Fashion fit for a Bentley driver

Design students from London’s Royal College of Art (RCA) have been asked by Bentley to come up with three travel products for women: a three-quarter length travel coat, driving shoes and an overnight bag.

The innovative project – which has seen 17 designers spending months collaborating with Bentley’s design team – aims to marry the best of design in both the automotive and the fashion worlds. The design students were required to make products which reflect Bentley’s pinnacle position in the luxury sector of the car market and pick up key design cues from the new Bentley Continental GT. As such, they visited Bentley’s factory in Crewe to understand the company’s design language, quality of materials it uses as well as the craftsmanship that is worked into its cars.

The parallels between the cars and the designs are immediately evident: the coat, for instance, is quilted for comfort and style, mirroring the beauty and fine detail of the Bentley interior. Like a Bentley exterior, the outer coat is simple, sleek and elegant… using the lines to effectively frame the body.

According to Robin Page, Bentley’s head of interior design, the project (a first for the company) aims to attract women to the brand. “It is important to Bentley that we appeal to our female customers with exciting new designs in both our cars and branded goods,” she notes.