Lewis Hamilton teams up with Emma Raducanu as F1 icon adds new sponsor

Lewis Hamilton has been named as a brand ambassador for Dior, as well as the guest designer for a new Africa-inspired skiwear capsule. The Mercedes star has held a long-standing interest in fashion and even creates his own collections under his ‘Plus 44’ brand, but Hamilton is now taking steps into the luxury menswear industry, teaming up with Dior to create his own collaboration. “I wanted to bring vibrancy, I wanted to figure out how to do something a little bit different to what Dior does so well,” Hamilton explained. “It’s very comfortable. It’s definitely more relaxed.”

As per a report from WWD, Hamilton has teamed up with Dior’s artistic director of menswear, Kim Jones, to create a line that encapsulates the 39-year-old’s love of extreme winter sports, but also accounts for his beliefs regarding sustainability and animal rights. “Making it sustainable was key,” Hamilton explained. “When you’ve got a big house like Dior pushing that technology as well, hopefully, the goal is always to encourage all the other brands to want to start doing the same, because so many just are not conscious.”

African inspiration played a huge role in the designs behind the capsule. Hamilton and Jones are planning a summer trip to Mozambique this year, and the latter spent chunks of his childhood in Botswana, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and Ethiopia. “Some of the fabrics were made in Burkina Faso,” Jones explained. “We’re working with someone who’s helping us source sustainable fabrics throughout the continent and really looking at what we can do to help get the next generation of people educated to be able to come work in a studio like this.”

The seven-time world champion is far from the first major British athlete to partner up with Dior. Tennis sensation Emma Raducanu became a brand ambassador in 2021 in a deal worth £2.1m ($2.75m) off the back of her historic US Open triumph. While Hamilton’s new off-track adventure is an exciting one, the Brit now has plenty to look forward to on-track as well. At Silverstone last time out, the Mercedes star ended a 945-day winless streak with an exceptional drive on home soil, fending off the threat of a charging Max Verstappen.

Now Hamilton heads to the Hungaroring, where he has won on eight separate occasions and claimed his only pole position of the 2023 season. The Brit will no doubt be targeting back-to-back victories and a third successive one for his Mercedes team.