Lewis Hamilton lands new job away from F1 in link-up with LeBron James | F1 | Sport
Lewis Hamilton has found a new gig away from Formula One and motorsport, with the Brit named as one of the co-chairs for the 2025 Met Gala.
Calendars will be marked for May 5 where Hamilton will join Colman Domingo, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams and Anna Wintour to take on one of the highlights of the fashion calendar, alongside honorary chair LeBron James.
Hamilton has been a regular attendee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and was present for Wednesday’s Costume Institute’s spring 2025 exhibition, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.
He regularly dons jaw-dropping outfits around the F1 paddock, transforming a once-devoid space into a runway of inspiration, and will be joined by another sporting icon in Los Angeles superstar Laker James.
Honorary chair James will be attending his first Met Gala next year, with the dress code announced in early 2025. ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’ will be on view from May 6 until October 26, 2025.
Hamilton took to social media to react to the announcement, writing: “Honored to be one of the co-chairs for next year’s Met gala, ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. See you in May ~”
Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, has always pushed the boundaries of what an F1 driver can be. He has branched out into music, fashion, filmmaking – decisions that haven’t always been well received.
“As I explored my creativity and also how to express myself I experienced a lot of pushback in the media,” he told GQ. Plenty questioned Hamilton’s ‘distractions’ off the track despite his success in the sport: “People just judging me: ‘This is not how a racing driver behaves. This is not what a racing driver does.’ ”
Fashion has always been a passion of Hamilton’s and in 2007 he attended his first show.
“I come from a racing world where me and my dad were really the only people of colour,” he explained. “And then when I went to the fashion world, it was so mixed, so diverse. I loved it.”
Between 2018 and 2020 he designed two collections for Tommy Hilfiger and has since formed a working relationship with acclaimed designer Grace Wales Bonner, with plans to step up his involvement in the fashion world further after retiring from motorsport.
“Honestly, one of my dreams is I have thought about creating my own diverse LVMH (Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy’s luxury good conglomerate),” Hamilton declared. “Like, I don’t know if we live in a time where that’s really possible. But that’s something that I’m conceptualising.
“We’ve got an opportunity to really lift people up, and let them get in the jet stream. I think about LVMH and, of course, I love Pharrell (fellow Met Gala 2025 co-chair). He’s been, since I was a kid, just musically and creatively, someone that I really aspire to be like. And I was really split, having now been in the space, on the decision that LVMH took.”
