Lewis Hamilton: Fashion Icon Redefining Black Excellence on and off the Grid
From pit lane to Paris Fashion Week, how Lewis Hamilton is driving culture, challenging norms, and dressing for disruption.
Courtesy of Theo Wargo/Getty Images via CNET
He is the most successful driver in Formula 1 history, with seven World Championships and more pole positions than anyone else. But Lewis Hamilton’s real revolution isn’t measured only in seconds or laps, it’s in how he’s visibly and viscerally changed the face of power, privilege, and presence, both on the track and on the red carpet.
Formula 1 has long been seen as the elite of elite sports, overwhelmingly white, hyper-masculine, and conservative in its presentation. Hamilton is rewriting that. He is redefining what Black excellence looks like in a space that never expected or encouraged someone like him to take center stage, let alone do it in a pearl necklace, velvet pants, and painted nails. This is not just about winning. This is about becoming.
From Tracksuit to Thom Browne: Lewis Hamilton’s Fashion Evolution
Hamilton’s fashion journey didn’t start on the runway but in the paddock. Early in his career, his looks were what you’d expect from a rising athlete: boxy suits, branded polo shirts, and the occasional oversized hoodie. They were functional, safe, and a little forgettable.
That changed. In the past decade, Hamilton has transformed into a front-row fixture. His style has grown bold, fluid, and unafraid to bend expectations. He’s been spotted in double-breasted lavender suits, lace shirts, plush tailoring, and gender-fluid silhouettes that directly challenge the rigid masculinity of motorsport.
He doesn't follow trends, he reshapes them. His outfits are often built on contrast: chrome textures paired with soft knits, structured jackets thrown over sheer tanks, or a classic white suit broken up with chunky pearls and layered chains. He brings softness to sharpness, always walking the line between strength and sensitivity.
Collaborating with brands like Tommy Hilfiger, he’s co-designed collections that reflect his values: bold colorways, inclusive sizing, and messages of empowerment. His presence at Paris Fashion Week and consistent appearances in Thom Browne, Balenciaga, and Rick Owens signal that he isn’t just dabbling in fashion. He’s curating his place in it.
Lewis Hamiton at Heathrow Airport. Courtesy of Spash News via Vogue
Lewis in Tommy Hilfiger. Courtesy of Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team via GQ
Lewis attending the Dior show during PFW ‘24. Courtesy of Spotlight via Vogue
Dressing With a Purpose
Style, for Hamilton, is not surface-level. It’s strategic. In 2020, during a race weekend in Tuscany, he wore a T-shirt that read “Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor.” It wasn’t a post or a hashtag. It was a statement worn on his chest, in front of a global audience, under the most traditional, camera-heavy spotlight of all: Formula 1.
Later that year, at the Met Gala, Hamilton bought an entire table filled with Black designers, a quiet but radical move in a space where Black creatives are often marginalized or absent. He didn’t just show up; he used his seat to bring others.
This wasn’t a performance. This was a protest. Hamilton uses fashion to amplify voices, honor culture, and challenge silence in places that have long benefited from it. Whether it's through wearing Black-owned designers, speaking about inclusivity at events, or simply existing unapologetically as a Black man in luxury spaces, his wardrobe is always saying something, even when he’s not speaking.
Lewis demanding justice for Breonna Taylor after winning the Tuscan GP. Courtesy of Getty - Pool via The Sun
Lewis Hamilton and guest attend The 2021 Met Gala. Courtesy of Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images via Vogue
Black Excellence, Reimagined in Chrome and Silk
Formula 1 has been a playground of old money and silent power for decades. It's a world of polished privilege, where diversity has been more of a tagline than a lived truth. In walks Lewis Hamilton tattooed, braided, deeply stylish, and wholly himself.
He is not trying to “fit in” to elite spaces. He’s making room. His presence on the grid and in front rows disrupts the assumption of what power looks like, what success dresses like, and who gets to be seen.
And that matters; for every young Black kid watching Formula 1, for every creative who’s been told to tone it down, and for every athlete told they must be stoic, silent, or straight to be taken seriously.
Hamilton brings identity into elite spaces that often ask you to leave it at the door. His presence says: You can be excellent and expressive, fast and fashionable, and many things simultaneously.
More Than a Collaborator: A Cultural Curator
Hamilton isn’t alone in fusing sport and style. He sits in good company with athletes like Serena Williams, Russell Westbrook, and even A$AP Rocky, who’ve all blended performance with personal flair. However, what sets Hamilton apart is his complete control over the narrative. He doesn’t just wear fashion, he shapes it.
His appearances at the Met Gala are never in costume. Their concept. His Fashion Week looks aren’t about sponsorship. Their statements. He works closely with stylists who understand his desire for fashion to reflect identity and intention. That’s what makes him more than an athlete who dresses well. He’s a cultural curator.
He has also become a blueprint for a new kind of male style icon; one that doesn’t hide emotion behind fabric, one who can wear pearls and power in the same breath, one who isn’t afraid of softness, color, or fluidity. It’s a masculinity that holds space for vulnerability, and it’s becoming more powerful because of it.
Co-Chair Lewis Hamilton during the Met Gala 2025. Courtesy of John Shearer via Vogue
Pole Position in Fashion, Too
Lewis Hamilton doesn’t just wear clothes; he changes the meaning of wearing them. He challenges stereotypes, amplifies voices, and uses his spotlight with intentional grace. He’s redefining what it means to succeed in spaces not built for you and how to do it with elegance, fire, and imagination.
Fashion has always been a tool. For Hamilton, it’s more than that. It’s a second language. A shield. A mirror. A microphone. A way to show up and say: I’m here. I belong. I’m not shrinking to fit the room; the room needs to grow.
For Lewis, fashion is not just fabric; it’s freedom, protest, and identity in motion.
A look at how one man rewrote the rules of racing and rewired the future of fashion along the way.