Lewis Hamilton, Who Collaborated With $450 Million Fashion Mogul, Once Borrowed Clothes for His Special Night

When it comes to fashion, no F1 driver is as stylish and passionate as seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. However, back in the day, he had to borrow clothes to look good ahead of an annual racing awards function, because he didn’t have the money to buy fine clothes. This happened at the 1995 Autosport Awards Dinner and Hamilton wrote about this particular experience in his book ‘Lewis Hamilton: My Story‘.

Today, Hamilton’s enormous wealth makes him one of the richest drivers in F1. Still, the Briton hasn’t forgotten the past when he and his father didn’t have money to splurge around. To support his racing career, Hamilton’s dad Anthony worked very hard and often resorted to using second-hand products so that Lewis didn’t get left behind.

As he overcame the hardship he faced in his childhood by becoming one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time, Hamilton also built a huge name for himself in other domains. Fashion, in particular, has always intrigued him more than anything else away from F1. He is one of the faces of the $450 million worth company Tommy Hilfiger and even started his own clothing brand, ‘+44’ in 2022.

The very same Hamilton, who is such an avid fan of the world of fashion today, once had to borrow special clothes before attending an award ceremony that would go on to become one of the most iconic moments of his life.

Lewis Hamilton had to borrow fancy clothes before an award function in London

In his book ‘Lewis Hamilton: My Story’, the 38-year-old talks about the 1995 Autosport Awards Dinner. It is an annual gala held in London, for which Hamilton was invited. Hamilton was just 10 years old and received the invitation because he won the British Formula Cadet Karting Championship. While talking about the awards dinner, Hamilton revealed what his outfit was, for the evening.

“I was wearing a green velvet jacket that my dad had borrowed from Mike Spencer,” the Mercedes driver writes. “The previous year’s winner of the British Formula Cadet Championship. Fortunately for me, he was my size.”

Well, even though the jacket was of his size, his stepmom Linda, had to work on the sleeves to make sure they didn’t cover his hands, Hamilton recalled.

The dinner ceremony, on the other hand, was very memorable for Hamilton. It took place at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane, London. In the book, Hamilton described the setting as a huge room full of about a thousand people, with tables and waiters everywhere.

Hamilton and his love affair with fashion

Today, Hamilton doesn’t have to borrow clothes from anyone, anymore. He is the brand ambassador for some of the biggest brands in the world, including Tommy Hilfiger. He also launched his own brand which he named after his care number in F1- +44.

Even away from his paid endorsements, Hamilton likes being involved in the fashion ecosystem. Throughout the year, we see him attend several prestigious fashion shows all around the world, and he turns heads wherever he ends up.

At the 2021 Met Gala in New York, he wanted to promote diversity in the fashion industry. Hence, he bought a whole table for his team of young black fashion designers so that they got the spotlight they deserved.

For Hamilton, however, his fashion choice and how he saw others was very different from what it is now. As per The Guardian, he once criticized his own nephew for dressing like a girl, which created some controversy. He has apologized since then, and today, he asks everyone to embrace whatever they feel like wearing when they are out in public.