Revamping the American Dream: Tommy x Mercedes-AMG F1 x Awake NY

In their latest collection, Tommy Hilfiger has collaborated with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team and Awake NY to rethink the American dream.

While some may say that the American dream is dead—or has never even existed—it is a fantasy that might just need a revamp. This revised version of a market-driven desire can then be successfully implemented into our undreamy realities and exist as a different modality. Tommy Hilfiger’s newly launched collection with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team and Awake NY rethinks traditional conventions. “We’ve been breaking conventions in our partnerships with the sport since the 90s. With this collaboration, we wanted to continue to innovate with both design and an inclusive spirit to create a new perspective for the next generation of race-goers,” says Hilfiger himself.

Lewis Hamilton, face of the collection, is the first and only Black Formula One driver, and known for publicly advocating for his political beliefs. When Hamilton won the Tuscan Grand Prix in 2020, he wore a shirt that read, “Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor” while receiving his trophy to raise awareness of police brutality. This gesture was later squashed when the powers that be in Formula One released a new dress code, forcing drivers to wear their racing suits when standing on the podium. But Hamilton has continued to endorse underrepresented and marginalized communities and actively donates to support youth, education, and labor initiatives. “He’s an athlete who transcends sport,” Awake NY’s designer Angelo Baque has said.

Tommy Hilfiger, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, and Awake NY have merged their formal, social, and political creeds and launched seven styles that celebrate the brashness of the sport and the city hosting the race. At the same time, they have emphasized the importance of dissolving boundaries that have been established by older generations. These “wearable mementos,” as Awake NY’s designer Angelo Baque called the collection, alter the preppiness of Hilfiger’s clothes into streetwear fits. With Hamilton’s number 44 (or Grand-Prix winner George Russel’s 63) stitched into the oversized baseball shirts that are reminiscent of hip hop videos from the 1990s, the collaboration has revamped classics that transcend to a reconstruction of historical fantasies.