'Dripping in gold:' Meet the designer behind Alysa Liu's stunning Olympic dress
· Yahoo Sports
After more than 100 hours of designing, sewing and hand-placed beading, a piece of gold fabric transformed into an iconic gold-medal look for Olympic figure skater Alysa Liu.
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"It feels incredible to be a small part of the history that Alysa has made now," said Lisa McKinnon, the owner of Lisa McKinnon Designs, Inc. " I think for most people, this Olympic gold dress will forever be etched in people's minds."
Wearing that dazzling gold dress and performing to Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park," Liu secured a gold medal in the 2026 Winter Olympics women's individual singles event - the first American woman to accomplish that in 24 years.
"It's super cool," said seamstress Sydney Pigott. "I never imagined that I would be able to look on TV and see something that I helped with. It's just amazing."
"Excited that we were all coming together to make something that would make her feel good and make her look like a million bucks," said head patterner and seamstress Kayla Anderson.
McKinnon is responsible for the dress and has a personal connection to the historic moment. She began figure skating when she was about three and would go on to skate professionally.
She then discovered her love for design, creating her own dresses as early as 11. So, in 2014, she started her company.
"Then people just started calling for skating costumes," she recalled. "So, I said, 'You know what? I think there's enough business in this.'"
McKinnon says each athlete is different.
With Liu, there was a consultation. After getting an idea of what she was looking for, McKinnon put her headphones on and got to work.
"You know, like flirty fun, but at the same time, classically beautiful with a hint of disco and then just kind of dripping in gold," she said describing the inspiration behind the design. "We just went straight for it. Like, let's do gold all the way."
That vision manifested as Liu stood atop the podium - truly dripping in gold.