When Lewis Hamilton graced the 2025 Met Gala’s champagne carpet, fashion critics swooned over his impeccable ivory Wales Bonner suit. But while casual observers admired the seven-time Formula 1 champion’s elegant ensemble, dedicated F1 fans spotted something others missed—a subtle detail that brilliantly connected his high-fashion moment to his racing legacy.
The racing inspiration hidden in plain sight was Hamilton’s custom outfit, which honored the gala’s theme “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” with its intricate craftsmanship and cultural references. However, eagle-eyed motorsport enthusiasts noticed that the distinctive embroidery pattern along his jacket’s seams mirrored the exact aerodynamic flow lines from his championship-winning Mercedes W12 car. “Lewis wanted something that seamlessly blended his two worlds,” reveals stylist Eric McNeal. “The flowing lines represent both the wind tunnel testing patterns from F1 engineering and traditional West African textile patterns—it’s brilliant dual symbolism that most people wouldn’t catch.”
This wasn’t the only racing reference embedded in Hamilton’s attire. The custom lapel pin, featuring baobab motifs and precious stones, incorporated tiny fragments of carbon fiber—the same material used in F1 car construction—within its intricate metalwork. Fashion historian Elaine Welteroth notes: “Hamilton consistently merges his racing identity with his fashion statements. Just as Rihanna uses fashion for personal announcements, Lewis uses it to bridge his professional and cultural identities.”
The outfit’s symbolism extended beyond racing, incorporating elements that celebrated Black excellence and heritage. Like a meticulously engineered race car, every element served both form and function: cowrie shell embellishments representing ancestral wealth, mother-of-pearl buttons echoing traditional craftsmanship, and a beret by Stephen Jones nodding to Black liberation movements. The racing-inspired tailoring featured precise, aerodynamic lines.
Hamilton’s evolution from driver to fashion icon mirrors his approach to racing—thoughtful, bold, and unapologetically authentic. Just as he’s adopted mindful wellness practices from various cultures, his fashion sensibilities blend diverse influences. “In both racing and fashion, the difference between good and exceptional lies in the details,” Hamilton shared in a post-event interview. “Just as milliseconds matter on track, small design elements can transform a look from ordinary to extraordinary.”
Fresh off the Miami Grand Prix, Hamilton raced to New York for the 2025 Met Gala—just in time to hit the carpet with co-chairs Colman Domingo and Anna Wintour. For the gala, Hamilton teamed up with Grace Wales Bonner for a thoughtful sartorial exploration of identity. Wales Bonner crafted Hamilton an ivory suit with a cropped jacket, high-waisted trousers featuring a tuxedo stripe, coattails, a white bow tie, and an embroidered ivory sash hanging from his waistband. A beret by Stephen Jones Millinery added a final flourish.
Hamilton has always nurtured a love for fashion. “I lived vicariously through magazines and music videos and films,” he said in his May US Vogue cover story. “The people I looked up to – it was Muhammad Ali, it was Michael Jordan, it was Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop wearing that cool leather jacket. And then a little bit later I started to learn about Cab Calloway, James Baldwin, Nelson Mandela, and André Leon Talley. I saw how their image was so important to them, and how they presented themselves through fashion.”
“We brought together a range of influences, from Barkley L Hendricks paintings to Black spiritual dressing to some of the brand’s craft signatures,” Wales Bonner tells Vogue. “There are stories told through jewel adornments and special trims, with symbolism in baobab flower motifs and natural materials like cowrie shells and mother-of-pearl buttons.”
The designer also cites Calloway—specifically as he appeared in Harlem Nights—and Talley as prevailing influences. Hamilton’s Met look has been in the works for months. “My stylist, Eric McNeal, and I have been thinking about how I’m going to turn up at the Met Gala,” Hamilton said in his Vogue cover story. “We’re both very thoughtful and intentional when it comes to fashion, and I hope that everyone else attending is compelled to really research and think deeply about what they’re wearing.”
No detail went overlooked in the driver’s symbolism-heavy look. “We spent three months on research and two months bringing it to life. Nothing about it was rushed,” McNeal tells Vogue. “So much care went into this look. What makes it special is that it’s not just about fashion – it’s about meaning.” The Harlem Renaissance proved a jumping-off point, “especially Cab Calloway and the way he used clothing to express confidence, charm, and something entirely new,” McNeal says of the jazz singer and bandleader.
They also turned to Hendricks’s paintings, especially his striking white-on-white portraits that feature Black subjects dressed in white in front of a white background. “There’s something really powerful about that kind of restraint – how it can say so much,” McNeal adds. Hamilton, Wales Bonner, and McNeal also ensured that Hamilton’s identity was represented. “Lewis really wanted there to be a reason and a story behind every detail,” McNeal says.
Wales Bonner lined Hamilton’s sash with cowrie shells—a protective talisman in African culture—while his ear cuffs, cuff links, and baobab-inspired brooches (which Wales Bonner made in collaboration with Snow Diamonds) contained garnets, a nod to his January birth date, among white and amber emerald-cut diamonds. His cufflinks, shaped like the Whirligig African Daisy, were loaded with symbolism. “[They] felt like a beautiful metaphor for growth, memory, and African heritage,” McNeal says.
Hamilton, of course, is no stranger to the Met Gala, having attended for the first time in 2015 for China: Through the Looking Glass. In recent years, he has taken to spotlighting Black talent and historical figures. In 2021, for In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, he hosted a table of rising Black talent, including Theophilio’s Edvin Thompson, Kenneth Nicholson, and Jason Rembert. Last year, he delivered one of his most powerful looks to date for Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, paying homage to John Ystumllyn, who became the first Black gardener in Wales in the 18th century.
Next time you see athletes on red carpets, look beyond the obvious glamour. Like Hamilton’s subtle F1 references or fashion’s hidden rules, the most meaningful statements often lie in the details—where passion, profession, and personal identity converge in beautiful, unexpected ways.
