mercedes-benz releases behind-the-scenes of project MAYBACH with virgil abloh

Mercedes-benz with virgil abloh

Last time, Mercedes–Benz paid homage to the late Virgil Abloh with the launch of a limited-edition bespoke S-Class and capsule collection, inspired by Project MAYBACH. On August 15th, the car company uploaded a short documentary that goes behind the scenes on Project MAYBACH, from the first creation of Mercedes-Maybach to the involvement of Abloh in the process. In 2020, Virgil Abloh and Mercedes-Benz began a long-term collaborative partnership that the car company describes as pushing the boundaries of design. The meeting between Mercedes-Benz Chief Design Officer Gorden Wagener and Abloh brought Project Geländewagen, its car design was inspired by Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon, having art and functionality at its core. Expanding their work together, the team launched their sequel, Project MAYBACH, which began as a car concept.

images and video screenshots courtesy of Mercedes-Benz

Utility and luxury for project maybach

In the Mercedes-Benz video, Virgil Abloh says that the premise was to use two words to drive the rider to a new action. ‘Utility and luxury are usually not used in the same sentence, and the car that we are developing can function as such,’ he says. Wagener chimes in by stating how great it is when two people having different creative approaches and backgrounds come together. He says that Abloh comes from the fields of fashion and art, thus having a natural wealth of knowledge about these and what they touch upon, while he comes from a different industry and possesses different views. The Chief Design officer finds it interesting that they combine their ideas as one.

Mercedes-Benz releases behind-the-scenes of project MAYBACH with Virgil Abloh

Virgil Abloh’s approach to fashion and art

From early concept to a luxury vehicle ready for outdoor exploration, the documentary takes the viewers to the twists and turns the duo shared to birth the project to life. It gives an overview of their creative process, reminiscing Abloh’s approach to fashion as his styles and techniques come to the surface in the documentary. ‘I do this in fashion. You do one color you really like, then you have to do five more. You have to offer the handbag in five colors. We could do an orange combination, fully move the colors around, then you do a more tonal grey story,’ he says. His hands-on take on the project rehashes the growth of the project, a remembrance of Abloh’s passion that Mercedes-Benz hopes to uphold.

the sketch of the project