Student designers from London’s Royal College of Art (RCA) have unveiled cutting-edge series of inspirational designs for women’s apparel and accessories for Bentley.
Few months ago seventeen design students from RCA were commissioned with a project by the luxury automaker. On the basis of the brief provided by the company, the young designers had to create three pieces of Bentley style for her: a Car coat – three-quarter length travel coat; Footwear – driving shoe; and a Weekend overnight bag.
Christine Gaskell, Bentley board member for HR, said: “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.”
By establishing the collabotation with RCA, Bentley was on the lookout for the ideas of the accessories that would be inspired by the design cues of Bentley Continental GT, a model that is created as part of GT, has obtained a modern looks and, as Bentley puts it, looks «bolder and more athletic than ever before.»
Now, three students have been shortlisted to continue their work under the guidance of leading Bentley’s designers and will reveal their prototypes at the end of summer term. They are Rebecca Thomson (car coat); Louise van Hauen (weekend bag) and Alvaro Gonzalez (driving shoes). The young designers told more about how they see the iconic accessories that a lady at the wheel of Bentley will fancy to wear.
Rebecca Thomson, 23, from Southport, England, said: “For my coat design I wanted to capture the spirit of the Bentley woman. 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.»
Alvaro Gonzalez, 29, from Spain, told more about his work on the shoes, “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. 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.”
Louise van Hauen, 27, from Copenhagen, Denmark, said: “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.»