Here’s How BOSS Is Outfitting Aston Martin’s F1 Team
It takes a BOSS to outfit a boss like four-time Formula 1 World Champion Sebastien Vettel. The German fashion house recently announced a new partnership with the Aston Martin F1 team (AMF1) that will see BOSS develop a range of high-performance race- and travel-wear for the entire team, including its two drivers – Sebastien Vettel and Lance Stroll – as well as reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg.
It’s Hulkenberg’s impressive jawline you’re seeing in these photos, alongside Jessica Hawkins, a professional racer, stunt driver and Aston Martin team ambassador.
The global fashion brand – one half of HUGO BOSS – is in the process of developing a limited-edition capsule collection of performance wear with AMF1, set to be released in 2023. In the meantime, the team’s official kit and travel attire will feature, “signature BOSS styling combining iconic branding, premium materials, streamlined shapes, and sleek, minimal detailing.” We expect much of that team gear will eventually be available to people not on the team through AMF1 and/or BOSS.
“Aston Martin’s impressive power lies in its focus on technology, craftsmanship, iconic and luxury design – all guiding principles that the BOSS brand shares,” said Daniel Grieder, chief executive officer of HUGO BOSS. “We are excited to continue our long motorsports legacy with AMF1,” he added. The brand’s involvement with international motorsport dates back to 1972.
Given Formula 1’s recent boom – fueled in large part by Netflix’s addictive Drive to Survive docu-drama series – the sport now attracts an average of 70 million television viewers on any given race weekend. Throughout the season, 50 million fans follow along on social media, with another 130 million people watching videos online through F1.com and other platforms. ESPN reported the 2022 season is drawing record-breaking viewership in the U.S. as well.
It should, therefore, come as no surprise BOSS has chosen to dive into F1 now as part of a global strategy to boost brand awareness.
“I already know and appreciate the craftmanship, style, and detailing that characterizes the BOSS brand, and I look forward to affirming those values as we develop new and innovative collections together,” said Lawrence Stroll, chief executive of AMF1 Group.
Stroll, we should note, knows more than a thing or two about the fashion business. The Canadian billionaire made his fortune by masterminding the growth of Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors, taking the latter public in 2012. He’s always been an avid car enthusiast too, amassing one of the world’s greatest collections of vintage Ferraris. He sold many of them, as well as the Ferrari of Quebec dealership, around the same time he and a consortium of investors took a large stake in Aston Martin’s struggling road-car business. Since 2020, Stroll has been the executive chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda; his son – Lance Stroll – has been driving for the Aston Martin F1 team since its inception.
While the sport’s big battles rage on track, the battle for best-dressed team rages (quietly) in the paddock. Ferrari’s crew is dripping in gear from its partners: Puma, Armani, Richard Mille and Ray-Ban. Red Bull’s squad wears Puma and Tag Heuer, while Mercedes comes correct in Tommy Hilfiger and IWC.
Beginning at last weekend’s chaotic British Grand Prix, BOSS branding could be seen adorning Aston’s two F1 cars. (Don’t even think about getting one of those cars for yourself; they each produce upwards of 1,000 horsepower from a dinky 1.6-litre hybrid engine, and each cost untold millions of dollars. They’re not for sale.)
We’re looking forward to seeing the team outfits BOSS comes up given the brand’s panache for tailoring, and the fact this isn’t the first time BOSS has dressed some of the fastest drivers in the world. Once upon a time, in land far, far away – okay actually it was Japan in the early-‘90s – F1 hero and style-god Ayrton Senna turned up to test-drive the then-new Acura NSX wearing a pair of brown leather loafers (over high white socks, natch) and a black oversized BOSS bomber jacket. If you haven’t seen the footage of him driving yet, you really should. It’s a masterclass.
And, if you haven’t been to a Grand Prix, we’d recommend that too. Last month we were at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, soaking up the race weekend from Aston Martin’s exclusive paddock club; now we never want to watch an F1 race any other way.
