Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton has taken on a new role as a Dior house ambassador, marking his foray into the world of high fashion. And he’s bringing a sustainability commitment with him.
Lewis Hamilton, the star driver for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas FI team, is not just lending his name to Dior, he has teamed up with Dior men’s creative director Kim Jones for a special winter-ready lifestyle capsule collection that is focused on skiing and snowboarding.
The collection, which emphasizes sustainability, features elevated outerwear pieces, slouchy denim, knits, sweats, and fleeces. These items are partly made from organic or recycled textiles, highlighting a commitment to eco-friendly fashion. Custom snowboards from Swiss Factory 9 also make a significant statement in this collection.
Hamilton, 39, expressed his excitement about this collaboration, saying, “Working with Kim and the talented team at Dior has been a dream, and I was honored when Kim asked if I’d like to do this with him. Our values and ideas are aligned, making it easy to bring to life a creative collection infused with our shared experiences.”
Jones, the creative force behind Dior men’s collections, emphasized their shared values, stating, “We share a love of nature, a desire to celebrate Africa and an interest in the artisanal processes and techniques that unite craftspeople in Africa with the savoir-faire of the Dior ateliers. Added to that, this collection also reflects Lewis’ sporting side, his virtuosity and our functionality.”
Sustainability at the core of Dior’s new collection
The capsule collection is a testament to Dior’s shift toward sustainability. The collaboration with Hamilton is a part of Dior’s broader effort to incorporate more responsible and certified materials into its designs. In 2022, the Dior Men’s annual beachwear collection, marked the label’s first capsule made with upcycled plastic materials from Parley for the Oceans — a partnership Jones initiated in 2019.
The label was founded to elevate women and has also been active in conservation efforts. “Since 2006, the house of Dior has been dedicated to restoring the Grasse region with the help of female flower cultivators,” Savior Flair explains. The label also committed to revive the country’s cultural gardens including La Petite Provence near the large fountain in Jardin des Tuileries by this year. Last year it planted 600 rose bushes in the Queen’s Grove at Versailles.
“The love of nature has always been at the heart of Dior’s unconditional passions,” reads the Dior website. “Our founder, Christian Dior, constantly celebrated the beauty of gardens and flowers, as well as their fascinating diversity. Nature is omnipresent in the names of his collections and the designs of his haute couture dresses, like the most inspiring of muses. A deep admiration perpetuated since 1947 and reinvented anew by each successive Creative Director.”
The label says that as a result, it works as a “creative laboratory in motion” open to the world, its challenges, and its cultures, “our House is committed to imagining timeless icons, objects of lasting desire that can be repaired, restored, recycled, and personalized throughout their lifecycle thanks to a synergy of talents and savoir-faire.”
Dior has earned the Positive Luxury’s Butterfly Mark as a “Brand to Trust.” Its Dream in Green pillars include protecting natural resources, slowing climate change, and a daily commitment on behalf of employees.
Beyond fashion, Hamilton is known for his dedication to sustainability. He has been outspoken about his vegan diet and his efforts to reduce his carbon footprint, including his investment in Neat Burger, a U.K.-based vegan fast-food chain.
Hamilton’s not the only environmentalist to partner with Dior. Fellow vegan Natalie Portman has been an ambassador for Dior for more than a decade. When she first signed on with the label, John Galliano, creative director for Dior at the time, had vegan shoes made for the star. “One of the things that’s been so nice is that Dior made all of the shoes for me with no animals and no leather or anything, because I don’t wear any leather. They remade all my shoes so I can wear Dior shoes without taking lives,” Portman said at the time.
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