Lewis Hamilton On His Brad Pitt F1 Film, Aspirations in Fashion, and His Future with Ferrari

“I think it’s about really working on the idea of: We’ve really got to send the lift down,” he says. “There are so many incredible young up-and-coming brands that at some stage would just get eaten up by the big organizations. And they’ll lose a large percentage of the company that they’ve started, and that’s often the way it goes. I think it’s about getting a seat at the table—it’s not easy. Getting in the room with [Bernard] Arnault and having the discussion.”

Have you tried? I ask.

“Uh, I’m not yet in the room, but I believe I can.”

Just to pick one I’ve seen you support, I say, I look at a brand like Wales Bonner (from acclaimed 33-year-old designer Grace Wales Bonner) that has about as clear a vision as any fashion label for what it’s about—fresh takes on Black style and contemporary Britishness—and yet remains humbly independent. Do you think about getting involved financially with businesses of that scale?

“I have been to Grace’s studio,” he says, “and it’s fascinating speaking to her about just how hard it is for her. She’s putting on these great shows, she’s super creative, she’s very intentional with the work that she’s doing. But there are opportunities that have just not been presented to her and I know that there are so many of these young brands that somehow need more finance, somehow need more support, help with the infrastructure, which the big brands obviously have crazy infrastructure. Which when you do get, you know, they are at risk of just having to sell a chunk of it to somebody in order to stay alive. So I’m trying to just figure out how we fit into that picture.”

“Honestly, one of my dreams is I have thought about creating my own diverse LVMH,” he says. “Like, I don’t know if we live in a time where that’s really possible. But that’s something that I’m conceptualizing.”

Act I: Beat Schumacher

Act II: Beat Arnault

Just one of those ideas that gets jotted down in the middle of the night and worked on, I suggest.

“Yeah,” he says. “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. 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.” That is, to make him men’s creative director of Louis Vuitton. “ ’Cause, wow, he did the work with Chanel, Billionaire Boys Club, he deserves it 100 percent. Then I’m thinking about someone like Grace. Or Martine Rose would’ve been cool. Put a woman in power in that position. Because a lot of women aren’t getting those opportunities within the industry. I think that would’ve been a baller move. But—I’m loving what Pharrell is doing.”

F1 Lewis

The start of 2024, Hamilton says, is “probably the most exciting time in my life.” In large part because it’s the first time he’s been able to think about the next two years in tandem. “I’ve never started a year excited for the year to follow,” he says. His life has been measured in seasons. One team. One car. One series. One summer break to cram in all the travel and songwriting camps and other interests. “People ask me all the time: Where do you see yourself in five years? And I’ve never been able to look that far ahead. But now I’m in a place where I can map out a little further ahead. There’s some really cool things that will be happening in the next two years.” He means: “Some really fun projects with fashion that will come to light at the end of the year, obviously the movie, and hopefully a documentary to follow.”