The 2025 F1 season is edging nearer and already F1 occasions are taking place. Which implies that considered one of Mercedes’ newest hires, its vogue supervisor, has been busy at work preserving the group’s two drivers, George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, trying good. “She [the stylist] doesn’t decide my outfit every single day, however she sends me some concepts,” Antonelli stated.
“Truly, my mum can also be my stylist,” the F1 rookie admits. “More often than not she doesn’t like the mix I put on — she’s all the time fixing my garments. Generally after we’re about to exit for dinner with my household she says, ‘Oh no, it is advisable to go change.’ So she’s my correct stylist.” Antonelli and his mom are even redesigning his wardrobe to accommodate a cargo of the group’s new Adidas-made gear — a half-dozen overflowing boxes-worth, which just lately arrived at his doorstep.
Rookie Kimi Antonelli kinds his group equipment with a cap and necklace
Russell and Antonelli are embracing the rising function that vogue performs within the sport — taking up a torch proudly carried by Lewis Hamilton. “Trend wasn’t an enormous a part of my life,” Russell confessed after I spoke to him on the Mercedes-AMG F1 x Adidas assortment launch earlier this month. “It was solely over the previous few years that I spotted the optimistic influence it has on you if you happen to’re sporting garments you’re feeling assured in, that make you’re feeling higher and stand a bit taller.”
That put somewhat stress on Adidas to nail the gathering, some 150-pieces robust and produced, from design to doorstep, in solely eight months. (Take into account {that a} model like Adidas usually works a 12 months or extra forward.)
“Our model has a very good historical past and nice data round modern objects. We’re asking how we will bridge that into F1 and mix the game with the streetwear issue and the tradition borne out that,” stated Michael Batz, Vice President of Attire at Adidas. “Often in F1 it is a cap and a driver tee, however we additionally wish to create fascinating kinds which might be iconic, like paddock jackets.”
The gathering additionally made information for having extra than simply the same old fan gear. Adidas hung out in Mercedes’ Brackley manufacturing facility or on the highway, observing the wants of everybody on the group, from the pit crew to the hospitality group.
“For instance, we appeared on the mechanics and the place they put all of their radios,” stated Batz. “We requested, ‘Can we make issues higher once they dismantle the automotive mendacity on the ground?’ Then we observed they’ve sponsors on the again [of their shirts] they usually’re probably rubbing on the ground,” he went on. “These are belongings you solely discover out once you intently monitor, take heed to and get suggestions from the group, which then [informs] the ultimate product.”
Consequently, for the primary time ever, group members will put on clothes formulated particularly for his or her function: mechanics will don shirts with sweat-wicking know-how whereas advertising and marketing staffers will stride by way of the paddock in sneakers designed to endure the 30,000-step marathon that’s race day. The uniform may even evolve all through the season to include daring new hues and modern materials, accompanied by limited-edition drops for followers who wish to costume the half.
George Russell is all smiles in his new group polo
I requested Batz if Adidas would ever take into account launching a signature shoe named after George Russell or Kimi Antonelli, the best way LeBron James or Lionel Messi have had for thus lengthy. In spite of everything, race boot-inspired kicks are extra fashionable now than they’ve been in a long time.
“It is undoubtedly a possibility we see in so many different sports activities with lots of fan dedication and fan engagement,” he stated, noting the group hasn’t dominated something out as they proceed innovating. “It’s a possibility to look into.”
Relying on how his subsequent few seasons go, perhaps Antonelli’s mother can be dressing him in signature “Kimi” Sambas quickly sufficient.
Learn Additionally:
On this article
Emily Selleck
System 1
Tradition
George Russell
Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes
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