The pitch from Lululemon was “impressive,” but the proof was in the pudding for the F1 champ; he tried on Lululemon’s menswear and connected with how it felt. “Honestly, running, being in the gym [with] the weight, the feel of the fabric, it’s so rich. Feel is everything,” he says. “When it comes to all the fabrics that I work with—when I’m designing clothes for example—the material is very, very important for me. There’s some brands I just can’t wear because it’s itchy.” Today he’s in head to toe pearly-white Lululemon, and very happily sleeveless. “The silhouette is very important,” he says, running a hand over his joggers. “I love color-matching things; you want to look good when you go somewhere to work out.”
Aside from his ambassador role at Lululemon, Hamilton already has his own clothing line—Plus 44—and in October he devised a capsule collection with Kim Jones and Dior. “Working with and learning from Kim Jones has been a mind-blowing, incredible experience,” he says. There’s another collaboration with Jones in the offing, presumably one of the designer’s final efforts before leaving Dior. “I can’t wait for you to see the new stuff,” says Hamilton with a smile. “I don’t want to beef it up, but it’s really, really good.”
Last year, Hamilton told GQ that his post-racing ambitions are film and fashion. Could we see the racing driver follow a similar route to Pharrell, who gradually made inroads to fashion before hard-launching as men’s creative director for Louis Vuitton? Hamilton is thoughtful and realistic about his ambitions. “I’m very much conscious of doing the groundwork,” he explains. “If you look at the start of great designers out there, they’ve been grinding for years and years and years. I’m conscious that I couldn’t creative direct, I’m not at that point yet, but I’m using these as stepping stones. I’m really building up my experience—it’s like internships that I’m doing—and I hope that at some stage it provides me to a point where I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m ready now to truly lead and stand alone.’”
In May, timed delicately between the Miami and Imola Grands Prix, Hamilton is co-chairing the Met Gala alongside Colman Domingo, Pharrell, A$AP Rocky and, of course, Anna Wintour. He’s been a Met Gala regular for years and met Wintour in passing. The pair finally connected when they were seated together at Wimbledon. “We just realized that we had so much more in common,” he says. “She doesn’t want to talk about fashion all day, she’s really into tennis, so we had this great conversation and our friendship blossomed from there. I’ve sat in a hotel room with her for an hour and a half just yapping, it’s been so cool.”
For the 2021 Met Gala, Hamilton purchased a table and invited up-and-coming Black designers. With his co-hosting this year, he’s keen to expand on that commitment. “We’ve been discussing how we can make this [Met Gala] grow from that and make it even more special and more inclusive,” he says. And no, he’s not yet chosen a designer for his look. “We’re still in the process of figuring out what that’s going to be, but what I do know is that we really have to continue to create space.”
