Milan’s Most Glamorous Olympic Parties

Before the Olympic Games began there was a toast for Team USA.  It took place last Thursday at the Ralph Lauren Palazzo, a 12,000-square-foot palace in central Milan built in the classical style with an Italian garden and courtyard.

Usher, the music artist, arrived fashionably late because the roads were closed for the Olympic torch relay through the city. He wore the same cream-colored wool-twill coat designed by Ralph Lauren that the American athletes would don the following day.

Adam Rippon, the bronze medalist figure skater who now serves as an NBC commentator, giggled as he gushed about the current crop of American skaters. “They FaceTime me to show me their new moves,” he said. “It’s really cute.”

Shaun White, the retired Olympic snowboarder, posed for selfies in a pinstripe suit, while Olympic speed skater Jordan Stolz sat on a beige couch surrounded by portraits of horses. Marisa Tomei and other guests mingled over themed cocktails like the Cortina Cooler (grapefruit, lemon, vanilla, fresh muddled mint, topped with club soda).

The pre-opening party—hosted by Ralph Lauren, NBC, and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee—was first held during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where First Lady Jill Biden and the Jonas brothers were the guests of honor. It returned for Milan, another European style capital that knows how to celebrate with fanfare, especially at fashionable hotels.

Moncler, which designed the opening-ceremony looks for Team Brazil, opened its “ Beyond Performance” exhibit last Sunday in the 16th-century courtyard of the Portrait Milano hotel. Visitors, who booked timed entry slot, walked along an illuminated path through a forest, before arriving at a massive silver structure. Inside were four immersive installations: one recreated a blizzard to showcase the brand’s technical prowess; another unfolded as a futuristic hall of mirrors.

At the Armani Hotel, a giant television screen broadcasting the competition was set up in the Bamboo Bar. Models and well-heeled patrons lounged on white sofas and ordered Olympic-themed drinks like the Snow Bloom (with vanilla liquor infused with coffee).

At the Carlton, a new Rocco Forte hotel where the Qatar delegation stayed during the opening ceremony, a display of vintage wooden skis stood at the entrance of the flower shop, where hotel guests can gather bouquets to bring to their room.

Uber, the Games’ rideshare sponsor, was holding court at Casa Brera, a Luxury Collection Hotel, where they hosted a rooftop champagne reception with sweeping views of the Duomo and a breakfast with Shelley Rudman, a  former Olympian who won silver in skeleton.

Meanwhile Aethos Milan, a hotel and members’ club in the city’s Navigli district, transformed its common spaces into the Starbucks Winter House, a private lounge for U.S. athletes and their entourages.

Over the weekend, Ralph Lauren hosted another event honoring Team USA— this time a champagne brunch with Usher, Maggie Rogers, Benito Skinner, Devon Lee Carlson, and Sydney Lynn Carlson. The Polo Bear, the iconic Ralph Lauren mascot, greeted guests as they arrived, dressed in a bright blue sweater patterned with skiers. The consensus: it was far cuter than Tina and Milo, the official weasel mascots of the 2026 Winter Olympics.