Since launching their collaboration in 2018, Tommy Hilfiger and Lewis Hamilton have taken their cocreated collections across the world, starting in Shanghai, with pit stops in Milan and Berlin. For the fourth installment of Tommy x Lewis, the duo decided it was time to bring it home, so to speak, back to London, where Hamilton is from. A few days before the event, the stakes were raised once again with a surprise announcement: The new collection would include a three-way partnership with Gabriella Wilson, the Grammy-winning R&B singer known as H.E.R.
With Naomi Campbell leading the charge, the show at the Tate Modern tonight started on a resounding high note. Even in her downtime, the supermodel isn’t known to wear anything vaguely athletic, though she appeared surprisingly at ease in the brand’s new highlighter yellow and gray tracksuit, working her trademark strut in chunky high-top sneakers. Campbell wasn’t the only famous face in the lineup. There were a number of impressive cross-generational cameos: ’90s favorites Jodie Kidd, Yasmin Le Bon, and Erin O’Connor all walked the runway, as did newcomers such as Halima Aden and Lottie Moss, sister of Kate. In a week that has been sorely lacking in shape and age diversity, the casting was a refreshing change.
Since switching gears to fashion, Hamilton has developed a number of personal signatures: The Formula One driver has the word loyalty tattooed on his forearm, and it appeared in bold letters on hoodies and splatter-print tees. He doesn’t shy away from the idea of logos; in fact some were specifically designed to glow under the black lights of the club.
Fans of Wilson were able to spot her imprint on the collection from a mile away, too. Lyrics from her hit single “Hard Place” were written across a fluorescent jumpsuit: “My heart or you/I’m gonna lose.” One of the standout pieces in the lineup, it was a true reflection of her onstage look. Like Billie Eilish, Wilson is among a generation of young musicians that is rewriting the hyperfeminine rules of performance style with a cooler, looser sense of swagger.
The show ended with a series of Hilfiger Collection looks that included all the designer’s most beloved preppy motifs: Bermuda shorts, nautical prints, oxford stripes, and, of course, the Star-Spangled Banner. Even still, the brand is charting new territory where it counts: Seventy-five percent of the collection was made using more sustainable production methods, including organic cotton, recycled fabric, and low-impact denim washes.
