Glitter on the Grid: How Shannon Ashley is Redefining F1 Style

A Formula 1 race weekend is about speed, power, and precision, but then came the sparkle. That viral orange and blue dress lit up social feeds like fireworks, followed by the beaded shirt that fans still can’t stop talking about. You have seen the designs, but what about the designer? Who is Shannon Ashley, the woman bringing glitter to the grid?

The McLaren beaded dress

For Shannon Ashley, a fashion designer from Australia, a trip to the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix changed everything. With nothing to wear, she sewed her own dress, as well as a shirt for the three day race weekend. The reaction was instant. “Everyone was just like, ‘You need to sell these. These are stunning,’” she recalls.

Armed with a degree in fashion from Sydney, Shannon leaned into her new project after finishing university. What started as a practical outfit choice quickly evolved into a brand that blends fashion, Formula 1, and a little sparkle.

The inspiration for her glittering designs came from another arena of spectacle: the Taylor Swift Eras Tour. “Fans were making sparkly outfits, and I made a fully beaded 1989 dress,” she says. “It was so fun and uplifting. When I went to my first Grand Prix in Melbourne in 2022, it felt flat, like I didn’t fit in. So I thought, if I bring that same energy to F1, I’ll feel included.”

Her first major project was the Eras Tour dress, followed by the viral McLaren dress that caught the internet’s attention and put Shannon’s work on the map. 

Noemi Hülkenberg at the 2025 Monza Grand Prix

Mclaren is not her only muse. As she finds inspiration in all the Formula 1 teams across the grid. Weaving each team’s identity into her signature style. One of her most recent enchanting creations was a dress of deep green, where her recognizable glittering beadwork can be seen in the delicate butterflies that sparkle throughout the dress. An ethereal design fit for royalty, and worn as such by Noemi Hülkenberg at the 2025 Monza Grand Prix.

Her other latest masterpiece followed the bold lines of her viral McLaren dress, but traded orange and blue for a color impossible to mistake, Ferrari red. A design as fierce as the team it represents.

For Shannon, every dress is more than fabric and sparkle but a memory stitched into form. “The team is the centerpiece,” she says, “but I’ll add drivers on the back so it’s clear it’s Formula 1.” But what about when those drivers inevitably change? Well. that’s part of the story. “Each piece becomes a little time capsule.”

Even after the grid shifts, the designs remain as markers of a moment. Reminders of a race, a season, a chapter in her own creative journey. Each design becomes both a reflection of the sport and a diary of her growth, allowing her to look back not only on who wore the colors, but on who she was when she created them.

Just like with anything, it takes time to practice and develop your skills. “I was terrible when I started,” she laughs. “To anyone who wants to learn, just start.”

Shannon has always been a creative person, getting that from her father, and over time, through dedication, trial and error, she was able to learn and to grow. Each project teaches her something new. Especially with the Mclaren dress where she states that the challenges that came with creating it taught her a lot. 

Her process is fluid. She creates whenever inspiration strikes, even while watching movies, on car rides, listening to music, a true multitasker. Which is a great system for someone who is creative. Once you force yourself to treat it as a job or a chore, that spark of inspiration can burn out. The hardest part, she admits, hasn’t been the sewing, or coming up with the designs, it’s actually the business side of things. Something all creatives can relate to when turning their craft into a business to share with the world. 

“I’m really creative, but when it comes to websites and logistics, I’m like, what? Hopefully I’ll get some help with that soon.” As she works towards developing a team of people to help her and to find the right people who know what they are doing, in the meantime her community online continues to grow. Sharing her work online has introduced her to a growing community of F1 fans and Swifties and has also allowed doors of opportunities to open up. 

Before creating the Mclaren F1 dress that we all know and adore, her first beaded dress was actually for a concert. 

“I posted the 1989 Taylor Swift dress, and people loved it. Now I’ve connected with so many F1 Swifties and F1 girls. It’s an amazing community, and I just want to say thanks to everyone who supports me.”

For Shannon, music is the heartbeat of creation, from Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, and more, the steady hum of playlists fill the air as beads catch the light and sparkle like the stars that twinkle in the night sky. Fashion, for her, has always been about play as much as precision, and while Formula 1 is her current muse, she has entertained the idea of carrying her sparkle into new arenas.

“I’ve thought about tennis,” she says with a smile. “Imagine beaded shirts at Wimbledon. Exploring that would be amazing.”

It’s more than a passing thought but a glimpse at how her brand could evolve, transforming sports culture itself with couture.

Looking ahead, Shannon hopes to see more people wear her designs at races. “The highlight so far has been realizing this creative energy is paying off,” she says.

Sports merchandise has long been seen as simple, predictable. Just throw on a jersey, wear the team cap, blend into the sea of colors in the grandstands. But what Shannon is doing challenges that idea entirely. She’s proving that fandom doesn’t have to be uniform, it can be expressive. It can shimmer. It can tell a story. Supporting your team doesn’t have to look like everyone else; it can be fun, bold, and deeply personal. Her work reminds us that a sport is as much about identity and connection as it is about competition. When fans slip into one of her designs, they aren’t just wearing a team’s colors. They’re wearing a piece of art, a memory, a spark of joy stitched into fabric and beads. Shannon is redefining what sports merch can be; not a replica of a team uniform, but a reinvention. A reminder that the track, like the runway, has room for individuality, and that passion for a sport can be worn as loudly, or as beautifully, as you dare to dream.

Lily Zneimer wearing one of Shannon's creations

What started as one fan making something to wear has transformed into a brand that celebrates creativity, community, and confidence. Shannon Ashley’s designs are proof that fashion can change how we experience a sport. From a beaded Taylor Swift dress to the fast paced world of Formula 1, her journey is only beginning. 

For fans eager to bring a piece of that magic into their own wardrobe, custom orders can be placed directly through her website or by reaching out to her via email.