GANGNEUNG, South Korea — Adam Rippon has a secret he has kept for a while but is absolutely ready for you to know about it now, now that he’s at the Olympics.

It is about the costume he wore for the men’s short program on Friday afternoon, in his second performance of a Winter Games that already has seen him become a cultural phenomenon.

Take it away, Adam.

“Let me tell you a story,” Rippon, who skated a clean program to put himself into first spot after 19 skaters told USA TODAY Sports in a recent interview. “When I am on the ice in this costume I am essentially completely naked with crystals covering my nipples. Is that OK? The officials say it is OK.”

Rippon’s burgundy outfit with black leather patches was manufactured and conceptualized by his friend, Los Angeles designer Braden Overett and, per the skater’s wishes, involves some illusionary magic. Skating chiefs balked when Rippon tried to use a top that exposed his shoulders recently but approved his current number, which is sheer mesh with some fabric patches.

“People don’t realize that what they are really seeing is Adam skin,” Overett said, via telephone.

Whatever they see, they love it. For the second time in a week, Rippon’s name was the top trending item on Twitter in the USA within moments of his performance. He loves to be provocative — he has another word for it that implies extra naughtiness — and he says it makes him better.

“I am usually wearing some sort of see-through when I am competing,” Rippon added. “That is my (provocativeness), which is my athletic happy place. I like to wear something revealing. Usually I am like ‘I can’t believe I am wearing this, what did I get myself into?’ And it makes me less nervous. I can see my competitors sweating, and I am cool as a cucumber.”

Rippon has been lights out so far, and it is hard to see how things could have gone any better for him. He has a bronze medal from the team event, he has captured a place in the hearts of the South Korean crowd and the American television audience, and he is having the time of his life.

He loves his clothes and he loves his outfits of performance, but would you believe he crumples them up in a ball in his suitcase for traveling? It’s so the stones don’t come loose and get lost, he says.

Rippon trusts Overett enough to give him free rein over the design, and his friend spends 100 hours or sometimes more on putting everything together. First, Overette will make a painting that sums up the creative vision, then gets down to drawing the item, before finally getting involved in cutting and sewing the fabric. The shirt Rippon wore on Friday can be yours, too, if you’re confident enough, for a mere $1,200.

You can also have it tailored however you like, without any of the restrictions imposed upon a competitive figure skater.

“There are rules we have to accommodate,” Overett said. “We have to make sure the nipples aren’t showing and the belly button is not showing. We don’t want him to get a costume deduction because that would be the stupidest reason ever to lose points.”

Rippon dropped to seventh (the top American) by the end of the short program, but even so this Olympics has been a giant win.

“I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to skate well today,” he said. “I have definitely got a lot of attention, and I want to show all of those people love that they have their hands full.”

After his skate he celebrated by pumping his fists and then laying on his back on the ice yelling with delight, perhaps forgetting that the rear of his costume is paper thin.

“It was a little chilly,” he said, with a wink.