Tommy Hilfiger has been a fan of Formula 1 and “obsessed” with cars and uniforms ever since he was a kid growing up in Elmira, N.Y. “It’s near Watkins Glen when they had Formula 1 Grand Prix races,” he said. “I went to one in 1965 and it had me: the excitement, the noise, the fact that it was international — I’d never been to an international event before.”
One day, he said he had the opportunity to go into a garage to check out the cars up close, and the pit crew gave him a shirt that he proudly wore. So when his business got big enough, he stepped up to sponsor Team Lotus, a deal that included designing the uniforms. That was in 1988 when Formula 1 was just a nascent sport in the U.S.
Related Articles
“I actually knew that it was quite popular outside the U.S., but I’m not surprised that, after the Netflix ‘Drive to Survive’ show, it became so incredibly popular in the rest of the world and, in particular, North America,” he said.
You May Also Like
In the mid-1990s, he got the opportunity to sponsor the Ferrari team and design uniforms for star drivers such as Michael Schumacher. That led to a deal with Lewis Hamilton when he was driving for the Mercedes team and the creation of the Tommy x Lewis collection. “That embedded us in the sport more than ever,” he said. He even served as official fashion sponsor of the fictional APXGP Team in Brad Pitt’s popular “F1: The Movie.”
And then last year, the company signed the deal with the Cadillac Formula 1 Team that included Hilfiger logos on the cars, uniforms and helmets, and the creation of the official team kits for the drivers, pit crew and staff. A fanwear collection blending Hilfiger’s classic American aesthetic with motorsport references is also part of the deal, as is the partnership with lead driver Sergio “Checo” Pérez. For the Miami Grand Prix, slated for May 1 to 3, Hilfiger has created a limited-edition drop of Miami-themed graphic Ts, hoodies and caps designed with stylized palm trees, the city skyline and a Formula 1 car motif.
Although he admits to being a huge fan of the sport, he never entertained thoughts of becoming a driver himself.
“I used to build go-karts in my garage and imagined them as souped-up race cars,” he said. “And I’ve driven a high-performance car on the track and that was quite thrilling.” He hit a speed of 220 mph and all he could think about was what he would do if the brakes failed.
“I’ve also been in a hot lap car, where a Formula 1 driver took me around the track — and I would never do that again. When you hit those corners, it feels like your organs go one way and your body goes the other.”