Puma has announced an upcycled fashion collection created through a unique partnership between the sports brand, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One (MAPF1) racing team, and repurposed fashion design company Raeburn.
Race-worn suits from the F1 team have been turned into upcycled fashion pieces, in what the partners call a blend of “motorsport engineering with cutting-edge fashion design”.
The Puma x MAPF1 x Raeburn collection utilises outfits from racers, including legendary seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and rising star George Russell.
Both the motorsports and fashion industries have work to do to reduce the impact they each have on the environment, but an upcycled fashion collection is a sign of creative thinking in these circles. The items use would-be waste and creating them keeps materials in use for longer than they otherwise would be.
Chris Raeburn, founder & creative director of Raeburn, commented: “2024 is Raeburn’s 15th anniversary and our project with Puma and MAPF1 brings with it enormous pride.
“We’ve been able to bring the very best of our remade, reduced, and recycled ethos to two incredible brands and the outcome is a radical move on from anything we’ve ever worked on before.”
He added: “From the remade masterpieces, crafted in our east London studio through to the broader collection, manufactured in close partnership with Puma, each item in the range has a special story and a reason for being. At Raeburn we’ve always looked to disrupt, innovate and inspire and I’d like to think this project really pushes our focus on responsible design further than ever before.”
Richard Sanders, chief commercial officer of the MAPF1 team, remarked: “Our relationship with Puma has continually pushed the boundaries.
“Our latest collaboration propels these even further in a highly innovative way by combining our shared common values of style and sustainability.”
The collection features a hero masterpiece jacket remade from an original race-worn Nomex driver suit from Hamilton at the Spanish Grand Prix in August 2020 – and that will be auctioned off online following the British Grand Prix.
Secondly, the other masterpieces are a combination of suits worn across the 2022 season by both Hamilton and Russell and their mechanics. This range will not be available for purchase directly from Puma, but will be offered on Puma.com in a raffle.
And finally, a range of fashion goods made from deadstock Nomex – unused remainders of the same high-performance material used in race-suits – will be available for consumers to purchase.
Read more about Raeburn on Green Retail World
[Credit for all images: Puma/Mercedes F1]
