- Y-3 brings avant-garde performance to the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team.
- George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, and Toto Wolff front the global campaign.
- The partnership sees jackets, oversized trousers, driving boots, and even a balaclava in the SS26 collection.
Record viewing numbers, more North American Grands Prix, and an extra team in 2026 have meant there are even more partnership dollars in the bank for the 11 teams that make up the grid, putting F1 on the global stage like never before.
Of course, not all partners are created equal. Some simply don the side of the carโs panel and rock up for premium hospitality on race day, whilst others embed themselves deep within the very car itself.
Others release full-blown lifestyle collections with drivers, and an effortlessly suave Austrian team principal, staging late-night fashion shoots under floodlights ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. Well, if you also happen to be one of the worldโs most recognised sportswear brands as an official Team Partner, why wouldnโt you?
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Following a teaser during Paris Fashion Week, the full SS26 collaboration between Y-3 and the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team has landed, marking one of the more ambitious crossovers between luxury fashion and motorsport in recent memory.
For those that donโt know, Y-3 isnโt a traditional fashion label. Itโs a long-running collaboration between adidas and legendary Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto that, since launching back in 2002, has married adidasโ technical performance DNA with Yamamotoโs signature aesthetic for drop after drop of oversized fits (and a lot of black).
For more than two decades, this Japanese brand has been seemingly committed to a modern reinvention of the everyday wardrobe: tracksuits that are cut like a suit, sneakers sculpted for luxury rather than weekend wear, and collections that blur traditional gender lines while thriving under a contemporary lens.
So, it almost feels like the natural progression of the brand to merge the lanes with Formula 1, adding another signature look to its celebrated adidas partnership and Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS.
Fronted by drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, alongside team boss Toto Wolff, the recent campaign captures the intensity of shifting race conditions, with sparks flying, brakes screeching, and our F1 drivers smouldering against an ever-moving backdrop that sees warm fading light give way to an artificial glow.
The collection lines up racing jackets with theatrical โMercedesโ across the chest, oversized pants, and driving boots. Thereโs even a balaclava for Kimi. All unmistakably Y-3, yet firmly anchored in Mercedesโ vision of today, one thatโs still carving its own identity in the wake of seven-time F1 champion (and in-house fashionista) Lewis Hamiltonโs departure.
Though if they keep dropping fits like these, it would be hard for fans to imagine what life was like before this seasonโs stylish partnership.
At the centre of the collection sits a recurring wolf motif, pulled from Japanese mythology and reinterpreted through Y-3โs lens. Speed, instinct, protection. All the inherent qualities of todayโs Formula 1 drivers. Itโs also a subtle nod to adidasโ sporting legacy, having first appeared on the iconic F50 Tunit boots back in 2006.
To be honest, I didnโt think Iโd be adding Toto Wolff to my style inspiration lookbook for 2026. But here we are: the man can wear a Y-3 jacket and oversized trousers and somehow put both his drivers on the podium. For the rest of us mere mortals, the collection drops tomorrow on March 19, 2026, via Adidas CONFIRMED.
