My first luxury: A Louis Vuitton tote that goes the distance

Shopping for designer goods is about more than beauty, workmanship and cost. It’s an emotional experience that often comes with a personal story. In this series, women recall a singular piece and a moment in their journey into luxury. 

Naomi Schiff, 30, a former racing driver turned on-air personality and Formula One ambassador based in Paris, on the bag she was gifted, exchanged, and is still toting.

Growing up as a racing driver, my dad always inspired me because he used to race. But in this case, this is the perfect [opportunity to talk about] my mother because she was just always perfection, always dressed to the nines. She was always just really well put together and very stylish and my mom did model in the past. She cared a lot about, you know, presenting very well in that way.

In the past, I didn’t think I could maintain my own sense of style while driving. There was a sense of needing to conform, needing to fit in, and that’s thankfully really evolved. [Formula One driver] Lewis Hamilton’s been the pioneer of that change because he’s made his entrance into the Formula One paddock essentially a runway show. This is the area behind the pit lane and garages where the teams set up their motorhomes (or bespoke hospitality units for non-European events) and is the focus of F1 life for the weekend. Generally, it’s the place to see and be seen.

As with everything, change always comes through resistance. There was a lot of criticism, a lot of question marks and people saying that he needed to focus on driving, not what he was wearing. So that can make an environment like this intimidating to do your own thing over time, but thankfully, he’s persisted.  Now, it’s an environment where you can wear whatever you want, and I wish I could go back to being a racing driver in this era so that I could, you know, still evoke my sense of self and express myself in the way I wanted via fashion. But back in the day, that wasn’t possible. I think the only thing I had creative license over was my helmets, my fashion item to express myself in that sense. 

So today [as an on-air analyst], I can wear what I love within reason, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s a lot. I wouldn’t call it pressure, but it’s a lot of work if you consider how many Grand Prix I go to over a season and how many times I’m on-air, and that’s a lot of outfits. I always wanted to deliver. As much as the most important thing that I do is what I say on TV and the analysis of the racing, I still want to represent myself in a way that I can connect with a part of the audience who maybe see some of themselves in me. I need to show up looking on point. That’s in the eye of the beholder, and it depends on whoever’s watching and identifies with my style.

I’ve had many stylists who are keen to work with me because of the strong correlation between sports and fashion today. Many brands sponsor Formula One, so it’s an exciting time to be in this space. The Formula One audience is 40% female, so we have to cater to that, and I’m happy to be one of the few young women in the sport in a forward-facing role.

The team I used to race for in the past had a tradition of buying a gift for a driver who won a championship, so that particular year, I won the championship. And so they were buying a gift for a woman for the first time. I remember my team’s boss asking his wife for advice, and they got me a stunning Louis Vuitton bag, but at the time, the Neverfull was like the bag. It was like the bag everyone wanted, so I politely exchanged what they had given me for a Neverfull. It was less expensive than the one they bought me. So, I managed to get a wallet out of that as well.

I don’t know what the original gifted bag was called, but it wasn’t my style. It was a little bit too mature for me. It was 2018, so I was 24. It wasn’t young and fun enough for me. So that’s why I changed it. And I still use the Neverfull today. It’s just like a staple piece that never gets old. It’s timeless. That was one of my travel go-to’s for the F1 weekends, but now I always bring my whole life. So it’s too small, and I’m looking for a bigger tote, like the Dior one.