The Fashion Of Racing: The Two Sides To Starck

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Subtitle:Toronto-Based Owner-Driver Has Fascinating Background

There are two sides to every story, and Ilker Starck, a former fashion executive and current race team owner and driver based in Toronto, has reached the upper echelons of both of his passions.

Starck owns SportsCar Boutique Racing, based in Toronto, and will compete this weekend at the Honda Indy Toronto in the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin series in front of a hometown crowd. His road to race team ownership and driving has been long and inextricably linked to his career as a fashion executive. 

As a child in Linz, the third-largest city in Austria, Starck was exposed to fashion early by his mother, who worked as a seamstress.

“My first job out of school was at Diesel jeans, where I worked as a sales rep,” Starck said. “A colleague there introduced me to the Lechner Racing School and Formula 3000.”

The steep cost of racing in Formula 3000 kept Starck away, so he continued working in fashion. But he satisfied his need to race through several driving schools in Europe. 

In 1994, Starck relocated to Los Angeles to work for the Giorgio Armani corporation and later worked as a public relations and marketing executive for Hugo Boss. His work led him to rub elbows with A-list celebrities like Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and George Clooney. He crossed paths with household-name fashion giants, including Anna Sui, John Richmond, Christy Turlington and Neil Barrett.  

After climbing the rungs of the fashion ladder, Starck became CEO of Italian eyewear manufacturer Allison, which represents worldwide brands Missoni and Benetton. 

“Nine years ago, my wife and I moved to Toronto to own and operate the Canadian headquarters for Allison, and we love our life here,” he said.

Around the same time as his big move to Toronto, Starck bought his first Porsche, a Cayenne S. He then followed with a Carrera S and became very active in the Porsche racing scene, competing in Porsche Club of America and regional racing.

As Starck and his wife, Isabel, built their life in Toronto, their involvement in Porsche racing grew, as well. 

“When we became more exposed to racing, we decided to build a race car,” Starck said. “We took a street Porsche GT3 and turned it into a fully club-legal race car. Then three years ago, we purchased our first Porsche GT3 Cup race car in Hong Kong.”

Since the purchase of his GT3 Cup car, Starck has owned and operated SportsCar Boutique Racing. A regular in the Ultra 94 GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin in the Gold Cup class, Starck drives on many of the most famous racetracks in North America in the No. 48 SCB Racing/Downtown Porsche entry.

The Starcks also own and operate SportsCar Boutique, a Toronto-based company that offers elite performance products for sports car enthusiasts, including safety gear and equipment. The company, which has a retail location in north Toronto, also has links to Ilker’s fashion connections through its motto of “Style. Performance. Safety.”

While he has grown into his role as driver and team owner at SportsCar Boutique Racing, Starck and his wife have created a fashionable life in Toronto.

“We love Toronto because it offers the best of both worlds, giving us the perfect mix of the United States and Europe,” Starck said. “You’re exposed to all of the interesting cultures of the world here in Toronto, whether it is language, food or religion. People here are fashion-forward and stylish. You can see it in the choices of cars they drive and where they shop.”

Ilker Starck and SportsCar Boutique Racing will put on a show for a fashionable hometown crowd July 19-20 at the Honda Indy Toronto. For more information on Ilker Starck and SCB Racing, visit sportscarboutique.com.