German car brand Mercedes-Benz has created the Project Mondo G puffer jacket-informed car as its contribution to Moncler's Genius collection, which was unveiled at London Fashion Week.
Designed as an "eye-catching sculptural object", the car is a version of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class with a reflective silver roof and wheels that resemble a puffer jacket. It was unveiled at an event last night in Olympia as part of London Fashion Week.
"Project Mondo G is an art piece that reimagines our iconic G-Class merged with the distinctive design codes of Moncler," Mercedes-Benz chief design officer Gorden Wagener told Dezeen.
"Like our show cars, the basic idea was to create an iconic look – a sculpture on wheels that perfectly accentuates the character of the vehicle."
With the design, Mercedes-Benz aimed to contrast the curved forms of Moncler's quilted puffer jackets with the angular form of the G-Class car.
"The luxurious Moncler puffer jacket plays to the visual contrast of the art piece, set against the angular structure of the G-Class," said Wagener.
"Project Mondo G is an interplay of contrasts, the result is an eye-catching sculptural object, the first of its kind and one-of-a-kind," he added.
Although created as an art piece, the designers aimed to express the functionality, design ethos and versatility of both Moncler's jackets and Mercedes-Benz's vehicles.
"It's an art piece, it has caricature-like features such as a huge zipper, which is a practical reference to the versatility and variability of both objects – the jacket and vehicle," said Wagener.
"Like with other design sectors, we want to generate storytelling through our designs. In this case, it's about the metamorphosis of a purely utility-oriented product into a luxury product."
The project forms part of the fifth edition of Moncler's Genius initiative, which invites creatives to reimagine the brand's signature puffer jacket. In the past Kei Ninomiya has created an all-black collection for the initiative, while Craig Green designed "wearable habitats".
This year's edition sees Moncler move away from collaborating with fashion designers in the favour of brands including Mercedes-Benz and Adidas, along with musicians including Jay Z, Alicia Keys and Pharrell Williams – who was recently announced as creative director of menswear at Louis Vuitton.
The design is the latest collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and a fashion designer. In the past the brand worked with Virgil Abloh to create a conceptual version of its G-Class car called Project Geländewagen and a solar-powered car with transparent front hood.
"Mercedes-Benz set the benchmark in fashion x automotive collaborations, leading with our first co-operation with Virgil Abloh in 2020," explained Wagener.
"Our creative co-operations provide us with new perspectives and ideas that are important to the further development of our brand and our design language. They are the perfect tool for us to showcase our distinctive image and attitude."