How Lewis Hamilton Offered Black Designers a Seat at the Table for This Year’s Met Gala

Given his illustrious career as one of the motor racing world’s most legendary figures—and, of course, one of its most stylish and culturally perceptive ambassadors far outside of the sport—you might think Lewis Hamilton had enough on his plate when it came to planning his looks ahead of the 2021 Met gala.Not so: The Met gala veteran, known for his impeccably tailored fits spanning everything from Tommy Hilfiger to Dolce & Gabbana over the years, chose to move the spotlight away from himself this year. More specifically, to three emerging Black designers that Hamilton has been especially energized by over the past 18 months: Theophilio, Kenneth Nicholson, and Jason Rembert. They were among a table of talented young Black stars who Hamilton invited to the Met.

That he should turn his lens from sport to fashion isn’t just a tokenistic gesture, but a celebration of the underrepresented and overlooked design talents that inspire him every day. “We’re living in a time where diversity and inclusion is so important, and that’s why I started this organization [The Hamilton Commission] within my own sport,” says Hamilton. “I realized it’s very similar in the fashion industry. A lot of young brands and designers don’t have the same opportunities, so that’s what really set me off.”

And for Hamilton, the Met gala—as well the platform it offers to promote a new group of groundbreaking design talents, just a handful of whom are here hosted on his table—was simply an obvious next step within his efforts to diversify the creative industries from top to bottom. “The Met is the biggest fashion event of the year, and for this theme, I wanted to create something that was meaningful and would spark a conversation,” Hamilton continues. “So that when people see us all together, it will put these Black designers at the top of people’s minds.” After Hamilton’s video honoring the design talents he’s promoting, they’ll be firmly at the top of your mind too.