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Sir Lewis Hamilton’s John Ystumllyn inspired Burberry Met Gala look

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Posted on 6 May 2026

Black Gardening in Britain

A look at the inspiration behind Lewis Hamilton's Burberry look for the 2024 Met Gala, gardener and plantsman John Ystumllyn, one of the earliest recorded Black gardeners in Britain.

Last week we launched an emergency fundraising campaign to acquire the earliest portrait of a Black gardener in British history, a painting depicting gardener and plantsman John Ystumllyn (1736-1786/88). In the first week we’ve already had over 300 donations!

John was abducted from West Africa at just eight years old. He was brought to North Wales, where he worked on the Ystumllyn estate in Criccieth, and was renowned for his skills in gardening and horticulture. He became one of the earliest recorded Black gardeners in Britain.

John’s story continues to inspire today – in this case one of the world’s leading sportsmen. In 2024, Sir Lewis Hamilton wore a John Ystumllyn-inspired design by Burberry at the Met Gala in New York.

Lewis Hamilton attends the 2024 Costume Institute Benefit for "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 06, 2024 in New York City. Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images

In 2024, the Met Gala theme was based on J.G. Ballard’s short story ‘The Garden of Time’. Burberry’s Chief Creative Officer, Daniel Lee was inspired by the central motif of the story’s flora and its connection with British culture.

Lewis’s custom look was created in collaboration with Daniel Lee and personal stylist Eric Mcneal, was inspired by the story of John Ystumllyn, one of Britain’s first Black gardeners, and features a quote taken from ‘The Gardener’ poem by Alex Wharton.

‘I hope the sun pours light upon our skin. And we melt into each other, into everything.
Maybe the tree will speak, as they sometimes do. Whispers from the shade.’

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Lewis Hamilton explains how John Ystumllyn, the first Black gardener in Wales, inspired his Burberry Met Gala look

Reflecting the language of flowers in Black history, floral bullion embroidery also features across the wool tailored coat with periwinkles symbolising endurance, yucca representing eternity and protecting restless spirits, daffodils known as ‘pass-along’ flowers for their hardiness, and cedar branches for everlasting life. It took twenty people to hand-embroider the coat for two weeks, while the finishing touches were painted by hand in New York.

Carly Eck, VP and Brand Curator, Burberry Archive and Heritage, says: “Lewis Hamilton’s 2024 MET Gala look was inspired by the story of John Ystumllyn, one of Britain’s earliest-known black gardeners, and the language of black flower history. The ensemble, now in the brand’s archive collection, chimes with Ystumylln’s own passion and talent for craft. Featuring floral bullion hand-embroidery which took two weeks for a team of 20 to complete, the piece is a celebration of creativity and hand-craft, underpinned by a deep appreciation of Ystullmyn’s role in garden history”.

Portrait of John Ystumllyn (1736-1786/88), photo by Prudence Cuming

How you can support

We are mounting an emergency campaign to raise £420,000 to rescue John Ystumllyn’s portrait. As the country’s only museum of garden history, here at the Garden Museum John Ystumllyn will sit alongside other stories of great gardeners through the centuries, and will become a key part of our display on Black gardening history.

We are applying for grant funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Art Fund, and ACE/V&A Purchase Grant Fund for the majority of the funding, but we need your help to get us over the finish line.

Every donation will take us one step closer to ensuring the earliest portrait of a Black gardener is accessible to the public forever.

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