Examining the elements and effective characteristics of Iranian women's sportswear from the 1996-2020 Olympics using the functionalism theory

Badrkhani, Fereshteh; Chitsazian, Amirhossein; Nayefi, Seddigheh

doi:10.22059/jwica.2026.375758.2044

Examining the elements and effective characteristics of Iranian women's sportswear from the 1996-2020 Olympics using the functionalism theory

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Fereshteh Badrkhani ¹

Amirhossein Chitsazian ²

Seddigheh Nayefi ³

¹ Advanced Studies of Art,, Kashan University, Iran, Kashan

² Associate Professor of Advanced Art Studies, Kashan University, Kashan, Iran

³ PHD of Art Research, Isfahan University of Art, Isfahan, Iran

10.22059/jwica.2026.375758.2044

Abstract

The importance of clothing in sports activities and programs cannot be ignored. This article attempts to examine the formal attire of Iranian women during seven periods of participation in the Summer Olympics after the Islamic Revolution in Iran, using the descriptive-analytical method and library sources. The clothing used by Iranian female Olympians was analyzed using pictures from reputable domestic and foreign websites, and evaluated based on the functionalism theory, which explains the relationship between humans and their environment. The data, which are 62 images of Iranian Olympic women's clothes, have been purposefully selected and the content analysis is qualitative. Answering questions about the influential factors in the design and production of this type of clothing in terms of functionality, as well as identifying the aesthetic dimension in terms of color and clothing decorations are also among the goals of this research. The results showed that factors such as religion, type of sport, culture, and geographical conditions have had a technical and artistic impact on the design of these clothes. Among the other findings in this research is the existence of a superficial view in the aesthetic dimension and the absence of Iranian-Islamic cultural signs in the decoration of clothes and as a result the lack of coherence in the design of clothes.

Keywords

Female athletes

Functionalism. Islamic sportswear

Olympic

Sportswear

Subjects