Lewis Hamilton brought some special guests with him to the 2021 Met Gala. The 36-year-old Formula One racer not only attended the Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual event on Monday, but also opted to buy an entire table at the soirée.
Hamilton purchased the table in order to host Black designers, including Kenneth Nicholson, Edvin Thompson, and Jason Rembert, who wouldn’t normally have the opportunity or be able to afford to attend the event. Stylist Law Roach, singer Kehlani, Olympic fencer Miles Watson, model Alton Mason and track and field sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson also attended as Hamilton's guests.
Hamilton's gesture was envisioned as a celebration of Black creatives, which would fuse the intersectionality between fashion, sport and music, showing how, together, they all push the culture.
(L-R) Miles Chamley-Watson, Kenneth Nicholson, Lewis Hamilton, Law Roach, Kehlani, Jason Rembert, Sha'Carri Richardson, Edvin Thompson and Alton Mason
Hamilton has long had a passion for commitment to creating equal opportunities for people in underrepresented communities.
His research project, The Hamilton Commission, identified the barriers young Black people face in entering U.K. motorsport and recommendations to overcome them. Hamilton's foundation, Mission 44, works to drive some of the recommendations forward and to ultimately support, champion, and empower young people from underrepresented communities to succeed.
"We’re living in a time where diversity and inclusion is so important, and that’s why I started this organization within my own sport," Hamilton told Vogue. "I realized it’s very similar in the fashion industry. A lot of young brands and designers don’t have the same opportunities, so that’s what really set me off."
"The Met is the biggest fashion event of the year," he continued of the gala, which had the theme of "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion" this year. "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."
The three designers Hamilton invited largely dressed the group, with Nicholson making Hamilton's look, Thompson designing Mason and Richardson's ensembles, and Rembert doing the same for Kehlani.
ET's Rachel Smith spoke with Richardson at the event, and the athlete revealed that her look was "inspired by a phoenix."
"I feel delicious! I feel like Cinderella," she said. "[The outfit is] just showing the world that no matter what you may see at the mud or the ashes, you can always rise up. The red is fire, and always ablaze."
Watch the video below for more on this year's Met Gala.
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