The 5 Best Fashion Moments of the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix There was so much fashion that practically no one was looking at the races

The Grand Prix de Monaco has never been just a race. Along the narrow streets of the Principality, where every metre of asphalt tells decades of automotive history, the rich of this world with their entourage of clients and sycophants gather for days of networking, decadent parties and crazy spending. Practically a free-entry banquet for the luxury industry, increasingly avidly hunting the ultra-rich, the last ones left buying luxury. But 2026 marked an epochal turning point: for the first time in its century-old history, the most glamorous Grand Prix on the Formula 1 calendar has a title sponsor in the full sense of the term, namely Louis Vuitton.

The 83rd edition, officially renamed Formula 1™ Louis Vuitton Grand Prix de Monaco, not only inaugurated the European phase of the season by moving the race from the traditional late-May slot to early June, but also transformed the event into something even more like a fashion week on four wheels. Between private boats set up like floating boutiques, the debut as a WAG of one of the most photographed celebrities in the world, Gucci-signed paddock sneakers and a helmet that split the fans of half the world in two, the 2026 Monaco GP will remain in the archives of sports fashion for a very long time. Here are the five moments that made people talk.

1. Louis Vuitton as the first Title Partner

It was not enough to produce the trophy trunk for the sixth consecutive year: for 2026 Louis Vuitton made the definitive quality leap, becoming title partner of the most exclusive event on the entire Formula 1 calendar. President and CEO Pietro Beccari, speaking with WWD a few days before the race, scored a real triumph: every client in the world wants to be invited to watch the race as a guest of the brand. The capsule collection created specifically with the Monogram in the red-black version that decorates the trophy trunk, together with a reinterpretation of the 1930 Keepall, was already sold out through direct clienteling even before practice began.

The award ceremony was the non plus ultra of advertising: the maison’s artisans engraved the winner’s initials on the trunk live in real time, in front of the cameras, in what Beccari dubbed "live personalization". The brand’s connection with racing has historical roots anyway: the founder’s son, Georges Vuitton, had already sensed the potential of the automobile in 1897, developing specific trunks for the first cars in a patented material he called "Vuittonite". While the brand’s boutique in Monaco has been open since 1983, and Beccari has already announced the opening of a nearly double-sized location compared to the current one by 2027.

2. Kim Kardashian in Gucci

When Kim Kardashian showed up at the Circuit de Monaco on qualifying Saturday, accompanied by her sister Khloé, the cameras forgot for a few moments even about Charles Leclerc on track. The reason was twofold: on one hand the public and definitive confirmation of her relationship with Lewis Hamilton, on the other an all-Gucci wardrobe that seemed like a declaration of intent as personal as it was professional. We could add that the real confirmed love story is the one between Kim Kardashian and Demna, which the celebrity has religiously followed from one brand to another.

For Saturday’s qualifying Kim chose a black floral lace bodysuit paired with wide-leg jeans with horsebit details on the pockets and pointed décolleté. In the evening, on board a boat, she appeared in a leather jacket with coordinated trousers and the new Lunetta crossbody bag. For the actual race, she wore a one-shoulder custom-made dress in cream jersey open at the back and the already famous horsebit pumps. And for the evening, she had the dress with included thong worn by Kate Moss in the FW26 Milan show.

3. It’s Gucci but it’s not a loafer

There is not only Louis Vuitton in Monaco. And a big, aggressive brand like Gucci, which has now equipped itself with its own full Formula 1 partnership, could not limit itself to dressing Kim Kardashian. To accompany the weekend, the brand launched the Men's Lace-Up Driver sneaker, a reinterpretation of the driving loafer with a tank-tread rubber sole, rounded toe available only in Monaco or online.

The model carries with it all the visual grammar that Demna is building for Gucci, the same one that sold out the pieces of the Monaco capsule even before the event began. In the streets of the Principality, where the line between hospitality area and catwalk has always been extremely thin, so much so that the brand itself carried out the takeover of the La Rose des Vents lido in addition to setting an entire campaign in Monte Carlo, the sneaker found its natural habitat and was worn by both team guests and those observing the paddock from afar, helping to consolidate the idea of Monaco as the most effective physical stage for product launches that a luxury brand can imagine.

4. All aboard the Alo Voyage

The Grand Prix is the national holiday of the wealthy, the tycoons and the nabobs of this world. But their presence in Monaco also implies the presence of beautiful women who, on the yachts of the aforementioned plutocrats, in the downtown boutiques, at the Nikki Beach parties and in the sports cars parked outside luxury hotels, often find their habitat. But this year there was one yacht dedicated only to them: that of Alo Yoga. The American brand turned the weekend into its most ambitious European activation ever: four days aboard a mega-yacht moored with direct views of the Monte Carlo curbs, with a dream cast composed of Alix Earle, Jake Shane, Anastasia "Stassie" Karanikolaou and Stella Jones.

The Alo Voyage offered a full spa, a fitness club, a private chef, a cold plunge tub and a sauna, all overlooking the track that the drivers raced just a few hundred metres away. But the real strength of the operation were the contents produced by the guests, such as Earle’s videos showing her millions of followers nights in the club followed by workout sessions on the deck, lunches in the sun and dives into the sea. The products were there but the real catch was envying the perfect all-inclusive vacation of these influencers. Needless to say, the brand has already opened two locations on the Côte d'Azur, ready to challenge luxury itself in a race perhaps more exciting than the Grand Prix itself.

5. Hamilton’s pink helmet

Lewis Hamilton arrived in Monte Carlo with a surprise that had nothing to do with his on-track performance: a fully glittering pink helmet, completely covered in glitter. The reaction was immediate — many appreciated the humour (even though the pilot’s purple tunic outfit said less fashion and more “extra on the set of Barbarella”) while others found the pink colour too woke for their tastes. The helmet became in a few hours one of the most discussed objects of the entire weekend, overshadowing for a few hours even the discussions on race strategies. It is not an isolated episode in Hamilton’s journey: the driver has always used his helmet as an expressive canvas and his race arrivals as theatrical moments.