Student designers from London's Royal College of Art (RCA) have created a cutting-edge series of inspirational designs for women in a unique project with Bentley.
Seventeen fashion students have spent the past few months immersing themselves in the work of Bentley's leading designers, including Head of Interior Design Robin Page and Senior Designer Brett Boydell, to fulfil a design brief based on three travel products for women: a Car coat - three-quarter length travel coat; Footwear - driving shoe; Weekend overnight bag.
"I am delighted that we are working with the RCA on a collaboration which marries the best of design in both the automotive and the fashion worlds," said Christine Gaskell, Bentley board member for HR.
"As a brand, Bentley knows the importance of its female customers and the discerning influence they bring to bear. Our cars reflect their understanding of the best in quality materials, design technology, style and sophistication. The RCA students have captured these attributes perfectly."
Drawing on Bentley's proud design heritage, the RCA students developed a set of striking and modern designs for women. The object was to design and make products which reflect Bentley's pinnacle position in the luxury sector of the car market and which pick up key design cues from the new Bentley Continental GT.
The new Continental takes its design inspiration from the original GT which in turn was inspired by the 1950s R-Type Continental, but moves the story on. Signature styling cues remain but the sculptured new body, produced using the latest construction techniques, delivers even crisper, more highly defined feature lines and form to every area of the exterior design. The GT's new look is bolder and more athletic than ever before.
Now, three of the RCA students have been shortlisted to refine their designs with Page and Boydell to produce prototypes for display at the end of the summer term.
They are Rebecca Thomson (car coat); Louise van Hauen (weekend bag) and Alvaro Gonzalez (driving shoes).
"Sponsored industry projects are an important part of our students' time at the college. They learn invaluable skills, such as working to a client brief and are given the opportunity to collaborate with world-class brands, such as Bentley," said Professor Wendy Dagworthy, head of the college.
"This project will provide the students with the experience needed for a professional career in the fashion industry."
Robin Page said the overall standard was extremely high and the project was an important part of Bentley's creative approach to attract women to the brand. "The fashion design competition with the students from the RCA is a first for Bentley. It is important to Bentley that we appeal to our female customers with exciting new designs in both our cars and branded goods.
It is thrilling to work with the post-graduates at the RCA who are the elite in fashion design and who are young students with fresh and exciting ideas. The students visited the Bentley factory in Crewe to understand our design language and the quality of the materials we use, along with the exquisite craftsmanship that is worked into our cars.
The students embraced the brief very well, producing excellent work in the three categories, which I feel captures the design language, craftsmanship and the spirit of the Bentley brand."
"For my coat design I wanted to capture the spirit of the Bentley woman," said Rebecca Thomson, 23, from Southport, England. "The final design reflects Bentley's traditions through a more conservative washed silk cloth, mixed with the modern innovation of the developing Bentleys using a waterproof sports fabric. The lining of the coat is quilted for comfort and style, mirroring the beauty and fine detail of the Bentley interior. Like a Bentley exterior, the outer coat is simple, sleek and elegant using the lines to effectively frame the body."
"With my design I wanted to rethink a driving shoe and its shape, taking the essence of a court shoe and encapsulate it in rubber to achieve a visually effective design as well as a well functioning product," explained Alvaro Gonzalez, 29, from Spain. "I looked into shapes from Bentley cars to create my shoe, but I abstracted and resized these shapes to create something new out of a Bentley root."
"The mood for this project is a mix between a romantic 1950s ride on the Riviera and casual contemporary luxury. With reference to classic luggage yet finished with modern details and materials, my goal was to design a product that respects both the heritage and presence of Bentley," commented Louise van Hauen, 27, from Copenhagen, Denmark. "My final design is a two-part product: first a soft leather bag with padded corners and hand-stitched details - such as logo on front and handle seams. Second, a carbon fibre case with wheels and trolley handle that closes around -and contains - the soft bag. The concept being that the wearer can change a shoulder bag into a piece of luggage."
A prize-giving ceremony will be hosted by Christine Gaskell in the Bentley room at Mosimann's, London, in late June.