Lewis Hamilton Named London Men’s Ambassador

British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton has been announced as the ambassador for London Collections: Men’s Fashion Week, which kicked off today in the capital. The racing champion will join David Gandy, Oliver Cheshire and Tinie Tempeh in promoting the event and raising more awareness for menswear.

“I’ve always been into fashion, but growing up, my family never had the money to buy all these nice things. All the money we had went on racing,” said the Hamilton. “Imagine how my stepmother felt about that – with our money being spent on things like tires!” The Mayor of London meanwhile, Boris Johnson, who is supporting London Collections: Men’s through the British Fashion Council, was keen to show the world that menswear in London was seeing a renaissance: “On the catwalk, in the shops and on the streets, there is no doubt that men’s fashion in London is a cut above the rest and this June’s LCM festivities are a chance for even more of us to get involved,” he said.

For Hamilton though, the appointment is an opportunity to reconnect with the community: “It’s a chance for me to give something back to the UK, inspire young designers and young people to get involved creatively,” he said. “When I grew up there was a bit of stigma attached to caring about the way you look too much but now menswear is actually growing faster than womenswear—I think this really shows how things have changed. It feels like it’s our time.”

London Collections: Men’s will run until Monday and will see presentations and shows from the likes of Gieves & Hawkes, Paul Smith and Tom Ford.