Bespoke possibility; not just for a motor car but across the wider luxury sector.
The Phantom Syntopia, designed by Dutch Haute Couturière and renowned fashion designer Iris van Herpen, has been unveiled by Rolls-Royce. It is the most technically challenging commission ever taken on by the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective, and it is based on the Phantom Extended, the ultimate blank canvas for personalization. After four years of nonstop work, this exceptional and unique product is now complete and on its way to the private collections of the brand's most selective clients.
The design was based on Iris van Herpen's groundbreaking 2018 collection, which was based on biomimicry (hence the name Phantom Syntopia). Phantom Syntopia, like the collection, consists of highly sculptural garments that come to life through movement, and its 'Weaving Water' theme aims to represent the elusive, ethereal beauty of fluid motion in solid materials.
“From the very beginning, this truly was a meeting of minds: two luxury houses that share the innovative vision and ambition to transcend the boundaries of luxury design,” says Gavin Hartley, Head of Bespoke Design, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. “Together, we further explored the potential of Phantom as a perfect canvas for individualisation. Phantom Syntopia literally takes Rolls‑Royce interior design into a new dimension with its immersive, sculptural elements, reinterpreting the elusive fragility of nature’s forms in a perfectly engineered reality.”
The Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective created the distinctive, metallic Liquid Noir paint. When held up to the light, its iridescence glints purple, blue, magenta, and gold. To accomplish this, a finish containing a mirror-like pigment, chosen for its colour-shifting properties, is applied over the brand's darkest solid black paint. The team spent months, including more than 3,000 hours on testing and validation alone, perfecting a new method for applying pigment to the clearcoat in order to achieve a subtle, elegant shimmer.
By carefully moving the colour around during the finishing process, the car's Weaving Water motif, which is found inside the car, can be seen in a subtle way on the car's bonnet.
The Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective and fashion designer Iris van Herpen worked together to make the luxurious cabin of the Phantom Syntopia. The company's master craftspeople at the Home of Rolls-Royce worked with members of Iris van Herpen's team to handcraft some of the interior components, while Iris van Herpen's Amsterdam atelier produced other components alongside her Haute Couture garments.
The Weaving Water Starlight Headliner is the most technically difficult version of this Rolls-Royce trademark. It is revealed as soon as the beautiful coach doors are opened. It was hand-stitched from a single piece of flawless leather handpicked from among more than a thousand hides. The Headliner has a three-dimensional appearance thanks to the precise symmetrical cuts that expose a silver 'liquid metal' texture made from woven nylon fabric, as seen in Iris van Herpen's 'Embossed Sounds' collection. Members of Iris van Herpen's Couture team travelled to Goodwood to apply the 162 glass organza petals that finish the piece; the process took nearly 300 hours. In addition, 187 of the 995 sparkling fiberoptic stars were placed by hand alongside the artwork; they illuminate sequentially, beginning in the back and working their way forward, giving the impression of motion. Alone on the headliner, the team spent close to 700 hours.
The unique artwork in the gallery, which spans the width of the Phantom's fascia, all has a 'Weaving Water' theme. Iris van Herpen's team at Goodwood spent nearly 60 hours painstakingly attaching 85 additional petals to this highly expressive work, which combines traditional Haute Couture techniques with innovative visual forms.
The artwork Weaving Water on the hood is mirrored in the design of the picnic tables and the passenger panel just below the gallery. Multiple coats of paint and lacquer containing varying amounts of glass particles were used to create the motif. At first, black paint containing 0.9% glass particles was used to cover the surfaces. The Weaving Water design was then painted on with a clear coat that had 1.4% shimmer added to it, a process so labour-intensive that it took the artists more than three weeks to complete. The team at the Exterior Surface Center spent four months refining the formula and conducting nine trials before settling on the ideal ratio of glass particles: only one tablespoon was used throughout the entirety of the vehicle.
The Bespoke Collective's exploration of textiles continues in Phantom Syntopia. This one-of-a-kind motor vehicle pays homage to Rolls-Royce by harkening back to an era when the driver's seat was upholstered in durable leather and the passenger compartment was lined with plush, inviting fabrics. Phantom Syntopia's front seats are upholstered in lustrous Magic Grey leather. The back seats are covered in a silk blend fabric with a unique pattern that is reminiscent of the shadows cast by moonlight on water.
The Weaving Water motif is quilted into the seat backs, a nod to the tufting technique used in high-end furniture making, in which embroidery is stitched onto the fabric's wrong side. This produces a seamless, uninterrupted surface with the illusion of depth.
“The result of four years’ continuous development, Phantom Syntopia is a magnificent testament to the skill, talent, passion for materials, and commitment to excellence of our exceptional Bespoke Collective team,” says Jonathan Simms, General Manager, Bespoke, at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. “To bring the client’s vision to life, our engineers and craftspeople pushed their own limits and challenged existing notions of what’s possible in their pursuit of perfection. Phantom Syntopia is the most technically complex commission we have ever created, and it was an exceptional experience to work alongside and collaborate with the incredible team at Iris van Herpen's atelier.”
It is the first Rolls-Royce car to have a Bespoke scent, which makes it a truly immersive expression of luxury and fits with the Phantom Syntopia's highly innovative design. An expert perfumer, now fondly called "the Nose of the Bespoke Collective," worked closely with the customers to create the fragrance. The fragrance was created to leave a lasting impression on the driver and passengers, so it is light and pairs well with the natural scents of the car's interior.
The Bespoke perfumer tried a wide variety of permutations before settling on the final formula. As part of this project's ongoing effort to achieve the highest possible level of customization, cedarwood was sourced specifically from the clients' native region and used as the primary fragrance. The scent's base is made up of a combination of leather, hints of Iris (obtained via fluid extraction technology), Patagonian rose, and a mellow lemon.
The ingeniously designed olfactory dispensers are hidden within the headrests. This proprietary technology, which makes use of cutting-edge materials first developed for medical applications, ensures that the fragrance is released in appropriately subtle doses to provide a luxuriously long-lasting sensory experience. It took over two years and extensive testing in extreme heat and cold to guarantee the fragrance would retain its signature characteristics under all environmental conditions.
Iris van Herpen will make the lucky people who win this commission a one-of-a-kind piece of Haute Couture clothing. Elegantly incorporating the 'liquid metal' fabric and the glass organza petals, which were laser-cut and hand-stitched in a pattern resembling undulating waves, the dress's sculptural design echoes the Weaving Water theme explored in Phantom Syntopia's Starlight Headliner. Pattern making, creating and applying the petals, embroidery, fitting, and tailoring are just some of the steps that will take about six months to complete on this exquisite garment that reflects Iris van Herpen's newly developed Haute Couture techniques.
In the month of May, Phantom Syntopia will join the client's personal collection. Rolls-Royce guarantees that this special order will be unique and never repeated.