Rolls Royce Dawn - Inspired by Fashion, releases its Spring/Summer collection details, the combination of two worlds in one.

The House of Rolls-Royce has announced its Spring/Summer 2017 Couture collection. Signature detailing in vibrant colour will complement palettes of classic white as Dawn is Inspired by Fashion.

Rolls-Royce and the world of Haute Couture have long been bound by a common philosophy – taking the very finest materials and crafting them into the most exquisite and desirable luxury goods as expressions of their clients’ taste and lifestyle.

Under the stewardship of Design Director Giles Taylor, a team of talented designers were hand-picked from the worlds of fashion, fine textiles and luxury accessories including textile specialist Cherica Haye from the Royal College of Art and leather technologist Michelle Lusby who previously worked at Mulberry. 

Their work has seen the incorporation of fine silks and unexpected textures into the interior environment of truly bold and distinctive Bespoke commissions. They have conceived and executed Bespoke commissions with a depth of inspiration befitting to the world’s leading luxury brand.

In creating ‘Dawn – Inspired by Fashion’, these designers selected the neutral canvas of white upon which to base three vibrant colours that will set the tone for 2017’s Spring/Summer collection; Mugello Red, Cobalto Blue or Mandarin. Subtle accents of these colours adorn interior aspects of each Dawn, whilst the ‘Silent Ballet’ of the roof as it rises to provide shelter from the paparazzo’s lens unleashes a brushstroke of colour to catch the style-spotter’s eye.

“Our clients are the very arbiters of fashion, tastemakers who sit in the front row of the Couture shows, themselves influencing evolving trends,” comments Giles Taylor, Director of Design for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. “To them, the commissioning of fine luxury objects represents a deeply-involving curatorial process – with different forms of luxury design, craft and execution serving as inspiration for the other. ‘Dawn – Inspired by Fashion’ beautifully expresses the notion that inspiration for truly personal objects is drawn from the passions, tastes and lifestyle of its patron.”  

Like the finest Bespoke garments, individuality is forged in the subtlest details. On opening Dawn’s coachdoors, a contemporary Arctic White and Black interior colour scheme is accented by one of the three vivid colours: Mugello Red, Cobalto Blue or Mandarin. The Arctic White leather of the seats is accented through the embroidery of the headrests, as well as the stitching and piping of the seats. Seamless stitching, a highly-complex craft technique from the world of fine tailoring, is applied to the steering wheel to ensure the perfect line joins the two colours of leather around the rim.

Tactility, comfort and quality are important attributes of the piece itself. Rolls-Royce’s designers took inspiration from this approach in appointing the car’s front and rear door pockets with fine silks, adorned with an abstract representation of the Spirit of Ecstasy with each emblem set precisely at 55 degrees to complement the lines of the door.

The legendary Rolls-Royce craftsmanship and attention-to-detail is apparent through the exquisite dashboard created in Piano White with aluminium particles resulting in a silk-like appearance, with the lacquering process alone taking nine days of meticulous work.This is completed elegantly with the integration of a Bespoke clock, set as a piece of jewellery, styled exclusively to emit a silver on silver effect, evoking the metallic fabrics seen on this year’s catwalks in preparation for next year’s season.

Dawn’s exterior colour scheme of Andalucian White is beautifully accented by a hand-painted coachline which drapes over the curve of the car’s hip as the line flows backwards along the car, reflecting the identical splash of colour provided when the soft-top roof is in place.

Clients are invited to commission their personal style statement from this November to ensure they appear wrapped in the latest couture offering from the world’s leading luxury goods house for the new season next year.

Rolls-Royce Motor cars unveils "Wraith - Inspired By Fashion"

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and the world of Haute Couture have long been bound by a common philosophy – to take the very finest materials and craft them into the most exquisite and desirable luxury goods, appointed to the customer’s exact specifications. In this spirit, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is delighted to unveil ‘Wraith – Inspired by Fashion’.

Fittingly, the marque’s first showroom in Conduit Street, Mayfair was founded a short step from London’s famous centre of tailoring excellence, Savile Row. Here, Sir Henry Royce and his partner The Honourable Charles Rolls echoed the offerings of their illustrious neighbours by providing London’s most stylish denizens with the automotive equivalent of the finest cloths; a perfectly engineered Rolls-Royce chassis and running gear. 

The customer would then call upon their preferred coachbuilder, who would furnish the car with personal touches and accoutrements specified perfectly to their requirements.

A century later, a bold new generation of customers continue to share the same appetite for commissioning expressions of their taste and lifestyle. ‘Wraith – Inspired by Fashion’ provides a modern take on this grand tradition. Akin to commissioning a fine suit or elegant piece of couture, the journey of creating a highly Bespoke Rolls-Royce motor car begins at the marque’s equivalent of the tailor’s atelier, the Bespoke Design Studio at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, England. 

Here, the Designers honed the aesthetic theme of the car, drawing inspiration from colour palettes, materials and techniques used in the world of high fashion. The result is an extraordinary interpretation of Wraith’s characteristic blend of power, style and drama.

Giles Taylor, Director of Design for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, commented, “This iteration of Wraith provides a canvas for materials and finishes most commonly associated with the world of fashion. Inspiration was sourced from international catwalks and Bespoke Tailors, resulting in an aesthetically stunning and sartorially on-point motor car.”

‘Wraith – Inspired by Fashion’ two-tone exterior colour scheme of Andalucian White and Arctic White offers a neutral setting for a choice of accent colours, namely Jasmine, Tailored Purple or Mugello Red. Wraith’s signature shoulder-line is accentuated deftly with the addition of a hand-applied feature-line in the chosen highlight colour, alluding to the divergent interior of the motor car.

Like the finest Bespoke garments, beauty is found in the subtlest details. On opening Wraith’s coach-doors you will find a contemporary impression of the car’s classic Arctic White and Black interior colour scheme. Beyond the traditional placement of embroidered headrests, seat stitching and piping, the accent colour has found an elegant new application via a striking two-tone composition steering wheel. 

A seamless stitch, a highly complex craft technique from the world of fine tailoring, was mastered and applied to the wheel by the craftspeople in the Leather Shop at the Home of Rolls-Royce.

The very finest garments are crafted exclusively from the most luxurious materials – with tactility, comfort and quality as important an attribute as the aesthetic of the piece itself. The Bespoke design team took inspiration from this approach in appointing the car’s front and rear door pockets with fine silks, adorned with an abstract representation of the Spirit of Ecstasy with each emblem set precisely at fifty-five degrees to complement the lines of the door.

The remarkable craftsmanship and attention-to-detail employed in the creation of any Rolls-Royce is evident in the exquisite application of wood to the dashboard, with the lacquering process for ‘Wraith – Inspired by Fashion’ alone taking nine days to painstakingly complete. This is completed elegantly with the integration of a Bespoke Clock, set as a piece of jewellery, styled exclusively to emit a pearl effect, reminiscent of silk fabrics.

The contemporary fashion theme is completed with the integration of welting, a specialist technique most commonly associated with Bespoke tailoring. Presented as a colourful silk strip, the welting stylishly frames Wraith’s signature leather door-panel. 

To mark the occasion of the creation of this timeless Wraith, the motor car took part in a landmark shoot on the production line at the Home of Rolls-Royce in the South of England.  The luxurious materials and distinctive features presented in the motor car were accentuated by fashion models, set against a backdrop of the hand-made motor cars. 

The global debut of ‘Wraith – Inspired by Fashion’ is available to view via PERISCOPE^©, the new live-streaming App of Twitter^©. Followers of @RollsRoyceCars on Twitter can download the App from the iTunes App Store and follow the authenticated @RollsRoyceCars feed.  The unveiling, which will take place at New York’s PRATT Institute as part of the PRATT Presents Women of Influence in the Business of Style event can be viewed live on 8 May at 4.15pm EDT (9.15pm BST, 10.15pm CET).

The remarkable success of Wraith in attracting a new generation of successful entrepreneurs to the marque has been underpinned by a surge in demand for Bespoke personalisation – a remarkable 95% of all Wraith motor cars left the Home of Rolls-Royce with an element of Bespoke design last year, giving bold expression to the notion that Bespoke is Rolls-Royce.