sean wotherspoon unveils cork and corduroy interiors of his porsche art car

sean wotherspoon’s art car: interiors revealed

For the first time, streetwear designer Sean Wotherspoon unveils his Porsche electric art car in its entirety, defined by its vividly colorblocking and playful materiality. The news comes after the striking exterior had been displayed at Austin’s South x Southwest festival in March. Finally, the interiors have been revealed which continue the lively colorway of ‘Nash Blue, Sean Peach, Loretta Purple and Ashley Green.’ What makes these interiors especially unique is the material palette which introduces cork and corduroy.

Because the Taycan 4 Cross Turismo is Sean’s personal car, the electric art car stands as a one-of-a-kind creation, and will not be offered for sale.

images © Porsche

translating the sneaker to the porsche

Working on his Porsche Taycan art car, Sean Wotherspoon (see more here) draws from his experience designing sneakers — especially his 2018 Nike Air Max 97/1 sneaker which famously first saw the use of corduroy. This material was rarely seen in sneakers and had since become the designer’s trademark. The roof lining, seat centers and sun visors are upholstered with corduroy in Atacama Beige. As a strict vegan, Sean insisted that the interiors be leather-free, an option that other Taycan customers can also choose.

Robert Ader, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Porsche comments on the company’s long history with art cars: ‘From Janis Joplin’s psychedelic 356 in the 1960s to the 911 RSR from 2019 designed by Richard Philips — the list of iconic art cars from Porsche is already long. Art cars suit Porsche very well. Creative design work with artists inspires us and motivates us to keep developing the brand without changing it fundamentally.’

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Porsche (@porsche)

the collaborative design process

The partnership was initiated by a marketing communications team at Porsche (see more here). The communications experts brought Wotherspoon together with the Style Porsche designers and worked with him to organize the world premiere of the car on Instagram. Wotherspoon visited the Porsche Design Studio in Weissach several times, overseeing the physical creation of his art car onsite, and spending time in the workshop and the trim shop.

At first, the team made use of virtual reality technology to explore and discuss many of the exterior color options on a model car. Volker Müller, Head of Color and Trim at Style Porsche recalls: ‘Inspired by a visit to the Porsche Museum, Sean got the idea for circular elements on the doors. His idea echoes the starting-number roundels on historic racing cars. At the same time, this inverted colour breaks up the large area.’

To ensure the colors were precisely the ones he wanted, Wotherspoon sent the corresponding Pantone reference codes to Porsche. The mixing bench in the paint shop was used to recreate them and the colors were then applied to what are known as ‘paint frogs’ so that the sneaker designer could view them in person and professionally evaluate them under a range of different conditions. The lighting cabin at the Porsche Design Studio can switch between daylight and artificial light at the push of a button.

The unusual names of the paints have a personal background. Volker Müller describes how Nash Blue, Sean Peach, Loretta Purple and Ashley Green came about: ‘After we explained the importance of having unique names, Sean named the paints after members of his family.’

The idea is for the interior to continue the color blocking concept of the exterior. Corduroy actually has a long tradition at the sports car manufacturer, with the soft, ribbed material adorning the seat centres of the Porsche 356 as early as 1952. In the new art car, this woven material was added in Atacama Beige, which Porsche used in the 911 Targa 4S Heritage Edition in 2020. Müller notes, ‘Working with cork, however, presented a number of challenges to our trimmers.‘ Ultimately, the laminated material, which comes on rolls, had to be fitted to complex shapes such as the dashboard.