Continuing Mercedes-Benz fashion activities under the "Passion for Design & Style" theme
Weiterführung der Mercedes-Benz Mode-Aktivitäten unter dem Motto "Passion for Design & Style" |
Mercedes-Benz and Giorgio Armani announce joint cooperative ventureMilan, Italy - Coinciding with the start of Milan Fashion Week, Mercedes-Benz and Giorgio Armani announce the start of a new joint cooperative venture,
The entire car is held in matching nuances of a shade of sand, called "Sabbia", that is typical of Giorgio Armani's color palette. Exciting contrasts are created by juxtaposed matt/high-sheen surfaces of the car's interior and bodywork. The Mercedes-Benz CLK Giorgio Armani Design Car derives its striking appearance from this color scheme, deliberately dispensing with superficial effects. Following the presentation of the Mercedes-Benz CLK Giorgio Armani Design Car during Milan Fashion Week, the car will be presented in other important cities around the world. A limited edition production version will be made available for special order in the Mercedes-Benz Designo Program.
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the first initiative
being the creation of the Mercedes-Benz CLK Giorgio Armani Design Car. The
idea for the collaboration has arisen following on from the successful start
of Mercedes-Benz's sponsorship of the five-city world tour of the Solomon
R. Guggenheim's Giorgio Armani - A Retrospective exhibition. The tour began
at Berlin's Neue Nationale Galerie in May, 2003 and will open next at London's
Royal Academy of Arts (New Burlington Gardens) on October 18, following which
the exhibition will visit museum venues in Rome, Tokyo and Los Angeles. With
regard to the new joint cooperative venture Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Executive
Vice President, Mercedes Car Group, says, "The contact we have had with Giorgio
Armani through our sponsorship of Salomon R. Guggenheim's exhibition has
revealed that we have much in common. Giorgio Armani's philosophy of style,
elegance, innovation and quality resonate strongly with our own brand strategy.
Design and style clearly dominate both our worlds, which, in our opinion,
provides a fundamental and inspiring basis for promising collaborative
initiatives." Dr. Schmidt continues, "We are happy to be able to share our
'Passion for Design & Style' with one of the most important fashion designers
of our time."
Giorgio Armani, President
and Chief Executive of the Armani Group, says, "Mercedes-Benz has justifiably
achieved an outstanding reputation for the quality, style and elegance of
its cars. It has been very interesting for me to see the great similarities
between our design philosophies and our approaches to work. This leads me
to believe that there will be opportunities in the future for joint projects
capitalizing on our respective strengths." The idea behind the joint cooperative
venture is the joint development of international communications platforms
as well as the expansion of both corporations' customer bases. In this context,
the unmistakable design philosophies – a crossover of automotive and
fashion design - are to be brought to life within the framework of trend-setting
projects on a worldwide basis. "Today, individual design
worlds overlap more than ever. Once-disparate areas - art, architecture or
fashion - now flow into one another and interact. And the automobile design
world is no exception," comments Peter Pfeiffer, Senior Vice President Design,
DaimlerChrysler AG. An example of this
approach is the Mercedes-Benz CLK Giorgio Armani Design Car, which is being
premiered during Milan Fashion Week.
The Mercedes-Benz
CLK Giorgio Armani Design Car brings to life Mercedes-Benz's legendary automotive
design and Giorgio Armani's distinctive approach to style in a way that uniquely
demonstrates the synergy in philosophies. The development of the car took
place in Como and Milan over a four month period with the DaimlerChrysler
Advanced Design Studio Como overseeing the implementation of Giorgio Armani's
design direction. Giorgio Armani's concept in designing the color and material
for the Mercedes-Benz CLK Giorgio Armani Design Car was to bring back that
sense of handcraftsmanship that one associates with vintage cars, thereby
creating a modern, timeless and ultra-elegant feeling, which ultimately reflects
the spirit of both brands. Giorgio Armani incorporated surprising effects
by removing materials from their accustomed context, combining them in unusual
ways and thereby creating something new. The result is an exciting combination
of leather (called "Cuoio"), which was fashionable in the 1940s and 1950s
and is today used for only few articles, with high-technology fabrics adopted
from present-day sportswear.
