Rolls-Royce Teams Up With Iris Van Herpen To Bring Haute Couture To The Road

As if Rolls-Royce cars couldn’t get any more luxurious and special, the automaker recently unveiled the Phantom Syntopia, an Haute Couture-inspired take on the famed vehicle by Dutch fashion house Iris van Herpen.

Incredibly, the work—which was based on the “blank canvas” of the Phantom Extended—is reportedly the “most technically complex” project ever undertaken by the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective, requiring over four years of research and development to complete.

The one-of-a-kind vehicle takes its name from a landmark 2018 collection by the luxury label, which centered on the principles of biomimicry inspired by patterns and shapes found around us in nature.

As such, the automotive company described the Phantom Syntopia as representing the “elusive, ethereal beauty of fluid motion in solid materials” through its overarching theme of ‘Weaving Water’.

To create an exterior that shimmered in the sunlight, the project developed its very own Liquid Noir paint that gives off different purple, blue, magenta, and gold undertones when viewed at different angles.

This wasn’t an easy feat, as the marque had to overlay its darkest solid-black paint with a mirror-like pigment to achieve the changes in color. Plus, a brand-new technique was developed to apply pigment to the top clearcoat to result in the subtle, elegant shimmer seen.

That’s not all. The details throughout the car are intricate, with the vehicle’s bonnet featuring a subtle rendering of the fashion brand’s Weaving Water motif that doubles up on the interior suite—which comprises certain elements that were handcrafted at either brand’s workshops.

According to the automaker, the most arduous part of the design was the Weaving Water Starlight Headliner on the car’s coach doors, which was crafted from a single sheet of flawless leather to reveal a silver “liquid metal” nylon fabric underneath.

This particular painstaking endeavor, which Rolls-Royce said was “the most technically challenging version” of the signature feature, used the materials from Iris van Herpen’s ‘Embossed Sounds’ collection, accompanied by 162 delicate petals of glass organza and fiberoptic ‘stars’.

The Weaving Water theme carries on throughout the artwork in the Gallery, which takes the width of the Phantom’s fascia. By merging Haute Couture techniques and innovative visual forms, the work required an additional 85 petals to be applied by hand—taking over 60 hours to form.

Interestingly, the Phantom Syntopia is the first Rolls-Royce car with its own bespoke scent, developed by an expert perfumer to create a lasting memory that goes beyond the vehicle. The firm described the fragrance as “subtle” and complementary to the other materials in the car.

“Phantom Syntopia is the most ambitious, singular, and highly bespoke Phantom we have ever created, and a clear statement of Rolls-Royce’s standing as a true luxury house,” said Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

“In collaborating with internationally renowned designer and Haute Couturière Iris van Herpen, we once again redraw the boundaries of innovation, craftsmanship, and bespoke possibility, not just for a motor car but across the wide luxury sector.”

[via Car and Driver and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, images via Rolls-Royce Motor Cars]