“I’m not going to stay quiet,” said Lewis Hamilton when asked about his support for the Black Lives Matter movement post George Floyd’s unfortunate death. And he hasn’t! The 7x Formula 1 world champion never leaves a stone unturned to raise his voice in support of equal rights and substantive representation. It all began in 2021 when Lewis Hamilton took budding black designers to the Met Gala, having booked an entire table for them. But this year’s iconic ode to Black history is unparalleled. It won’t be wrong to say that Lewis Hamilton is taking on the world, one outfit at a time, and we are floored.

Sir Lewis Hamilton arrived at the MET Gala 2024 right after an exhausting race weekend in Miami. This is not the first time he has pulled something like this as in 2018, Hamilton partied in New York to celebrate his first collection, then flew to Singapore and delivered the best lap of his glorious career. He faced everyone, including the late Niki Lauda‘s (triple F1 world champion and senior advisor at Mercedes) displeasure at his “other ventures”. But Lewis never backed down. He only grew stronger in his expression of his love for fashion. And 6 years later, “The Garden of Time” came alive.

Lewis Hamilton’s iconic Met Gala ode to “The Gardener” John Ystumllyn

“I hope the sun pours light upon our skin. And we melt into each other, into everything. Maybe the trees will speak, as they sometimes do. Whispers from the shade. 𝑅𝑢𝑛, 𝑟𝑢𝑛 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦,” This is a poem called The Gardener by Alex Wharton. If you think why am I in a full-blown recitation amid a fashion article, it is because Lewis Hamilton chose to express this poem by a black poet on his outfit dedicated to Britain’s first black gardener. Lewis was wearing a custom Burberry look which was created after researching this year’s theme, “The Garden of Time”. And what is more timeless than the history of those who couldn’t write it for themselves?

Lewis Hamilton spoke to Vogue Magazine and said that while deep diving into and researching for the theme, he came across an 18th-century gardener who, through slavery times, came over from Africa to Wales and became the first Black gardener in Wales [John Ystumllyn]. That’s where the inspiration for his look [and jewelry] came from. The slave trade was abolished in the British Empire in 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act went into effect in 1834. But Hamilton remembered to pay homage to people who suffered through this. He talked about John, saying, “Through adversity, he really triumphed.”

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Explaining his outfit, he said, “It’s Burberry. I did a lot of research, [and] came across this 18th-century gardener that through slavery times came over from Africa to Wales & became the first black gardener in Wales, so through adversity really triumphed. So that’s really where the inspiration has come from. I like that the thorns here are ready to show the pain through that slavery trade time.” Explaining his process, Hamilton added, “I like to get deep with it… you have to [take the theme seriously], you have to get in character.”

Lewis Hamilton’s last Met Gala appearance also had a unique message

In 2021, Lewis Hamilton paid for three designers – Theophilio, Kenneth Nicholson, and Jason Rembert–to sit at his table with other Black innovators including Zendaya’s stylist Law Roach, Alton Mason, Kehlani, and athletes Miles Chamley-Watson and Sha’Carri Richardson. It’s believed an individual ticket for the Met Gala costs approximately $30,000 (£21,000), while designers pay at least $275,000 (£198,000) for tables.

Lewis explained his step, stating “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. So that when people see us all together, it will put these Black designers at the top of people’s minds.”