It’s often said that Henry Ford told customers that his Model T was available ‘in any colour as long as it’s black’ and he had valid reasons. The man who put the world on wheels by using mass production processes was obsessed with reducing the time it took to complete a car and by limiting colour choices, it was possible to simplify and speed up assembly. Black paint seemed to dry the fastest too. But that was in the early part of the 20th century when just having a car was already special.
In the 21st century, car-buyers have more colour choices and in the upper strata of the market, they can also customise their cars – in the same way as some of the cars in the early 20th century because they were handbuilt to order. While the majority of car-buyers will accept whatever specifications are offered – but can still choose the colours – those who want something exclusive have many options and services to give them whatever they want.
The challenges from customers
The Bespoke Division at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars offers such services and the company reports that demand for its services has kept growing in recent years. Its designers, craftspeople and engineers are constantly challenged by customers who present unique requirements for their Rolls-Royce. Like the Stockholm-based entrepreneur with an extraordinary passion for flowers.
The customer, with a wife and two of four children named after flowers, challenged the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective to envision a car that immerses its occupants in a beguiling floral scene. The result is the Rose Phantom – a sanctuary of true luxury, a vision of flowers, created with a million embroidered stitches.
[Click here to view the video of the owner talking about his special Rolls-Royce]
Inspired by a rose garden
The Rose Garden at the Rolls-Royce headquarters and factory 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.
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.
The rose garden within
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 fibreoptic lights.
In the rear compartment, Serenity Seating with a soft calf rest cushion adopts the inverted colourway 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 centrepiece of the interior. Stems of embroidered roses climb through the glass fronted fascia, providing a spectacle for the occupants.
At the request of the patron, colour has been introduced in the form of Peacock and Adonis Blue butterflies, imbuing movement to the elegant motif. The family members also played a creative role with his wife designing the umbrellas while his daughter, Magnolia, defined the exterior hue of this Phantom.
Commenting on the work of the Bespoke Collective, Torsten Müller Otvos, Chief Executive of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said: “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.”
