Why the F1 could be luxury’s favourite new playground
Elite brands have a long association with high-octane racing, and those courting the growing number of female fans are finding more opportunities.
Make-up mogul Charlotte Tilbury’s decision to enter the revved up world of race car driving last month was always going to send certain pockets of internet commenters into a tizz.
It’s not only that Tilbury is the first female founder with a female-focused brand to partner with the F1 Academy, which supports female drivers aged 16-25 in development, access and training, operating as a feeder program for F1 qualification.
But it’s also that the car – for French F1 Academy driver Lola Lovinfosse’s Rodin wheels – with its lipstick kisses and magenta finish was so defiantly girly.
In this still overwhelmingly masculine sport all of this matters. The ongoing alleged sexting scandal around Red Bull team boss Christian Horner and the commentary around it is proof of this.
As Formula 1 group chief executive Stefano Domenicali noted in 2022, 40 per cent of global F1 fans are now women.
Women, it must be said, who have a lot of buying power.
For Charlotte Tilbury, the decision to invest in F1 fits her brand’s MO of empowering women – the very ones who want to buy a lipstick and also drive a car, extremely fast.
“We are leading the charge, reshaping conventional sponsorships, and pushing boundaries as we’ve always done. We’ve always been a disruptive brand at the forefront of innovation and technology, and our partnership with F1 Academy is doing the exact same thing in the world of motorsport,” says Tilbury.
“We are empowering these remarkable young women, and the fans that watch them, to persist in shattering barriers and fostering equality not just in motorsports but beyond.”
The shift in demographic and fandom for the sport comes as it gains more traction generally.
The Australian Grand Prix, returning to Melbourne this Thursday, has never been more popular. Last year’s event had the second highest attendance figures across the 2023 F1 season, second only to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
As the fashion and luxury industry publication The Business of Fashion noted, F1 attendance is up everywhere, last year hitting a new record of 6.15 million total attendance (in 2019 attendance to all 21 F1 races totalled 4.1 million).
It’s something Jerry Stamoulis, head of brand engagement at Mercedes-Benz Australia, says can partly be attributed to the impact of social media and cult shows such as Netflix’s Drive to Survive.
“There have been several factors why new demographics, especially women, have shown interest in Formula 1. We have seen this in our own customer and fan facilities at the Albert Park Circuit in the past. Following a race team and/or driver on social media gives you a window into the sport never seen before, add movies and documentaries about the characters and it is hard to not be hooked,” he says.
“In the past, the number of women interested in motorsport was low, today we have groups of women talking about why a specific Formula 1 driver didn’t get pole position in qualifying and why the team opted for a different strategy to win on race day with a faster race car.”
This year Mercedes-Benz has also partnered with Vogue Australia for a trackside dinner during the Melbourne F1, another sign the worlds of fashion and motor racing are ever entwining.
As The Business of Fashion noted, luxury brands are increasingly taking note of the sport’s growing fan base. It’s an alignment that makes quite obvious sense. In recent years this has included Louis Vuitton creating a bespoke travel case for the Monaco Grand Prix trophy (and seating Alpine F1 driver Pierre Gasly, fully decked out in Louis Vuitton monogram, at Pharrell Williams’ debut show for the luxury French fashion house last June). Prada sponsored Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu. Chanel did a Formula 1 inspired collection for its cruise show in May 2022. While the eminently elegant Berluti, owned by LVMH, is in fact the ‘elegance partner’ for Alpine F1.
Francesco Ragazzi, founder of luxury streetwear brand Palm Angels, which has partnered with American team Haas, told The Business of Fashion that investing in the sport had paid off.
“Formula One is getting bigger and bigger in the US, our brand’s primary market, so it’s yet another way we can serve our consumers there,” he said. “It’s like having a Super Bowl every weekend.”
Meanwhile, one of the world’s most famous drivers, Lewis Hamilton, is a bona fide fashion icon. Not only for collaborating with brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and IWC or attending the Met Gala, but also for championing young, cool designers and his own inimitable personal style. Daniel Ricciardo has launched his own label, Enchante. Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc and Zhou Guanyu (whose mother worked in fashion) have worked with the likes of Giorgio Armani and Dior.
When it comes to the opportunity for luxury brands reaching female audiences through F1 Federica Levato, a partner and leading luxury expert at management consultancy Bain says there are parallels between the watch world and that of car racing – two spheres long entwined thanks to the likes of Tag Heuer, Rolex (the official timekeeper of the Australian Grand Prix) and IWC Schaffhausen to name a few.
As Levato notes, there has been an increase in women’s interest in watches in recent years – driven in part by social media and amplified female voices in the space.
“In response, many watchmakers are actively catering to this growing demand by expanding their offerings for women. They’re not only enhancing their collections targeted at women but also emphasising this category in their marketing strategies and improving distribution channels,” says Levato.
She sees a similar approach in the automotive space.
“Similarly, luxury automakers are strategically targeting affluent female buyers, particularly in the compact and midsize luxury SUV segment. They’re implementing initiatives such as female advisory panels and developing tailored product lines to meet the evolving preferences and purchasing power of women consumers. This trend reflects a shift away from traditional stereotypes towards vehicles that offer new and meaningful experiences.”
Levato believes there is further opportunity in this space.
“Furthermore, luxury car companies are also focusing on engaging a younger, predominantly American, and increasingly female audience within the F1 landscape. Despite being under-penetrated currently, these companies recognise the sport’s growing popularity and are adopting accessible marketing strategies,” she says.
“While luxury cars may not be readily accessible to all, these companies are leveraging merchandise sales as long-term marketing assets to cultivate brand aspiration and loyalty.”
Tag Heuer, which became the first watch brand to be associated with an F1 team with the sponsorship of Scuderia Ferrari in 1971, is one such brand growing its female client base.
“In recent years, we’ve observed a rising enthusiasm for our models with an automotive racing vibe, extending beyond Formula 1. The female clientele has become increasingly prominent annually, prompting TAG Heuer to introduce new models tailored specifically for them, such as the TAG Heuer Carrera Date 36mm. Our recent collaboration with the artist and daughter of an iconic Japanese racing driver, Mai Ikuzawa [daughter of Tetsu Ikuzawa], exemplifies this trend perfectly,” a spokesperson for the brand says.
Motoring journalist Noelle Faulkner, whose work in her decade-long career in automotive often intersects with the worlds of culture, fashion and design, agrees there’s still a significant opportunity for luxury brands to activate in the F1 space. Especially when it comes to courting women, and ultimately, having them participate in the sport.
The Charlotte Tilbury sponsorship, she says, with its girly glamour in full flight, is meaningful to many young women.
“There’s so much room here for brands to engage with Formula 1 in a way that speaks to women, [they] should not be scared of it,” she says.
“The power they have to uplift women’s sports in a category they are so under-sponsored and underdeveloped – with a fandom waiting for this – there is an opportunity here to make a difference and speak to their customer.”
