselves feeling comfortable wearing their uniforms for the ceremony.

“It is unfortunate that the Communist period left us so distanced from our traditional culture that Georgian things seem foreign to us,” Pirveli said in a statement.

The company also said that the outfits were chosen from their catalog by Georgian athletes, and came after the country’s Olympic committee requested a uniform that was “as closed as possible” due to fears over the Zika virus.

Still, it’s not hard to see where the critics are coming from on both sides. Whatever the uniforms are supposed to represent, the country of Georgia has been trying to improve its image with regards to women’s rights in recent years and this certainly can’t help.

Georgian athletes will wear the uniforms as planned at the opening ceremony on Friday evening.