project MAYBACH with virgil abloh: mercedes-benz honors late designer

a tribute to virgil abloh

with its ‘project MAYBACH,’ mercedes-benz pays tribute to legendary designer virgil abloh after his recent passing (see here). the collaborative project proceeded following the wishes of virgil’s family, and unveils an electric show car which the team notes is ‘designed to inspire the next generation, and forever question the status quo.’

rather than debuting project MAYBACH as an intimate press event, mercedes-benz opens the doors of miami‘s rubell museum. the car will be showcased to the public between december 1st and december 2nd. the mercedes-maybach show car will mark a humble contribution to the vast legacy of virgil abloh, and is the result of cooperation with the polymath artist, architect, creative director, fashion designer, and philanthropist — the group at mercedes-benz comments that the collaboration was ‘driven by a shared passion to enrich the conversation around luxury design.’

images courtesy of mercedes-benz

mercedes-maybach and virgil

a design unlike anything that has been developed by mercedes-benz (see more), every element of project MAYBACH has been built from scratch. virgil abloh (see more), collaboratively with car designer gorden wagener, has interpreted mercedes-maybach’s luxury identity with a new design language and pushed the boundaries of function, style, and collaborative creativity.

inspired by the great outdoors and recontextualizing a traditionally urban brand within a distinctly off-road environment, the two-seater, battery-electric, off-road coupe combines huge gran turismo proportions, large off-road wheels, and distinctive attachments.

introducing project maybach

key for both abloh and wagener was a responsible vision of future design. complete creative freedom — untethered by production requirements — enabled the design teams to conceptualize what the future of electric travel could look like. under the transparent surface of the show cars front hood for instance are solar cells that increase the imagined range of the project MAYBACH.

never afraid to spark conversation through provocative design, project maybach channels abloh’s passion to challenge the status quo and rewrite the rulebook of aspirational design. the x-factor nature of project MAYBACH results not only from its breathtaking size — nearly 6 meters (20 feet) in length — and characteristics, but above all from its unique contrasts; most notably through how naturally authentic mercedes-maybach design elements are harmoniously combined with a new outdoor adventure design motif.

alongside the presentation of the show car, the team at mercedes-benz shares its thoughts on the news of the designer’s passing: ‘mercedes-benz is devastated to hear of the passing of virgil abloh. our sincere thoughts are with virgil’s family and teams. now opening the world of our collaboration, and virgil’s unique vision, to the public we want to respectfully celebrate the work of a truly unique design talent, who created endless possibilities for collaboration through his unbridled imagination and inspired all that knew his work.’