An epitome of luxury: A supercar co-created by Rolls-Royce & Hermès for Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa

British carmaker Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and French luxury giant Hermès have co-created a bespoke Rolls-Royce Phantom Oribe for Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa. An avid art collector and supercar enthusiast, Yusaku envisioned a car that is really a ‘land jet’, which complements his private aircraft. And he has gotten just that.

“We are proud to have contributed to creating a unique and contemporary expression of our client’s vision, thanks to our spirit of innovation, the quality of our materials and the know-how of our craftsmen who have developed, amongst other things, unique stitching and upholstery techniques for the interior of the car and a hand painting technique for a bespoke gallery,” said Axel de Beaufort, Design and Engineering Director, Hermès Bespoke Division.

The car has been designed and handcrafted by a combined team of specialists at the Home of Rolls-Royce at West Sussex and Hermès in Paris. The two-tone MZ Oribe Green and cream exterior finish has been inspired by colours in Maezawa’s world-class collection of ancient 16th century Japanese Oribe ware.

The upper part is finished in Oribe Green, a colour created exclusively for the client. In an unusual move, Rolls-Royce has made the paint available for use on the client’s private jet that the Phantom will be paired with.

The Oribe ware-inspired colourway is also used in the interiors. The interior is finished predominantly in Hermès Enea Green leather, extending to details like the steering wheel, duchess handles, gear selector, the rotary controls for the car’s climate settings, upper instrument panel, interior pillars and parcel shelf.

The leather is also on lesser visible surfaces like the glove compartment and luggage compartment lining, centre console, decanter stowage compartment and Champagne cooler. The glove compartment lid is embossed with the signature Habillé par Hermès Paris.

The wooden speaker frets are made by meticulously perforating the Open Pore Royal Walnut veneer applied to the doors. Open Pore Royal Walnut is additionally applied to the centre and rear consoles and picnic table backs.

In another first for Rolls-Royce, the interior features Hermès ‘Toile H’ canvas on the door armrests, centre and rear consoles and the headliner.

Hermès has created the leather upholstery using the stitching and edge-painting techniques originally employed by master saddlers. For Phantom’s Gallery (a feature unique to Rolls-Royce that runs the length of the motor car’s fascia), Hermès commissioned an artwork based on a design by the celebrated French artist and illustrator Pierre Péron (1905–1988).

Péron had created many of the French brand’s iconic scarves. This work, inspired by the famous Hermès horse motif, is hand-painted on Open Pore Royal Walnut and is presented as though staged in an art gallery, behind glass.

Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said, “This majestic and tasteful Rolls-Royce Phantom demonstrates what is possible when talented people from two of the world’s great houses work closely together alongside a far-sighted, inspirational client like Maezawa-san. It is a meeting of minds, expertise, visions and skill that represents the very best of our respective craftspeople and capabilities.”

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