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When drivers like seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton walk the paddock, it’s akin to a runway show that is ardently followed on social media. The partners of drivers, who also walk the paddock, have their own style following, some even have collaborations with fashion brands. New fashion brands are offering up clothing with subtle signals that the wearer is deep into Formula One.
And big fashion is paying attention – Louis Vuitton inked a ten-year partnership with the sport this year. At this year’s New Zealand Fashion Week, McLaren vehicles were on display outside the Auckland venue.
“It felt like a beautiful collision of all things I love,” says Hannah Wilkins, 32, a breakfast radio host and a Formula One fan in Dunedin. She attended New Zealand Fashion Week as a volunteer McLaren driver.
Hannah Wilkins in her socks inspired by Formula One driver Lando Norris.
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She got into Formula One through her dad. Wilkins clearly remembers when the sport began its move into fashion. It was the early 2010s as Hamilton began using the paddock as a way to express himself in an otherwise exclusive and homogenous sport. It pushed Formula One beyond just brand t-shirts and racing jackets, says Wilkins.
“When all the drivers arrive, what will they be wearing? What’s going to be happening with Glamour on the Grid, with the girls?” says Wilkins, of the annual premier fashion night for Formula One in Melbourne.
“Charles Leclerc’s girlfriend – what will she be wearing? Is Leo their little dog going to be there? There’s just so much content to consume with [Formula One].”
There are a host of subtle ways to signal your support for a particular driver, too, says Wilkins, who changes who she supports from week to week.
She has neon yellow socks with a squiggly design that is the hallmark of driver Lando Norris. Then there’s the apron she bought off an Etsy seller with the face of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on it. A pink cap worn backwards is the way to discreetly communicate your support for New Zealand driver Liam Lawson, she says.
A 2025 survey of 100,000 global fans found more than a quarter were Gen Z (aged 13 to 28), and of those Gen Z respondents, half were women. More than half of the Gen Z and female fans said fashion was a key part of their fandom. Many caught the bug through TV series such as Netflix’s Drive to Survive ,
Ferrari’s Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc arrives at the paddock accompanied by his girlfriend, Alexandra Saint Mleux, and his dog for a practice session ahead of the Mexico City Formula One Grand Prix.
YURI CORTEZ
Kasia Stanicich, a content creator from Christchurch, hits that new fan demographic. She is 27, a newish fan to the sport, loves the fashion, and is delving deeper into the complexities of the sport, including the tactics and engineering of the cars.
The turbulent year of young Kiwi driver Liam Lawson has added to the intrigue. Stanicich has watched Lawson as he journeyed through the lower ranks of single-seater car racing. When he landed a seat on the Red Bull team for 2025, she bought a jumper from Cherry Los Angeles, which had a collaboration with the team. However, he was downgraded to the sister team, the Racing Bulls in March in a drawn out drama.
“It’s got that slight kind of Texas element to it, a little bit country, a little bit very cool, which I love.”
Stanicich has her eye on a Ferrari red tank top from Australian brand Principal the Label with “Grand Prix Club” embroidered on the front. The brand often uses sneaky motifs like a small vintage Formula One car and checkered flags to indicate a racing fan.
Brands like Principal the Label, a female-founded company, are catering to the new female fan base in the sport, says Stanicich.
“I think we still have a long way to go and it’s definitely improved, but we still have a long way to go in getting team merch that’s not made for men,” says Stanicich.
New Zealand Formula One driver Liam Lawson became a brand ambassador for Kathmandu in 2024.
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Shelley Down from the New Zealand brand Beiged noticed another hole in the market – F1 adjacent clothing that is made from natural fabrics.
“I noticed a lot of the racing-style tops on the market were polyester or a poly blend. We always like to use natural materials, so our tops are crafted from 100 percent cotton.
While her initial inspiration for the long sleeve “Beiged Motorsports” was from motorbikes, the shirts have found a place amongst Formula One fans.
“… it has been one of our biggest-selling products for nearly three years.”
Beiged is a New Zealand brand with some motorsport racing inspired t-shirts.
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Huffer, a major New Zealand street-wear brand, is releasing a Formula One-inspired collection in January, according to Kate Berry, Huffer’s managing director. In May, the brand is releasing its collaboration with Audio, which coincides with the carmaker’s planned 2026 entry into the sport.
“Motorsport has evolved into a lifestyle space: the teams, the garages, the travel, the personalities, it all functions like a global tribe,” Berry wrote in an email to RNZ.
Jordan Gibson, the founder of streetwear brand Checks Downtown, sees Formula One’s close relationship with fashion as part of a broader shift in sport.
He traces this evolution to the NBA and “tunnel fits,” as in the outfits basketball players wear when they walk through a backstage tunnel after arriving for their games. In 2005, players were required by the league to wear “business or conservative attire”, and players embraced it as a way to showcase their individuality.
Fashion has taken a key role in tennis thanks to Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka. Players in the NFL – the National Football League in the US – have embraced fashion in their walk from team bus to stadium with Travis Kelce , the fiancé of music superstar Taylor Swift, leading the pack.
“Across the board, athletes of various types are thinking about their image and their personal brand and their social presence as a way of building their profile,” says Gibson.
“[They are] seeing their appearance when they’re not performing as a key part of that.”