The tricky art of brand collaboration

McLaren must have held its breath, therefore, throughout the time it took to collaborate with Hermes on a bespoke Speedtail for loyal customer and YouTuber Manny Khoshbin (watch the video below and you’ll see him unboxing the matching Hermes bag for the front boot of the Speedtail, before sliding the 26,000-euro bespoke luggage into the space then commenting that it could have been slightly bigger. In the background in his pristine white garage sit various McLarens and Bugattis).

Jo Lewis, head of colour and materials at McLaren, describes a nerve-wracking process of managing a flamboyant client and the expectations of two more restrained brands. "It was an interesting relationship to manage: we have design values and principles we like to work round”, she says, adding in typical McLaren speak: “There has to be functionality behind it if we’re going to apply it in design detailing”.

Luckily for McLaren, Jo has a fashion/textile product background, having worked with Stella McCartney, a British brand she would love McLaren to work with. So she did clever things like designing a lightweight leather with Bridge of Weir using air and space technology that would work with Hermes’ traditional tan and cream colour scheme but maintain McLaren engineering principles. McLaren did allow a small amount of extra weight to creep in: “Hermes have a woven cotton that we decided to cover the interior in, where the carbon-fibre is, which was an engineering challenge as the car wasn’t designed to take that, so we added a bit of weight but aesthetically it was about adding a different visual”, she explains. “We tried to push the material – on the engine bay cover we had a carbon panel that is perforated that we laser cut to allow heat to escape, but we swapped the laser-cut graphic for the Hermes graphic.

“We also added paint detailing – there’s a contour paint pack which highlights the aero story, like putting make-up on a face.”

Inside, Hermes made leather pouches for the glovebox for iPhones, and added hidden embossing with the Hermes logo and a dedication plaque. The trim geometry of the seats has changed to a simplified design to include Hermes leather from the handbag.

In the most nerve-jangling part of it all, McLaren sent the car over to Paris for it to be trimmed by Hermes, in the middle of lockdown, then issued advice to Hermes via Zoom calls. Jo admits there was “negotiation over what ownership Hermes could have. They’ve got a workshop and trimming facility where they trim bespoke products, like we do.” Hermes was also closely guarded and wouldn’t share lots of their materials with Jo for testing. The car then came back to McLaren for final assembly before being shipped to the customer in California.

“It was incredibly tense in terms of not damaging any surfaces or materials in transit”, says Jo.

She sent a list of dos and don’ts to the receiving dealer in California plus a set of white gloves for him to touch the car with. The end result is a car that everyone admits will be more a static piece of art than a means of transport, but McLaren isn’t bothered.

“I do feel that’s where things are going”, says Jo. “Materials that tell a story, personalisation, something that looks amazing. If we had the choice of a fashion brand, we have lots of ideas – I thought of reaching out to Stella [McCartney]. She was pioneering in not using animal leathers, she uses a vegan silk and now it’s everywhere. Our customers are becoming more aware of sustainability and non-animal products.

“I think the brand would have to be British. My team has had a brainstorm about up-and-coming British designers – graduates who are the next big thing. Someone a bit niche, not so obvious would be good – it’s not right for McLaren to partner with a big brand: something a bit underground and exciting. We’ve got this GT family of cars so that sort of collaboration could be good – in China we have a lot of female customers and there is a difference – it will be interesting to see what they are speccing and choosing.”

With the spread of electrification and automation across all automotive segments, the story will have to turn to interior design and materials to make cars sing beyond their uniform powertrains. Collaborations with non-auto brands are certain to be a big part of that: the question is which partnerships will sell more cars and which could irreversibly damage their makers?