The Range Rover Evoque created the premium compact SUV segment since going on sale in September 2011. Recipient of more than 100 international awards, the Evoque has been an unprecedented global success attracting a whole new group of customers to Land Rover.
Thanks to its unique combination of dramatic design underpinned by the brand’s core credentials of capability and luxury, 70% of customers are new to the SUV segment and the Land Rover brand.
Personalisation has formed a key part of the Range Rover Evoque’s appeal. Each of the three standard trim levels - Pure, Prestige and Dynamic - can be further individualised with a huge range of options from alloy wheel designs and contrasting roof colours to 16 ’Designer Choice’ interiors.
Now, Land Rover has extended the principle by offering an exclusively designed Range Rover Evoque Special Edition created as a result of a collaboration between Land Rover Design, led by Gerry McGovern with Victoria Beckham, winner of the coveted Designer Brand of the Year award at the 2011 British Fashion Awards.
Gerry McGovern, Director of Design, Land Rover explains: “The design of Evoque has truly captured the hearts of customers worldwide. Working with Victoria the intention was not to change the fundamental architecture and award winning design of the Range Rover Evoque. We wanted to create a Special Edition that extends its character in a new direction through understated, restrained colour and detail changes.
“Both Land Rover and Victoria Beckham are British luxury brands with credibility and global appeal, this dual ’Britishness’ makes the collaboration even more exciting especially when considering the huge audience for bespoke products around the world, particularly in China, Russia and Brazil where Land Rover is growing”.
Victoria Beckham said: “I was very excited to be working with Land Rover as I have an enormous amount of respect for the brand. I’ve always driven a Range Rover, for me they are the epitome of quality and luxury.
“For me you should feel luxury. My brand is known for quality and workmanship and so is Land Rover. So for me it felt like the perfect collaboration.”
The Special Edition will be built at Halewood manufacturing facility in Liverpool and hand- finished by Land Rover’s Engineering to Order division (ETO),
Essential to the design is the high quality hand-finished matt grey paint, with contrasting gloss black finishes on the roof, side, bonnet vents, wheel arches and wheels, giving the overall vehicle a stealth-like quality.
Further underlining the bespoke luxury theme of this vehicle is the use of rose-gold accents on the unique 20” gloss black forged alloy wheels, badging and grille surround limited solely to this Special Edition.
Complimenting the ultra-modern, stealth-like exterior is an elegant and luxurious interior. The sport design four-seats are finished in a semi-aniline Vintage Tan leather - with a bold, hand-finished ’baseball’ stitch detail, chosen by Victoria as a tongue-in-cheek reference to her sporting husband David. The same leather is also used to cover the door inserts, arm rests and central storage box lid.
Continuing the exterior theme is the application of rose-gold to the interior where it can be found on the centre console rotary switches and Drive Select Rotary Shifter.
Other surfaces have been deliberately understated to reflect the exterior through the extensive use of soft feel black paint on the switchgear, a piano black centre console and dark textured machined aluminium.
Ultra-luxurious mohair mats and microsuede headlining heighten the sense of occasion still further. The all-encompassing vision of this car extends to the loadspace which is trimmed in the same quality materials and will come with an exclusive four-piece leather luggage set lined in the same microsuede as the rooflining.
A hand stitched leather wallet, with rose-gold detail containing a guide to the exclusive features of the car is co-branded Range Rover Evoque and signed by Victoria Beckham.
Victoria Beckham explains the approach: “When I first started working with Gerry and the design team, on the Evoque Special Edition I did a lot of research, and created mood boards to show the team my love of timeless and classic design. I looked at yachts, luxury jets, classic cars, movies, personalities and fashion.
“It’s the small detail that makes all the difference. I want everyone who gets into this car to feel special and empowered by its quality and craftsmanship. I like that it feels luxurious but also has quite a classic edge to it as well as a contemporary feel.”
Land Rover Director of Design, Gerry McGovern said: “Working with Victoria in our design studio at Gaydon certainly created a buzz within the team. But we quickly recognised our similar design tastes and ambition for this car. For example at the first meeting, Victoria herself inspired the use of rose gold. She was wearing dark clothes and no jewellery apart from a rose gold, man’s watch. I was struck by the juxtaposition of the masculine watch on a very elegant, feminine wrist. We both agreed it was the ideal way to introduce a softer touch to this bold, assertive exterior colour scheme.
“Throughout the process we were keen to ensure that the vehicle would appeal equally to both men and women, in fact Victoria always maintained that she wanted David to be proud to drive this car. We fully enjoyed working with Victoria and I am confident this special edition will appeal to discerning luxury consumers globally.”
The Range Rover Evoque Special Edition with Victoria Beckham is limited to a maximum of 200 vehicles to be sold worldwide. The vehicle is a four-seat coupe, powered by the lightweight, all-aluminium 240PS 2.0-litre petrol engine and features four-wheel drive with Land Rover’s award-winning Terrain Response system.
On sale first in China with deliveries due from October 2012. For details of pricing and to register interest visit: www.landrover.com
Essential to the design, was the development of a hand-finished matt paint that gives the car a, stealth-like appearance and maintains the solidity of the original design. The color also serves to highlight the inherent drama of the Evoque’s design. The vehicle’s carefully crafted proportions come to the fore with the use of a Santorini Black gloss finish on the roof, the sills and wheel arches, which serves to contrast the matt finish bodywork. Gloss black is further used for the bonnet and side vents, Range Rover lettering, lower bodywork finishers, exhaust finishers and fog lamp surrounds. Changes to the materials used in the head and tail lamps darken their appearance in keeping with the overall aesthetic.
Offering a counterpoint to the paint finish the rose gold is applied as ’ingots’ to the unique 20” gloss black forged alloy wheels and as a surround for the grille, which features a new horizontal bar design reserved solely for this special edition. The badges on the tailgate and in the side vents feature the Evoque name picked out in rose gold lettering.
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