Lewis Hamilton was one of the first on the red carpet at the 2025 Met Gala, and immediately got engines revving in his sharp, stylish attire.
The British Formula 1 racer, 40, arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday, May 5 in an cream-colored suit and matching beret. Per Vogue, the look is custom Wales Bonner and features all the trappings of formal dressing, from tails to a satin bowtie.
Hamilton’s hat was adorned with a gold brooch, which coordinated with the one adhered to his suit jacket (a vintage 1980s Briony Raymond design; the jeweler also provided his diamond earrings). The F1 driver also wore multiple chunky gold rings with gemstones.
Hamilton told Vogue that he and his stylist Eric McNeal had been working on the look with Grace Wales Bonner for three months. “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,” he said.
Wales Bonner added that many references helped influence the look, “from Barkley L. Hendrickspaintings to Black spiritual dressing … 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.”
Vogue announced in October that Hamilton would be one of the co-chairs for this year’s Met Gala, along with Colman Domingo, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams and Anna Wintour. LeBron James is also an honorary chair.
“I’m beyond honored to be one of the co-chairs for next year’s Met Gala, ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,’” Hamilton wrote on Instagram after the announcement was made. He also wrote about what the year’s theme meant to him.
“When I started my career I never imagined what I might be capable of beyond my sport. The pressure to conform holds so many people back. Growing up as the only Black kid on the track, so often that pressure got to me,” the driver wrote. “Expressing myself creatively was and still is my freedom from that conformity. For Black people across the diaspora, fashion is self-preservation. Fashion is resilience, and I can’t wait to further explore and amplify our underrepresented voices.”
The star-studded event is a fundraiser for The Costume Institute and spotlights the museum’s spring 2025 exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” also this year’s theme.
Curator in Charge Andrew Bolton shared that the exhibit, which is inspired by guest curator Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, explores “the Black dandy as both a concept and an identity signifier.”
The exhibit “presents a cultural and historical examination of Black style from the 18th century to the present through an exploration of the concept of dandyism,” according to a post on the museum’s Instagram.
The Met Gala’s dress code this year is “Tailored for You.” It is a nod to the exhibition’s focus on menswear and suiting. The host committee for the gala includes Simone Biles and her husband, Jonathan Owens, Regina King, Spike Lee, Angel Reese, Doechii and Usher.
This is not Hamilton’s first time attending fashion’s biggest night. Last year, the F1 racer arrived wearing an all-black custom Burberry outfit. It included a wool coat accented with floral embellishments. Underneath, Hamilton wore a double-breasted suit and black boots. Inside the coat, designers stitched in a quote from Black English poet Alex Wharton’s “The Gardener” poem. The addition paid homage to the year’s theme: “The Garden of Time,” inspired by J.G. Ballard’s 1962 short story.
“What I love about the Met, and what Anna [Wintour] does with the Met, is that I’m able to really deep dive into the theme,” Hamilton told Vogue on the red carpet. The look was inspired by the story of John Ystumllyn, one of Britain’s first Black gardeners. “Through adversity, he really triumphed, so that’s where the inspiration really came from.”
To complement the look, Hamilton wore a floral set of earrings and a gold chain. The necklace featured thorns to represent the “pain” experienced by enslaved people during the slave trade.
“I’ve been to the Met Gala before and always look forward to going,” Hamilton told W Magazine while prepping for the event. “This is a special one for me, as it’s the first time I’ve hosted my own table, though.”
In addition to designer Nicholson, Hamilton’s entourage included American track and field sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, Theophilio designer Edvin Thompson, stylist Jason Rembert, singer Kehlani and fencer Miles Chamley-Watson.
