Lewis Hamilton has become a brand ambassador for French luxury fashion brand Dior, adding another feather to his fashion industry endeavors. And just like he does with other collaborations, it is not just an exercise for visibility. Hamilton is working with designer Kim Jones on a new active lifestyle collection that will have inspirations as well as fabrics from Africa.
In an exclusive joint interview with WWD, Jones and Hamilton expressed their views on this new venture. The Mercedes driver stated, “We’ve both been talking a lot about Africa”. Meanwhile, having worked in several African countries like Tanzania, Botswana, Kenya, Ghana, and Ethiopia, Jones has a lot of cultural know-how about Africa and its clothing.
The House is pleased to welcome F1 icon @LewisHamilton as the newest Dior Ambassador with the release of a winter-ready Lifestyle Capsule in a guest collaboration with Kim Jones.#DiorLewisHamilton pic.twitter.com/4qqufbTRy5
— Dior (@Dior) July 15, 2024
Jones stated that some fabrics they used were from Burkina Faso. They have been pressing to make the collection from “sustainable” fabrics from all over the African continent. Hamilton also stated, “We want to make sure it has an impact. Making it sustainable was key”.
The 39-year-old, who shifted to a plant-based diet in 2017, also requested to not have usage of any animal leather. Meanwhile, this collection also has a theme of skiing and snowboarding, which are two of Hamilton’s hobbies off the track.
Hamilton also mentioned how he is working to bring “vibrancy” in the collection, to add a contrast to what Dior does well. All in all, the seven-time champion is walking the talk once again with his fashion collaboration with Dior and not just being an ambassador model for promotional and monetary reasons.
Hamilton’s wish for diversity in fashion
Hamilton has been quite vocal about increasing diversity and inclusion on and off the track. And his efforts toward the same have been persistent in the past decade even in his fashion endeavors.
At the 2021 Met Gala, the Briton bought a table for emerging black designers to signify his support for increasing representation of African talent in the industry. Now, Hamilton’s Dior collaboration also signifies an alternate route of giving a platform for African fashion culture.
Apart from Dior, the Mercedes driver once also collaborated with Tommy Hilfiger to launch his collection TommyXLewis in 2018. Back then, it became a huge hit with Hamilton leveraging Tommy Hilfiger’s Mercedes association to the fullest.
Since then, he has only expanded his fashion endeavors and seems to keep launching more such collections as he heads towards the twilight of his F1 career.
