Lewis Hamilton is taking his partnership with Dior to the next level by co-designing a Lifestyle Capsule collection that celebrates his passion for the outdoors.
When Lewis Hamilton was announced as a Dior brand ambassador in July of this year, it probably came as no surprise.
The multiple Formula 1 record holder—the man has the most career wins and world championship titles to date—isn’t just a blur on the racetrack, he’s quite the snazzy dresser off of it.
Specifically, Hamilton had been spotted wearing Dior Men on multiple occasions while making the F1 Grand Prix circuit this season.
The brand ambassador concept is well established and valid, but with an increasing number of high profile individuals being awarded the title, it can be nearly impossible to know who is affiliated with which brand. What is rare, however, is for a brand ambassador to be more than just a physical embodiment of what the brand stands for.
Hamilton seems to have the ability to push his involvement with fashion brands beyond the norm. Collaborating with Tommy Hilfiger, Hamilton created four TommyXLewis capsule collections between 2018 and 2020, bringing his own unique style to the American brand’s look, and now he’s working on a capsule collection for Dior Men designed with artistic director Kim Jones.
“Working with Kim and the talented team at Dior has been a dream come true and I was honored when she asked me to collaborate with her. Our values and ideas are aligned which makes it easy to create a creative collection infused with our shared experiences,” says Hamilton.
The new Dior Men Lifestyle Capsule collection is not F1 , or even racing-related, because that would be far too predictable and Hamilton is a multi-faceted individual.
Instead, the collection revolves around skiing and snowboarding as a personal celebration of Hamilton’s love for an outdoor-centric winter lifestyle. He is an adrenaline addict and loves extreme sports other than motor sports.
“We share our love for nature, desire to celebrate Africa, and the interest of craftsmen who unite African craftsmen with the Savoore Fair of Dior Atelier. “Plus, the collection reflects Lewis’ sporty side, his virtuosity and our functionality,” says Jones.
In many ways, the lifestyle capsule collection is a global endeavor. African reasons are included in the collection (Jones grew up in African countries during their first years), adding vibrations to technical technical problems.
For example, African weaving made in Burkina-Faso were made in the usual appropriate approach to Dior workshops, and snowboards to the SWISS Factory 9 brand brands with graphic African patterns.
Japanese sportswear brand Descente’s technical skiwear is also designed to withstand the extreme cold conditions on the slopes.
The expertise of these various “world workshops” ensures that not only are the pieces exceptional and up to par with Dior’s expertise, but they are also functional.
Hamilton has taken another step, pushing the borders of the Dior workshop to guarantee that stability is not a late thought to create a collection.
Being under a plant diet since 2017, Hamilton has insisted that animal skin is used for none of the works in the collection of lifestyle capsules. He argued that more conscious choices needed to be made in terms of materiality.
The collection’s ready-to-wear garments, including loose jeans, knitwear and fleece, are partly made from organic or recycled fabrics. The Dior Derby Micro Fever No Wee Shoes was developed as a steam of everyday shoes.
These new shots are used to improve the collection while maintaining the essence of Kim Jones Dior Men Collection.
The B44 Blade sneaker is the latest addition to Jones’ growing line of Dior men’s sneakers, designed with 2000s silhouettes in mind, with an unmistakable sporty appeal and sophisticated color gradients.
It’s too early to tell if this model will become a Dior Men staple, but it certainly fits into the existing Dior Men universe.
In an interview with WWD, Jones hinted that there’s more to come. “This is like a taste, and we’ll be in a bigger collection,” he said about his partnership with Hamilton. And that’s because this collection is essentially a pretty game changer for a house like Dior.
