Daniel Ricciardo is a lot of things. An Australian with Italian roots. A Formula 1 driver. A high-performance athlete (iykyk). An American football fan. A natural sportsperson. A wannabe French speaker and fashionista? Oh, yes, he is. Over the years, Ricciardo and his infectious smile and Honey Badger-ness have taken the F1 world by storm (minus the 2021 and 2022 seasons). With the same panache and style that makes him so inherently Ricciardo, he expanded his expertise beyond the smell of burning rubber on asphalt in F1 and into more refined aromas in the fashion industry.
So, yes. Daniel Ricciardo is a lot of things. First and foremost, he’s an F1 driver. Secondly, and just as importantly, he’s an entrepreneur who loves fashion. As proud as he is of his success on the track, he’s just as proud of his successes off it. And one of the biggest ones is his clothing line—Enchanté.
What is Daniel Ricciardo’s brand, Enchanté, all about?
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2023 was a big year in Ricciardo’s career, both on and off the track. Until 2022, he was a McLaren driver. But the team let him go, and he was without an F1 seat for 2023. Red Bull gave him a second chance and made him its reserve driver, and now, he’s become a full-time AlphaTauri driver. But in the six months he spent away from F1 were a much-needed break from the sport. Apart from helping him find himself again, it also gave him the opportunity to focus on his clothing line—Ric3.
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Enchanté, as we know it today, started out as Ric3. The name comes from the Honey Badger’s last name and racing number. Ric3 was Ricciardo’s official merchandise line, but it was very different from driver merchandise that F1 fans had gotten used to. This was more personal. That’s exactly why Ricciardo started the brand. He felt F1 merchandise was too motorsport-focused, very team-focused, and he wanted to change that. And change, he did. Ricciardo practically revolutionized driver merchandise with Ric3; now, almost every driver has personalized clothing and team merch.
But why did he change it to Enchanté? Seeing the success of Ric3, he knew he wanted to expand into a larger audience. He wanted his clothing to be something not just F1 fans liked but something that anyone, anywhere, would like wearing. In 2021, he released a line in Ric3 called Enchanté, different from anything he’d ever released. It wasn’t anything to do with him. It was pure fashion. Needless to say, it was as well received as his infectious smile. In 2023, during his time off the track, he took the leap and rebranded Ric3 to Enchanté. Now, it’s a full-fledged fashion brand with limited edition drops, often inspired by Grand Prix cities.
Why Enchanté, though? In an interview with WWD, Ricciardo said, “I love the way it sounds. I think it sounds so elegant, and it makes you sound a lot smarter than you really are. I don’t really know French, but when I say ‘enchanté,’ I feel like the perception is, ‘Oh, he speaks fluent French.’” After living in Monaco for 10 years, you would think Ricciardo would be fluent in French by now. Well, that’s not the case, but it doesn’t really matter. Because the brand isn’t about him. “I would love for people to just look at it and be like, ‘That looks cool. I have no idea who Daniel Ricciardo is, but I’m really into that.’ I love seeing it in the wild.”
A brand that sells high-end casual wear that’s also somehow classy couldn’t scream more Daniel Ricciardo. Currently, its online store is based in New York, but the Aussie revealed his plans to make his mark. He wants to open its first store in New York with a coffee shop attached to it. It’d be like the Enchanté Cafe tagline came to life: “A whimsical oasis where the aroma of freshly brewed espresso mingles with the delicate scent of lavender and roses.” We can already sense just how popular this store is going to be.
While we wait to get our hands on his merch, Ricciardo’s clothing line has already started making its mark in the F1 paddock and Hollywood!
Daniel Ricciardo (and Enchanté) have fans all around
First off, let’s start with Ricciardo’s biggest fan on the grid—George Russell. Or, as Ricciardo calls him, Russell George. During the 2022 Dutch GP, Russell strolled in wearing Ric3 merch. When Ricciardo was asked to comment on it, he revealed a pretty cute story. He said, “So he texted me one Friday night, and it was a picture of his girlfriend on the couch looking up the RIC3 shop. And he was like, ‘Mate, what’s going on?’ And I was like, ‘Tell me what she likes, I’ll send her a few things.’ So we sent a few things. I guess one of them actually fits George, so he decided to wear it.”
george russell wearing daniel ricciardo merch is why he’s the greatest of all time 😂 loveeee this friendship 🫶🏼🥹 pic.twitter.com/MrPnfizKCl
— ece ③ (@ricciardopics) September 1, 2022
Next on the list is Russell’s boss, Toto Wolff. Ricciardo gave George a sweater last year, and Wolff really liked it. The Mercedes team boss texted Ricciardo about it, and the Aussie gifted him one, too! That brings us to Lando Norris. After the Monaco GP this year, the former McLaren teammates were seen partying together. The best part? Ricciardo shared his Enchanté outfit with Norris. While he wore the shorts in a shirt-shorts set, he gave Norris the shirt. How cute is that?
Did you know Daniel has connections in Hollywood? Well, he’s very close friends with actress Kristen Bell (a.k.a. The actress who voices Anna in Frozen) and her husband, Dax Sheperd. When he released the Enchanté Cafe collection this year, he made a short film called ‘Smell The Roses’ about it, too! Oh, and he acted in it alongside Bell as well.
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Last but certainly not least comes Harry Styles. Yes, the former One Direction pop star is a Danny Ric fan! Last year, around the 2022 US GP, Ricciardo released a vintage-style Ric3 t-shirt. Turns out Ricciardo and Styles have a mutual friend. When asked if that mutual friend had ever arranged a meeting, Ricciardo cheekily said, “I want to lie to you and say yes, we’ve met many times and had a few beers together.” But he added, “I haven’t met him yet. It makes it even better because he’s a fan before he’s even met me, right?”
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Are you a fan of Daniel Ricciardo’s clothing line, Enchanté?