ROLLS-ROYCE INTRODUCES NEW BESPOKE CRAFTS INSPIRED BY FIVE CENTURIES OF DECORATIVE ARTS – AutoMart Canada

• Rolls-Royce introduces four new craft techniques, inspired by the
  decorative arts
• Exploration of texture, material and depth influenced by art,
  haute couture, fine jewellery and architecture
• First-ever application of hand-sculpted 3D metal within a
  Rolls-Royce Gallery
• First showcase of layered 3D veneer that integrates brass elements
• Beadwork and leather sculpting applied to create realistic forms
• Innovations developed by the Bespoke Collective at the Home of Rolls-Royce
• Available to view at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars London, Mayfair,
  during London Craft Week 11-17 May

“Our Bespoke Collective of designers, engineers and
craftspeople constantly looks to the history of decorative arts and
asks how those techniques might be reinterpreted for the surfaces of
a Rolls-Royce motor car and for today’s super-luxury clients. The
concepts we present here are a playful expression of our
craftspeople’s creative spirit. They show how hand and machine can
work in concert, how a 17th-century still life or a Jacobean
strapwork motif can become a modern sculptural form, and how
Rolls-Royce is both a custodian and an accelerator of rare craft skills.”

Phil Fabre de la Grange, Head of Bespoke, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

“London Craft Week is an important calendar event for Rolls-Royce
Motor Cars London, bringing together leading specialists in
contemporary craft. Each year, it is always truly mesmerising to see
the exquisite examples of Rolls-Royce’s Bespoke craftsmanship
created for the event. We are really proud to participate once again
in London Craft Week and to display these highly complex examples of
craft and creativity at our dealership in Mayfair.”

Claus Andersen, Brand Director, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars London

“Craftsmanship lies at the very heart of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars,
with creativity nurtured at every turn. As a brand synonymous with
exacting levels of craftsmanship, London Craft Week is a defining
moment in our annual calendar. For this year’s event, our highly
talented craftspeople and designers from the Home of Rolls-Royce at
Goodwood have created two enchanting works of art – intricate
Phantom Galleries with corresponding exterior jewellery pieces,
inspired by the legacy of their crafts. This exhibition will be on
display at our flagship showroom, in the heart of Mayfair, for the
duration of the event in May.”

John Beckley, Regional Director, United Kingdom, Europe, and
Central Asia, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

The Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective of designers,
engineers and craftspeople is dedicated to advancing the discipline of
craft itself, developing techniques that expand the ways clients can
express themselves through the surfaces of the motor car. Driven by
this pursuit, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars unveils four new craft techniques
inspired by historical craftsmanship: 3D leather hand-sculpting, 3D
metal hand-sculpting, 3D veneers and beadwork application. To showcase
the potential of these innovations, they are presented in two works
built at the scale of a Phantom Gallery – concept pieces that
translate the techniques into a finished form.

LEATHER AND THREAD IN THREE DIMENSIONS

The composition named ‘Legacy Craft: Inspired by Still Life’
draws inspiration from the nature morte paintings of the
17th-century Dutch Golden Age – a style developed to display the skill
of the artist through the exploration of texture and the play of light
across natural forms – and the embroidery traditions revived by the
Arts and Crafts movement.

Across the length of the Gallery, Interior Trim Centre artisans
composed a still-life arrangement of fruit and flowers, recalling
17th-century art in a three-dimensional form using a combination of
materials, textures and contemporary craft techniques.

The Gallery debuts the first application of 3D leather sculpting
and beadwork. The hydrangeas are constructed from 50 individual
flowers, each hand-sculpted from leather and painted by hand. After
studying the texture and quality of natural flowers, the artist
painted each petal with a fine brush in tones of pink that gradually
deepen toward the centre of each bloom. Floral twine is used to shape
and secure the flowers to the Gallery surface. Their leaves are formed
entirely from thread using a newly developed style – Sphinx Moth 3D
embroidery – introducing a uniquely tactile dimension.

The pomegranates are embroidered using the alternate stitch
technique, with 76 jewel-like beads individually hand-sewn to form the
seeds that replicate the ruby translucence of the real fruit. More
than 250 hours of handwork were required to complete the Gallery.

A broad colour palette is central to the Gallery’s impact; rich,
deep tones have been chosen to maintain focus on the subject matter.
Peony, Cocoa, and Chartreuse have been used for the flowers.

“Still life painting interests us because it freezes a moment in
time. It is also one of the most technically demanding traditions in
art. We saw an opportunity to take that discipline further with a
sculptural piece that draws on every skill within the Interior Trim
Centre and is worked at the smallest possible scale. For the
textures and layering, we looked to late-19th-century haute couture.
The embroidered gowns of that period taught us how to build a
surface that feels rich, refined and unmistakably contemporary.”

Rebecca Davies, Bespoke Design, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

SCULPTING METAL BY HAND

The artwork named ‘Legacy Craft: Inspired by The Draught’ is
created by specialists from the Interior Surface Centre and brings
together 3D metal hand-sculpting and layered 3D veneer with brass elements.

Conceived as a piece of fine jewellery, it draws on four
historical references: the draught – the technical drawing a craftsman
uses to guide architectural work; scribing – the act of marking a
surface to guide cutting and carving; strapwork – the interlaced,
band-like motif of Elizabethan and Jacobean ornament; and ferramenta –
the ironwork support grid used to retain stained glass.

The 3D veneer uses multiple layers of laser-cut wood to create a
complex, faceted relief, finished with brass inserts that catch the
light like haute joaillerie. The composition reads from left to right
as a journey from initial design to finished sculpture, culminating in
a three-dimensional, jewellery-like flower. On the left side of the
Gallery, the patterns laser-etched onto smoked Eucalyptus wood
represent the maker’s plan – the draught. The etched design then
transitions into 3D marquetry, marking the journey from drawing to
object. The piece then becomes increasingly sculptural. A delicate
brass lattice, inspired by strapwork and the ferramenta of
stained-glass windows, is applied over the veneer and completed with
subtle laser engraving for additional texture.

The centre point is a jewel-like flower, formed from five layers
of brass, each cut into petal shapes using an advanced waterjet. This
detail alone required over 45 hours to complete. Before assembly, each
petal is hand-engraved with over 50 lines – each just 0.2 mm wide –
and shaped using specially modified tools, a technique developed
in-house by Rolls-Royce craftspeople.

“Clients often come to us with two or three ideas they want to see
brought together, and we create ways for those inspirations to speak
to each other. This composition was a chance to sharpen that
instinct by taking a flat draughtsman’s drawing and growing it into
a three-dimensional sculpture. We brought together four historical
references – the draught, scribing, strapwork and ferramenta – in
materials and techniques entirely new to Rolls-Royce. What emerged
is something that feels highly modern, built from techniques that
are centuries old.”
Laura Salter, Bespoke Design, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

HAND AND MACHINE, IN ONE COMPOSITION

Both artworks have been developed around a single design
philosophy: that hand and machine craftsmanship are most powerful when
they work in concert. Laser cutting, waterjet shaping and digital
pattern drafting are used to achieve geometries that no hand could
repeat with the same accuracy. Hand-engraving, hand-painting,
hand-embroidery and hand-sculpting are then applied to give the work
its individual character.

The techniques introduced on these two Galleries have been
developed as part of Rolls-Royce’s wider programme of bespoke craft
research and exploration of new materials and techniques.

Both pieces will be presented to the public at London Craft
Week, hosted at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars London, Berkeley Street,
Mayfair, from 11 to 17 May 2026.