Bespoke
Rolls-Royce cars are those that are usually in demand from well heeled people. A
Stockholm-based entrepreneur too ordered one and the changes were truly
enchanting with the car getting a floral make up. Yes the new Rolls-Royce
Phantom was commissioned by the entrepreneur with an extraordinary passion for
flowers.
The
patron, with a wife and two of four children named after flowers, challenged
the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective comprising designers, craftspeople and
engineers, to envision a car that immerses its occupants in a beguiling floral
scene. The result is a sanctuary of true luxury, a vision of flowers, created
with a million embroidered stitches.
Torsten
Müller Ötvös, Chief Executive, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, commented, “The Rose
Phantom is a stunning iteration of a contemporary Rolls-Royce. Our
extraordinary craftspeople at the Home of Rolls-Royce have achieved, with this
car, something which can only be described as sublime. The work of our Bespoke
Collective is the best in the world. When I look at creations like this car, it
is with a sense of pride that I know that these skills could not be replicated
anywhere else in the world. This is undoubtedly one of the greatest Rolls-Royce
Phantoms of its generation.”
The
Rose Garden at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex, served as the
primary point of inspiration for Ieuan Hatherall, a Bespoke Designer for
Rolls-Royce. This Rose Garden is the only place in the world that the Phantom
Rose is grown. Bred exclusively for Rolls-Royce by British Rose Breeder Philip
Harkness of Harkness Roses, the Phantom Rose grows in the courtyard of the
marque’s Global Centre of Luxury Manufacturing Excellence at Goodwood in West
Sussex, England.
Ieuan
Hatherall commented, “There is a transcendent beauty when a rose garden is in
full bloom. The patron wanted to create that same feeling of awe; an abundance
of flowers to lift the spirit and celebrate nature’s decadent beauty, in the
Rose Phantom’s serene interior.”
The
Peacock Blue exterior of the Rose Phantom is punctuated with a Charles Blue
twinned-coachline that intertwines organically like the stem of a rose,
combining to introduce the rose motif, an indication of both the colours and
the treatment within. The wheels echo the design and are embellished with a
twinned pinstripe, also in Charles Blue.
On
opening the coach doors, one first encounters the embroidery on the inside of
the rear doors, but it is not until entering the rear cabin that one fully
encounters the extraordinary extent of the satin stitch creation. The Phantom
Rose is illustrated in varying stages of maturity, from bud to full bloom, in
an asymmetrical design that appears to grow across the roof lining, from the
rear of the car. The marque’s fabled starlight headliner illuminates the scene
as the roses are interspersed with individually placed fibre-optic lights.
In
the rear compartment, Serenity Seating with a soft calf rest cushion adopts the
inverted colour-way of the exterior as sumptuous Charles Blue leather is
accented with Peacock Blue piping. From here, one can admire Phantom’s Gallery,
created as a centre piece of the interior. Stems of embroidered roses climb
through the glass fronted fascia, providing a spectacle for the motor car’s
occupants.
At
the request of the patron, colour is introduced in the form of Peacock and
Adonis Blue butterflies, imbuing movement to the elegant motif. The patron’s
family also played a creative role; his wife designed the umbrellas whilst his
daughter, Magnolia, defined the exterior hue of this Phantom. The patron
commented, “I wanted to have flowers and roses everywhere. It became an amazing
piece of art.”