Racing ahead: Tommy Hilfiger’s winning F1 rebrand

What happened The first breakout hit of the summer movie season turned out to be F1 The Movie, a film produced by Apple Original Films. The story follows Sonny Hayes, a former F1 prodigy played by Brad Pitt, who was forced to step away from racing after a career-halting accident. Decades later, he is pulled back onto the grid by his former teammate Ruben, setting the stage for a redemption arc fueled by speed, rivalry, and second chances. The film has brought F1, a sport long considered niche and notoriously expensive, into broader public view. Pitt, as the film’s marquee star, has once again become a fashion bellwether. Although the team he drives for in the film is fictional, the branding on the car, helmet, and gear comes from real-world sponsors. Items like the IWC Schaffhausen watch and Loro Piana jacket worn by Pitt’s character have quickly gone viral on social media, turning movie props into high-demand fashion statements. Perhaps the most unexpected twist came from the breakout success of Tommy Hilfiger — a brand long associated with preppy Americana and mid-tier casualwear. In the film, Tommy Hilfiger appears prominently as a sponsor of the fictional F1 team, woven into the narrative with high-frequency visual placement. This integration not only reinforces the brand’s association with racing, speed, and competitive spirit, but also helped reframe its identity. Visually and emotionally, the film repositioned Tommy Hilfiger as more than just a purveyor of collegiate cool — it became a vehicle for conveying professionalism, functionality, and a futuristic edge. The Jing Take What made this collaboration especially striking was that Tommy Hilfiger moved beyond traditional celebrity endorsements and conventional advertising. Instead, the brand embedded itself in a fictional, but highly believable, universe. The imagined F1 team didn’t just offer product placement opportunities; it created a fully immersive narrative world where the brand became part of the story itself. For mid-to-premium brands looking to break into younger cultural circles, this presents a compelling model: rather than retelling legacy brand myths that audiences have heard countless times, it’s more effective to build a new story — one that feels relevant, real, and worth listening to. Fashion and motorsport have long been intertwined. As F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali put it in an interview with Jing Daily, “We want fans to stay connected to Formula 1, 365 days a year — not just on the track, but online, in fashion, and through lifestyle as well.” It’s no coincidence that Formula 1 has evolved beyond a sporting event into a highly contested cultural and commercial arena, one that luxury brands are racing to occupy. From high-end watches to custom racing gear, from trackside sponsorships to full team partnerships, brands are competing for every inch of visual real estate, all in pursuit of a coveted position in the minds of high-net-worth audiences. On this track of immense commercial potential, any brand that makes a timely and strategic entrance still has a shot at becoming the next Tommy Hilfiger-style success story. Especially now, as the traditionally male-dominated field begins to shift, female drivers are quickly emerging from the margins and stepping into the spotlight as a rising force within the sport. In March, during the Chinese Grand Prix, the F1 Academy, an all-female racing series backed by Formula 1 made its debut at the Shanghai International Circuit. The program was created to provide young female drivers with a structured pathway into professional motorsport and to help drive gender diversity across the racing industry. Notably, as early as 2024, Charlotte Tilbury became an official partner of the F1 Academy, making it the first female-founded beauty brand to sponsor the series. The collaboration not only broke away from traditional beauty narratives but also served as a forward-facing statement of the brand’s commitment to female empowerment through action, not just messaging. Looking ahead, the brands that build meaningful, long-term partnerships with female drivers will be best positioned to lead the next chapter of motorsport storytelling. In a new narrative space shaped by both speed and aesthetics, earning her recognition may prove to be a defining advantage in how F1 marketing fuels the next wave of brand growth. The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.

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Racing ahead: Tommy Hilfiger’s winning F1 rebrand