Formula 1 × LVMH: How Elite Sport Became Luxury’s Visibility Strategy

Formula 1 (F1) × LVMH shows how luxury brands are using elite sport to scale visibility, reach aspirational consumers, and protect exclusivity.

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Inside LVMH’s F1 Strategy

In March 2025, Formula 1’s season opener in Melbourne took on a new name: the Louis Vuitton Australian Grand Prix. Branded trunks at the podium and custom visuals throughout the track marked the first visible output of LVMH’s 10-year partnership with the sport.

The agreement spans several of the group’s maisons — Louis Vuitton, TAG Heuer, Moët Hennessy and Berluti — and extends a longstanding relationship with motorsport. TAG Heuer has timed Red Bull Racing since 2016; Louis Vuitton has designed trophy trunks for the Monaco Grand Prix; and in 2023, Dior appointed F1 driver Lewis Hamilton as an ambassador.

The collaboration is rooted in shared values: craftsmanship, performance and excellence. It reflects LVMH’s broader alignment with elite sport — from the Paris Olympics to the America’s Cup — positioning these formats as a new axis for brand expression. For LVMH, the long-term, multi-brand approach signals a shift in how luxury brands scale visibility. Formula 1 offers rhythm, reach and control: 24 races across 21 countries, each built around ceremony, exclusivity, and global media. It’s a rare structure — mass exposure without compromising scarcity.

“The synergy of our two worlds is echoed in the savoir-faire of our ateliers and garages, artisans and engineers, while celebrating the outstanding performance of champion drivers around the world who embark on a journey of excellence with every race.”  — Pietro Beccari, CEO, Louis Vuitton

Reaching the Aspirational Class

Luxury’s audience has evolved and its status signals have shifted with them. As Columbia Business School’s Silvia Bellezza has observed, modern elites demonstrate prestige through packed schedules and active leisure. Wellness retreats, performance gear, ultramarathons — productivity is the new privilege.

'Whereas in the past, society’s upper strata’s free time was characterised by idleness, today’s aspirational lifestyle — the so-called ‘harried leisure class’ — is marked by a packed schedule filled with productive and edifying activities,' she says.

Formula 1 with 24-race season spans five continents and unfolds in tightly choreographed cycles. For a global cohort of founders, entrepreneurial class, and high-income professionals, it offers something fashion weeks cannot: regularity, reach, and repetition. “You can only have so many fashion weeks in a year,” says Fabio Ciquera. “With F1, you can meet every two weeks, somewhere incredibly exotic and luxurious.”

Luxury brands are going wherever the customer is. Tiffany is crafting FIFA’s trophies. Ferrari has turned its Maranello factory into a runway. Chanel has shown up at the Oxford Boat Race. These are calculated placements within prestige-coded communities.

At Formula 1, visibility is engineered. Louis Vuitton’s trophy trunk isn’t just a brand asset. It’s a signal positioned in front of the most aspirational seats in sport. Because in luxury, being owned isn’t enough. It has to be desired and seen.

Visibility Without Diluting Luxury

Formula 1 gives luxury brands access to mass visibility without mass distribution. Each of its 24 races across 21 countries is designed for repetition, ceremony and control. Broadcasts reach hundreds of millions, yet the firsthand experience remains tightly gated. For Louis Vuitton, that structure turns exposure into equity.

Positioned at the centre of the podium, filmed from every angle, the trophy trunk appears in front of a global audience but is awarded to only one. With prices starting at £15,000, it’s not a trackside sales pitch but a signal, placed where victory is declared, where admiration is highest. The trunk associates the maison to performance, legacy, and cultural prestige.

“As our maisons celebrate the performance of champion drivers, the savoir-faire of our ateliers and garages is equally showcased,” said Pietro Beccari. The placement reinforces what the brand stands for without changing who it sells to.

LVMH is repeating this approach across sport, from the Olympics to the America’s Cup. For other luxury houses, the strategy is clear: show up where attention is focused without lowering the gate. Formula 1 proves you can build desire at scale, and still stay out of reach.

Luxury’s Shift Into Sport

The LVMH × Formula 1 partnership marks a shift in how luxury brands approach visibility. Rather than limiting their presence to seasonal fashion calendars, legacy houses are integrating into global sports platforms that offer frequency, structure, and cultural relevance.

Sport delivers what fashion alone can’t always guarantee: recurring events with global audiences, built-in ceremony, and selective access. Chanel’s sponsorship of the Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race placed the maison inside one of Britain’s oldest sporting institutions. Gucci’s collaboration with Jannik Sinner positioned the brand at Wimbledon — a tournament known for its strict commercial codes. Dior’s alignment with Lewis Hamilton ties fashion to a figure followed as closely for personal style as professional performance.

LVMH scaled the model at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Athletes were appointed as ambassadors for Dior and Louis Vuitton; Chaumet designed the medals; Sephora opened activations along the torch relay. Each move extended brand presence into moments of national and cultural significance without expanding product access.

In a saturated media environment, sport offers rhythm, global exposure, and editorial control — levers that fashion weeks alone no longer guarantee for luxury houses.

Why Sport Powers Luxury Growth

Elite sport has become an essential part of how luxury brands stay visible and stay relevant. As consumer attention fragments and cultural calendars reset post-pandemic, sport delivers what most marketing channels no longer can: large, real-time audiences on a fixed global schedule.

PwC projects that global sports sponsorship will grow from $63.1 billion in 2021 to over $109 billion by 2030. McKinsey estimates that the sportswear segment alone will hit $249 billion by 2026, reflecting commercial growth and cultural adoption.

What started as logo placement has evolved into long-term brand investment. From athlete partnerships and capsule collections to product placement across live events, luxury brands are building new routines of visibility tied not to fashion weeks, but to the calendar of elite sport. “Sport is now the only by-appointment thing to watch live,” said Clive Reeves, PwC’s UK sports lead. That gives brands a rare opportunity to appear in culture with rhythm, context, and scale without sacrificing control.

For brand leaders, elite sport is a system that combines cultural credibility with consistent, high-value reach. The new marketing playbook isn’t just being written on runways. It’s being delivered live, race by race.