SEATTLE — When the SuperSonics left here in 2008, Brent Barry felt it in his gut. There was an emptiness, a sadness so pronounced that he was moved to put pen to paper.

At the time, Barry was preparing for training camp with the San Antonio Spurs, but part of his heart was still in Seattle, a bond forged through his five seasons as a wing with the Sonics. Now the team was no more thanks to an abrupt transaction that uprooted the franchise to Oklahoma City.

Barry’s mind was numbed with a blur of memories he captured in his poem, “When It Rains.”

“… and here I sit in my office space and think of my career

And what to say to my two sons, did the team just disappear?

I played in KeyArena, I live on Queen Anne Hill

I played pinball at Shorty’s after games, and ate burgers at both Red Mills

I would have some chowder down at Dukes, and watch Sea Planes take their flight

And find myself in Fremont if I needed a beer that night

I saw Star Wars at Cinerama, tossed a pitch at Safeco Field,

Drove all the way to Bellingham to see Pearl Jam and Yield …”

Sixteen years later, a collection of Sonics jerseys extends wall-to-wall inside the Simply Seattle store downtown. From Detlef Schrempf to Gary Payton to Ray Allen to Kevin Durant, the jerseys of Sonics legends are still a hot commodity.

“We get people from New Zealand, London, from all over,” store manager Kate Wansley said. “The Sonics are a big thing, and now everyone is excited about what could happen.”

What could happen has many in this Northwest metropolis tense with anticipation. In September, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league would address NBA expansion at some point this season, which prompted an already simmering movement in Seattle to bubble over.

Since 2008, Seattle has been waiting, expecting a franchise to return. And now, with overtures of the NBA’s first expansion since 2004, there is an overriding sentiment that Seattle is due.

“There’s just too much karma that says put a team back in Seattle,” says George Karl, who coached the Sonics from 1992-98, leading them to an NBA Finals appearance in 1996. “I don’t know more than anybody else, but my feeling is … that it can happen. It should happen.”

Karl is sipping iced tea and soaking in a picturesque view of Seattle’s Elliott Bay on a sun-splashed Thursday. He lives in Denver but is in town to help promote, support and encourage Seattle’s candidacy should Silver and the NBA Board of Governors decide to proceed with expansion.

As the Seahawks played host to the San Francisco 49ers at Lumen Field, Karl and former Sonics players Dale Ellis and Rashard Lewis attended a social event on the 75th floor of the Columbia Tower that included Seattle mayor Bruce Harrell, Seattle Sports Commission president and CEO Beth Knox and several business leaders.

“It’s a lot of anticipation; I feel like we are hanging on the edge of our seats, waiting,” Knox said. “We are ready.”

The event was important enough for Harrell that he postponed plans for his 66th birthday (he was quick to note he shared his birthday with Sonics legend Gus Williams) so he could spread what he calls “the buzz” about Seattle’s viability for expansion.

“We need to make sure the decision-makers — the NBA commissioner, the administration and co-owners — realize this is a very attractive market, and we have the fan base,” Harrell said. “They sort of know it, but this was 2008 when we lost the team, and we have a whole new generation of people in town, so we need to assure them we have that kind of spirit.”

In September, Silver tempered expectations when he said the league “is not quite ready” to discuss expansion before adding that eventually it will be broached. “What we’ve told interested parties is: ‘Thank you for your interest, we will get back to you,’ ” Silver said. “That’s certainly the case in Seattle.”

Still, hopes haven’t been this high here since 2013, when a bid to relocate the Sacramento Kings to Seattle reached a vote of NBA governors but was turned down 22-8 after Sacramento came up with new ownership.

Ellis, who played for seven NBA teams, said the city’s diversity, food and fan base kept him in Seattle for 20 years after his career ended. The 41-year history of the franchise, which includes the 1979 NBA title, is why he believes so passionately that the league should return. It’s why he flew to Seattle to support Thursday’s movement, a movement that he says stands more than a chance of landing a return of the Sonics.

“Chance? No, it’s going to happen. It’s going to happen,” Ellis said. “They just haven’t made the announcement yet. There will be two franchises, one here in Seattle, and one in Las Vegas.”

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Like so many former Sonics players and coaches, Barry felt he didn’t just play in Seattle, he felt he was part of Seattle. So losing the Sonics felt like losing part of himself.

It is that player-community connection that has made this movement to revive the Sonics unique. Other cities have lost NBA franchises — Vancouver, San Diego, Kansas City — but none have had former players and coaches campaigning for a return like Seattle.

Lewis, who played his first nine NBA seasons with the Sonics, flew into Seattle from Houston motivated by two factors: the history and the fans.

“Seattle has a part of me; I became a man here,” Lewis said. “And the fans … I still remember Big Lo (super fan Lorin Sandretzky), and fans pulling up to the airport when we arrived. There’s history, so much history here, and that’s why they have to have a team here.”

The 1990s in particular were a magical time for Seattle. Microsoft was booming. Bands from Seattle — Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden — were leading the grunge explosion. “Singles” and “Sleepless in Seattle” hit movie screens. Ken Griffey Jr. was a superstar. And Payton, Kemp and the fiery Karl were headlining SportsCenter highlights.

“It all had this mystical essence to it,” Barry said. “Because nobody wanted to go to the Pacific Northwest. It was so far away, the weather was bad … but there was a lot of cool stuff happening in and around that place. So it had this mystical quality to it.”

Added Karl: “The city was blossoming, the music was blossoming, the city was growing, the Mariners were good … everything was just in rhythm. There was a rhythm that Seattle was cool. Pearl Jam, Starbucks, (Microsoft’s Steve) Ballmer … and (the Sonics) were good.

“Unfortunately, Michael (Jordan) was in the league.”

The electricity between the Sonics and the Seattle scene made for lasting bonds. For fans and the players.

“Spilling out from KeyArena after a game meant that you were in the bloodstream of the city,” said Barry, now an assistant coach with Phoenix. “You got out of the arena and you could walk across the street to Lazy J’s (Jalisco’s) and do karaoke with a bunch of fans who were just at the game. You could go to First Street and hop into a steakhouse and have a meal with fans who just left the game.

“To lose all that … it was a gut punch to a city that loved basketball, loved its team and had a relationship with the team that was unique.”

Portland Trail Blazers play-by-play announcer Kevin Calabro, who announced Sonics games for 22 years, said fans still ask him regularly if and when the Sonics will return, which is attributed to the connection formed during those memorable years in the 1990s.

“You had this great amalgam of cutting-edge technology with the internet coming to life and this great music scene and the Sonics bursting at the seams,” Calabro said. “And it all came together on winter nights at The Barn, as we used to call KeyArena. Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam bassist) was down in the baseline seats all the time, Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam singer) was around, Screaming Trees … all these bands would show up.

“And when George Karl took over, it just lit a fire. There were so many great characters … and they were all involved with the community. You could feel them, touch them, see them at the clubs, hang with them. It was special.”

Wansley, the store manager who hangs the Sonics jerseys from wall to wall, is a lifelong Seattle resident. She said her deepest bonds are with the Sonics because she experienced them in everyday life. She saw Nate McMillan and Sam Perkins at Bellevue Square, Kemp and Gary in the store, Dana Barros here, Schrempf there.

“It was something that just connects you to them,” Wansley said. “You would go to the game, then see them out … and I don’t know how it is in other cities, but they were just out in the community so much. It would be like, ‘Hey, I just saw you play …’ ”

Seattle has been down this road of anticipation before. The 2013 bid to relocate the Kings to Seattle was so close to happening — and so ugly in its particulars — that its downfall left some scars.

But the overall sentiment today is that Seattle is well positioned, if not a leader when expansion becomes a reality. Much of the optimism stems from Climate Pledge Arena, the refurbished KeyArena, which now houses the NHL’s Seattle Kraken.

“There literally hasn’t been a week where I haven’t been asked about the Sonics or the NBA or how we got screwed,” said Bob Whitsitt, who was president and general manager of the Sonics from 1986-94. “And for years, I said to them — right or wrong — that Seattle was not in a position to even be considered for a team until they have an NBA-ready facility.

“And that giant hurdle has now been cleared with Climate Pledge Arena. As a city, we know we have a facility that works. That doesn’t guarantee you a team, but you can be guaranteed not to get a team by not having a facility. So, the biggest thing has been taken off the board.”

Whitsitt still lives in Seattle and said he is encouraged by a potential ownership group led by Kraken owners David Bonderman and his daughter, Samantha Holloway. Bonderman also is a minority owner of the Boston Celtics.

“My support is behind them,” Whitsitt said. “They are the right ones. They are the perfect people to lead the thing. And the Seattle market is not only great, it is ready.”

Last month, more than 18,000 sold out the LA Clippers and Trail Blazers exhibition game at Climate Pledge Arena, which more than caught the eye of coaches Chauncey Billups of the Blazers and Tyronn Lue of the Clippers.

“I mean, everybody talks about it,” Billups said. “This is obviously a desired city, a market that people love … it makes the most sense. It’s already been very successful, the market has, so it makes a lot of sense. We just have to wait on it.”

Added Lue: “It’s a great environment, a great place to play … they’ve done a great job with this arena.”

Brian Robinson, a Seattle real estate investor, heads Seattle NBA Fans, the group that hosted the event with Karl, Lewis, Ellis and the mayor. He has 250 community leaders and 50 CEOs behind his movement. He also headed a 2010 group that tried to find an arena solution to lure the Sonics back. He said then, it was difficult to get business leaders and companies behind him.

“Now, no one ever says no,” said Robinson, 51. “People see the change in tone from the commissioner and they see a path. Everyone wants to be a part of it. I just feel like the people of Seattle are over the negativity and they are ready to have this journey be something meaningful.”

Mayor Harrell and Knox, the CEO of the Seattle Sports Commission, are envisioning a future where Sonics players become role models and inspire youth to not only participate in basketball, but dream. Seattle has a long history of producing NBA talent, including Brandon Roy, Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford, Paolo Banchero and Dejounte Murray. Barry thinks the Sonics can help inspire others.

“How do you dream bigger if you don’t see it in front of you?” Barry asked. “I was thinking if I never went to Golden State games as a kid to watch Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway and Mitch Richmond, how much of my devotion and love of the game would have been depleted by not having the touch, the autograph, the memories? The impact can’t be overstated.

“There’s almost 20 years of kids in Seattle who never saw one game in their city of LeBron James, one of the greatest players who ever played. Twenty years of kids, and parents for that matter, who haven’t had that community, that environment, that experience. It hurts.”

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Last month, Barry thought back to the day when he penned the “When It Rains” poem. He rifled through his files and found it.

“Even reading it again, I was like, ‘Man, I still feel this way. It sucks,” Barry said. “I was sad. Legitimately sad. But right now, I don’t think there has ever been more sentiment or momentum than right now. And I hope it’s not another carrot in front of the rabbit situation. I hope this momentum is true and honest and there is potential for the green and gold to be back there.”

It was the same thought he had 16 years ago, in San Antonio as he closed his poem.

“… A chapter left unwritten, a generation with a gap,

Forty-one years of NBA action and now no one can clap

But here is a silver lining … above every cloud’s a sun

And the possibility is something we hold on to even if slim to none

For faith and hope and love are tenants

Of the days as one grows old

And for all at stake, those clouds will break

And we will see the green and gold.”

(Illustration: Meech Robinson / The Athletic; photos: Steph Chambers, Tim DeFrisco, Otto Greule Jr, Andy Hayt, Jeff Reinking, Terrence Vaccaro / Getty Images)

There doesn’t have to be a milestone moment or viral play for an NHL player’s phone to be flooded with notifications in the wake of a game. Maybe there’s a text from a parent, a reminder from a partner, a few messages of congratulations or condolences. Not to mention the usual spate of emails and push alerts that inevitably pile up when you’ve been away from your phone for a few hours.

But these days, as sports betting becomes more and more prevalent in the hockey world, there’s a new app jockeying for space atop players’ home screens.

“I’ve been sent Venmo requests before,” one NHL player surveyed in The Athletic’s player poll said. “Like, ‘Hey, I bet on you guys to win and you blew it. So give me back my 50 bucks.’”

That player said he found it “comical.”

“I think I paid one guy back once,” he said with a laugh. “Sent him like 20 bucks.”

Of course, the Internet being what it is, it’s not always terribly funny. Almost one-third of the 161 players polled said they’ve been getting more harassing messages from fans since sports betting has become legal in more states.

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“Oh, almost every day,” one goaltender said. “Honestly, I’d say 75 percent of them are them being mad about something. ‘How did you let in that late goal? I had the under. Thanks a lot. You f—ing suck.’ Things like that constantly. I feel like, as a goalie, we’re a little bit more exposed to it, too.”

“Together with a couple death threats and a few other things,” another player added.

Perhaps the biggest revelation from The Athletic’s anonymous player poll was how common the Venmo requests are.

“They’re demands, not requests,” one player clarified. “’You owe me $200 because you were on the ice when …’ and it’s insane. It’s really bad when you play against Toronto because it seems like everybody is betting on Leafs games. But that’s Toronto for you.”

Apparently, NHL players need to do a better job of masking their identities on cash apps.

“Yeah, that’s real,” another player said. “When you ruin a guy’s parlay or something? Hundred percent, that’s real. I got one last game where some guy bet on my number of shots or something and then he’s DM’ing me: ‘You f—ed my parlay!’ Pardon my language, but that’s what he said.”

“Yeah, 100 percent,” said another player. “I’ve gotten plenty of them show up in my inbox before. Like I kept them from hitting some parlay or something or, ‘Here’s my Venmo. Send me $100.’”

“Oh, yeah,” one player said. “People on social media are way crazier now because they have more skin in the game. I think that’s for all sports.”

“I get messages all the time, and these are people probably betting $1.50,” said another.

Some such requests are obvious gags. But other messages carry a more sinister tone.

“Not here, but to be honest, mostly in Russia,” one player said. “Like it’s getting crazy. You’re up 2-0 and lose, you get messages, like, ‘You f—ing asshole, I’m gonna f—ing kill you.’”

One player said he gets at least one or two such messages every day from gamblers. But two-thirds of the players who responded said they don’t get any. It could depend on how high-profile a player is. Not a lot of fans are betting on fourth-liners and third-pairing defensemen. As one player joked, “I don’t think I’m the betting favorite.”

Unsurprisingly, many players have done their best to unplug entirely. That also could explain the two-thirds who said they don’t get such messages.

“I used to know that I got harassing messages,” one player said. “Now I don’t know. Who would read these f—ing idiots? I don’t anymore.”

“That’s why I turned everything off,” another said. “You get some scary messages out there.”

Another: “Good thing I’m not on social media.”

Another: “No one can find me, so I don’t know.”

Death threats and profanity-laced tirades aside, sometimes the players feel the bettors’ pain.

“Sometimes they bet on me to score and I don’t and they want me to give them money,” one player said. “I’m like, ‘I want to score, too!’”

(Graphic: Meech Robinson / The Athletic, with photos from Gary A. Vasquez, Katherine Gawlik and Andre Ringuette / Getty Images)

AMSTERDAM — It was mid-afternoon on a Wednesday, but the halls buzzed within Tommy Hilfiger’s headquarters. Hardly anyone working in person was at their desks unless absolutely necessary. Instead, employees crowded into the Bel Bar inside the Hudson Building, standing room flowing out into the halls and snaking around corners. All in hopes of catching a glimpse of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

The Mercedes Formula One drivers are used to the fanfare, the iPhones popping up in the air and the thunderous applause. Only this time, the cheers for two F1 stars come from employees of one of the world’s leading fashion companies, whose founder has spent most of his life tied to their sport.

The Mercedes duo often wear ‘normal’ clothes around the paddock, sometimes sporting Tommy Hilfiger designs. Russell’s outfits usually reflect that of old money, choosing basics to mix and match, while Hamilton will choose bolder garments or pieces from collections. Their outfits that Wednesday were more classic and Tommy Hilfiger-forward.

Fashion and motorsports are influential global industries, but the driver wardrobes when trackside rarely extended beyond the standard F1 team kits until recent seasons.

“F1 is a sexy sport, and the two worlds have a lot in common,” Hamilton said during the panel at Tommy Hilfiger’s Amsterdam headquarters ahead of the Dutch GP weekend. “But for some reason, for a long time, particularly when I got into the sport, no one was into fashion. You couldn’t see it anywhere. People were just wearing mismatched stuff all the time.”

That has begun to change. While Hamilton has long used fashion for self-expression, Russell is newer to the game. It’s the latest example of the convergence of F1 and fashion that allows drivers to express themselves in ways other athletes have done for years across other sports, like the NBA, NHL and soccer.

F1 and fashion have been associated for years, and Tommy Hilfiger — the well-known American designer who created the preppy fashion brand — has been a mainstay across different chapters as the industries drew closer. The New York native went from sneaking into races and going bankrupt to now being the clothing sponsor for Mercedes, an official partner of F1 Academy and sponsoring the upcoming F1 movie.

“I was always putting groundbreaking at the top of the list, and I wanted to be disruptive,” Hilfiger told The Athletic. “I wanted to think out of the box, and I wanted to be the first to do certain things because I’d rather be a leader than a follower — always.”

At around 12 years old, Hilfiger built his own go-karts, converting either four-wheeled carts people would use to carry their groceries or baby carriages. A friend of his had a proper go-kart, motor and all, and while Hilfiger dreamed of one day owning his own, his family did not have the financial means.

“I became creative and decided to figure out a way to build something that would look like a go-kart and give me the thrill of going down a hill,” Hilfiger recalled, “or having one of my friends push it from the back or having one of my younger brothers push it from the back.”

His love grew into an obsession during his teenage years. Born and raised in Elmira, New York, Hilfiger was just a 30-minute drive from Watkins Glen, the home of the U.S. Grand Prix from 1961 until 1980. It was the only track F1 raced at during his teenage years.

“My friends and I would go and sneak into the races because we certainly couldn’t afford tickets, but the excitement and the energy was addicting,” Hilfiger said. “Over the years, we became attracted to a lot of the teams. I was really a John Player Special fan.”

That livery is one of Lotus’ most iconic from its F1 tenure, the gold and black color scheme entering the scene in 1972 and staying for 16 years. And Team Lotus was a powerhouse constructor in the 1960s and 70s, winning eight titles.

“I loved the logo on the car, I loved the uniforms, and I loved the fact that they were also a winning team,” Hilfiger said. But his passion remained that of a fan for a number of years as he began pursuing his fashion career. He started practically from scratch — 20 pairs of jeans and $150.

Hilfiger’s love for fashion was inspired by musicians from the 1970s and their clothing. At 18, he opened People’s Place in Elmira, but it filed for bankruptcy when Hilfiger was in his 20s. He began studying the business and commerce side of the fashion industry and eventually moved in 1979 to New York City. Hilfiger remained focused on becoming a full-time designer, and a businessman named Mohan Murjani invested in the New York native so Hilfiger could launch his brand.

Tommy Hilfiger, the preppy fashion brand, was born in 1985, and Hilfiger became an industry pioneer, particularly during the 1990s. The idea of “F.A.M.E.” (which stands for fashion, art, music and entertainment) constantly inspired him. “Pop culture moves the needle of society,” he told The New York Times. Hilfiger was one of the first fashion designers to merge celebrity and pop culture with fashion, such as how he sponsored tours for Britney Spears and The Rolling Stones. And then there was F1.

Silas Chou and Lawrence Stroll entered the picture in 1989 when their company acquired Tommy Hilfiger. The brand had been trying to break into women’s apparel but decided to keep the focus on menswear, which is where the brand started. Stroll, who many F1 fans know as the current executive chairman of Aston Martin’s F1 team, built much of his fortune in the fashion industry. His father, Leo Strulovitch, brought Ralph Lauren and Pierre Cardin to Canada, and Stroll later helped Ralph Lauren move to Europe.

It was Stroll who helped bring Tommy Hilfiger to F1, telling the fashion designer about an opportunity to sponsor Team Lotus. They jumped at the chance. Starting in 1991, the familiar red, white and blue and the Tommy Hilfiger flag adorned Lotus’ F1 cars and uniforms alongside the team’s colors and other sponsors.

“We did all the uniforms and started going to the races all over the world. And it was, again, sort of addicting. And the energy and the noise and the excitement was so phenomenal,” Hilfiger said. “We thought, ‘Okay, we’re the only fashion brand in this arena, and we should be able to do the clothing, not only for the team, but also be able to sell the clothing.’

“So we started selling the clothing in our shops.”

Hilfiger brought a modern touch to motorsports, blending functionality and style.

In the summer of 1994, a motorsports-inspired capsule collection and advertising campaign hit the market, merging Hilfiger’s love for motorsports and Team Lotus’ colors. Bright yellows, greens and red marked the collection and reflected the two worlds. His approach was to design “sportier-looking clothes” that were “authentically built.”

Hilfiger called the Ferrari opportunity “a dream come true.” (Clive Mason/Allsport)

The sponsorship with Team Lotus ended in 1994. However, Hilfiger didn’t fully leave motorsports. A few years later, Stroll and Hilfiger flew to Modena, Italy, to discuss becoming a Ferrari sponsor and kit provider. The opportunity, Hilfiger said, was “a dream come true.”

“We met with the whole Ferrari team, and it was one of the most exciting moments of my career,” Hilfiger said, “because I thought it would not only elevate the brand but to be part of such a historic brand was something that was actually beyond my dreams.”

Tommy Hilfiger became Ferrari’s clothing sponsor in 1998, designing the F1 team’s driver uniforms and team kits. Inspiration was drawn from the car’s elements, such as the chrome rims and carbon fiber, and performance-focused fabrics were used.

During the four-year sponsorship, Tommy Hilfiger also designed custom clothing for Ferrari Challenge Series A and two global fan collections. The partnership ended in 2002, but the items are considered collectors’ items nowadays.

“We always like to do something special and unique, and at that moment in time, well, even from the Lotus days, what we were designing was very special and unique, and now it’s going to a whole new level because of the availability of technical fabrics that are also sustainable.”

Beyond the world of F1, Hilfiger’s brand had increased exposure throughout the 1990s and early 2000s through sponsoring music events and becoming popular in both the hip-hop and preppy worlds. At one point, R&B star Aaliyah became one of Tommy Hilfiger’s brand ambassadors.

Hamilton remembers watching her on television, sporting its clothing. The Mercedes driver says he’s “always loved fashion.” During childhood, he remembers “being very heavily influenced by music,” always turning on MTV once he got home.

“I remember just always watching and loving the colors. I remember watching videos of David Bowie and the different styles and how he presented himself,” Hamilton said to The Athletic. “And I remember feeling, through my school journey, I went to a school where you had to wear the same uniform everyone wore, and I felt so alien because it’s like, this is not me.”

Lewis Hamilton says he’s “always loved fashion.” (Kym Illman/Getty Images)

So Hamilton “was always then exploring how I could express myself a bit more.” He did not grow up with a lot of money, and he’d go to secondhand stores. He remembers stumbling across clothing like he saw on television, such as Tommy Hilfiger. That’s where he bought his first pieces of clothing from the brand. At the time, he never imagined that one day he’d meet Hilfiger, let alone work with the American designer.

In the early days of his career, Hamilton recalls attending a fashion show for a sponsor, which further sparked his interest in fashion. He later visited the factory, where he “got to learn a little bit about what they did in the background, but still just scratching the surface.” However, the real turning point, when Hamilton went from being interested in fashion to wanting to be involved in the world, came when he attended what he calls “a proper fashion week.”

“I got to see one of the big shows and watched the designer come out at the end, and I just found it a real buzz,” Hamilton said to The Athletic, adding how “the world that I’d been in, from school, from karting and all racing, there was no fashion at all — not even an ounce of it.” He felt like he “didn’t fit in.”

“I was the only black kid in this space, and it was really an uncomfortable kind of space for a long time,” he continued. “And I go to a fashion show, and there’s just people from all different walks of life, all expressing themselves differently. And so then, when I came and expressed myself in the way I wanted to, as I was discovering, I just felt like there was no judgment. It’s like I fit in this space.”

Hamilton attended the Met Gala for the first time in 2015 and has been a frequent attendee since. And it was one year at the world’s most prestigious fashion event that the F1 star met Hilfiger, who hadn’t been a sponsor in the F1 world since the Ferrari deal ended in 2002. Hamilton remembers Hilfiger saying he loved his outfit.

“I was like, ‘This is Tommy Hilfiger, and he’s complimenting me,’” Hamilton said. “At the time, I never thought I’d get to go to the Met Gala firstly, and then to have someone like him being so positive about my appearance, it really was firstly, one, a confidence boost and that’s how he is.”

Hilfiger remembers the moment as well. “I told him how I loved motorsports and F1 and that I would love to eventually get back into it.”

Lewis Hamilton has been a Tommy Hilfiger ambassador since 2018. (Photos via Tommy Hilfiger and Getty Images)

The conversations continued beyond the Met Gala, Hilfiger telling Hamilton they should work together. The F1 driver jokingly told The Athletic that he wasn’t sure if Hilfiger “wanted me to come and bring him coffee.” Hilfiger had bigger ideas — “collab and co-design a collection together, but he thought I was kidding. He didn’t think I was serious. And then I saw him again, and we talked again about it, and then we just decided to go for it and do it.”

In spring 2018, Hamilton was named a global ambassador for Tommy Hilfiger, and the same year, the brand became the clothing sponsor for Mercedes’ F1 team. Over the years, Hamilton got to work closely with Hilfiger and the team, learning more about the fashion industry. “I remember doing stylings and design work here with the team,” he said. “It was really like an internship for me that I didn’t get to do when I went to school.”

The two have done five collections over the years, all with a strong influence from the now-seven-time world champion, who has leaned on Hilfiger’s expertise and asked many questions.

“Lewis has a very distinct point of view, and he didn’t want anyone else to design it. He wanted to do it, and he didn’t want anyone else to pick the colors. He wanted to,” Hilfiger said. “So we surrounded him with a team of our design experts, and he basically led the way, and we wanted him to bring his point of view because we think he’s got great taste and certainly a cool factor that is very special and unusual.”

Together, Hilfiger, Hamilton and Mercedes began paving the way for more fashion in motorsport. Not that it was easy.

“Honestly, to break this mold has been — it was such a challenge,” Hamilton said during the internal company panel. “The conversations I had to have. People wanted you to walk in just with team clothing from head to toe.”

George Russell chimed in: “Every day.”

“Every day, the same thing,” Hamilton continued. “There’s no way you can style it any different, apart from putting a jumper around your waist or something like that… Eventually, I just ended up doing it anyway. And, then afterwards, they’re like, ‘Oh, actually, this is working really well. Oh, can you do two looks? Three looks?’”

“I didn’t realize the impact fashion can have on your own self-esteem,” Russell said during the panel at Tommy Hilfiger’s Amsterdam HQ. “I think if you look good, you feel good; if the clothes fit, if they work, it has such an impact for you psychologically, and that was the biggest lesson I learned from partnering with Tommy.”

He recalls walking into a store as a junior driver for Mercedes and being allowed to choose the clothing he wanted. But he had “no regard of what I was taking.”

“When I was wearing my clothes and I was sort of matching it together, I was like, ‘You know what, this looks pretty cool,’” Russell said to The Athletic. “And I never would have thought to myself, I would have bought this garment or whatever. But when you match it together with the right pieces, the right shoes, it really worked.”

“I didn’t realize the impact fashion can have on your own self-esteem,” Russell said. (Kym Illman/Getty Images)

People often determine their first impressions within seven seconds of meeting someone. And it’s likely simply from visual cues — how you dress, your stride and other body language. Russell listened to a podcast where the hosts discussed the topic and how first impressions are largely made before you speak.

“It sort of really made me think how true that is. The way you dress and the way you present yourself has such an impact on the way people portray you, and they have a perception of you before it’s even fair to do so,” Russell continued. “That’s why I started putting a lot more effort into the way I dress and take care of myself, because I knew the importance of it, and it made me feel good.”

Russell’s spare room has essentially become a Tommy Hilfiger closet, continuing to expand over the years. The Briton admits he doesn’t “like to throw things away.” That being said, the Mercedes driver has given away garments to charity, and he knows he needs to determine what to do with his wardrobe.

The Briton discussed fashion and F1 with The Athletic while both parties visited Tommy Hilfiger’s headquarters in Amsterdam ahead of the Dutch GP. Sitting inside a conference room, Russell detailed how he wants to emulate a “timeless kind of look” by keeping basics in his closet and how he approaches re-wearing garments, such as owning several pairs of the white corduroys he wore that day.

It’s a stark contrast to the interviews he’d have with other sportswriters a day later when trackside for F1’s media day. A decade ago, this type of conversation likely wasn’t happening in F1. But the landscape is changing, and part of why they are taking place is thanks to Hamilton and Hilfiger.

The red, white and blue-clad car looks like a blur as it zips past spectators. But as it rolls to a stop, it’ll look familiar to nearly everyone watching.

Tommy Hilfiger’s motorsports presence expanded earlier this year when it became F1 Academy’s official partner, designing one of the five non-F1 team liveries on the all-women racing series’s grid. Hilfiger said, “I think it’s an incredible idea to have women racing, and Susie Wolff is proof in the pudding. She herself has had a great career, and with her involvement, we became very excited about it.”

Considering the core pillars of the company and its commitment to diversity and inclusion, it doesn’t come as a complete surprise that Tommy Hilfiger joined the series that aims to provide a viable avenue for women to progress up the motorsports ladder.

“This sport, it’s disruptive in a way, when you look at women in sports, and we as a brand want to be disruptive, and that connects us with the female part of the sport,” said Lea Rytz Goldman, the global brand president for Tommy Hilfiger. “Always inspiring, always kind of pushing the boundaries, finding role models that can play a part in our community’s lives.”

Nerea Martí, who represents Tommy Hilfiger in F1 Academy this season, didn’t begin racing competitively until she was 13. Praga España Motorsport signed her two years later, in 2017, and her career took off. She joined F1 Academy’s grid in 2023, ending the year fourth in the standings.

Tommy Hilfiger came calling.

“She embodies the spirit of both the F1 Academy and our brand,” Hilfiger said in a written statement. “As a visionary with incredible grit, she never gave up. Even when others told her ‘no,’ she kept saying ‘yes’ and pushed forward, relentlessly pursuing her dream of becoming a driver until she achieved it.”

While the presence of all 10 F1 teams on the F1 Academy grid this season is notable because of the resources and global platform, Tommy Hilfiger opens the door to a non-motorsports crowd as well, putting women in motorsport in the spotlight even though these drivers are still relatively early in their careers. F1 Academy falls at the lower end of the F1 pyramid, one of the early single-seater categories, and the drivers compete in a car similar to F4.

“Racing in the iconic red, white and blue colors of Tommy Hilfiger feels empowering,” Martí said. “The colors represent both the brand’s legacy and everything they stand for in the future.”

Hilfiger has always been a dreamer, from when he made a go-kart in the garage and “visualized the car in color, with an engine with big tires.” It has marked many different chapters of his career and brand.

“I think that I’ve dreamed a lot throughout my life,” Hilfiger said, “and I believe dreams do come true.”

His dreams have been part of industrial changes. As Russell said, “He’s a racer, he’s a visionist, and he’s a leader. He led the way with his bold ideas and the vision he had for his own brand.”

As an athlete, Russell feels Hilfiger’s journey is relatable to sport. “You can never go through constant success, but with incredible hard work and great vision and belief in yourself, you can pull through those difficult times and come through to greatness again.”

Hilfiger believes that “timing is everything in life.” When looking back on his move to become clothing sponsors for different F1 teams, he feels it was an expected move. Given the glitz, glamour, and rise in celebrity status, fashion and F1 have long been associated, and the ties are growing closer with time.

“It was one of those moments in time when I think people didn’t know what they wanted until they saw it, but somewhere in the back of their minds, they might have wished for it.”

Between fashion runways and F1 Academy, Hilfiger remains close to his childhood racing passion. (Formula 1, Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Other fashion brands and houses have flooded the F1 market over time, especially since the popularity boom after the COVID-19 pandemic, through sponsorships and selecting drivers as brand ambassadors, to name a few. The names range from H&M and Cherry to Dior and Prada. And it doesn’t appear that Tommy Hilfiger will leave any time soon, particularly within the F1 Academy space given how closely aligned the values are.

The intersection of F1 and fashion might seem well-paved, but Hilfiger feels “it hasn’t started yet. I think it is going to move forward in a very profound way momentarily.” When talking about the future of the industries, Rytz Goldman reckons “the Formula One aesthetic in all parts of it is a classic that will never run out of style, and also the inspiration around it. So I think it’s there to stay.”

F1 as the next fashion runway? Hilfiger agrees. “I certainly would like to think of it as that.”

Top photo: Kym Illman, Beata Zawrzel, Pauline Ballet, Joe Portlock via Getty Images; Designs: Kelsea Petersen/The Athletic