mercedes-benz previews CLA coupe at festival d’hyères in custom camouflaged erlkönig skin

Mercedes-benz brings CLA class coupe to Festival d’Hyères

Mercedes-Benz presents a preview of the CLA Class coupe during the 39th Festival d’Hyères in France ahead of its commercial release in 2025. For the event, the car manufacturer brings in the real-life model in lush red. The glossy finish of its surface glistens, and its front headlights glimmer through the 274 star-shaped lights. They blink day and night at a rhythmic pace, informing passersby that there’s a CLA Class coming. During the preview that designboom attended, Mayya Markova, a Mercedes-Benz exterior designer, says that for the first time, the CLA Class has a negative grille for the model, which means that the front opening is inverted or indented, unlike traditional designs.

She adds that it’s uncommon for the car manufacturer to produce something ‘negative’ for the surfaces, but with the CLA Class, they’ve taken a risk that pays off as it makes the vehicle appear piercing. The Mercedes-Benz coupe is also electric-first, not electric-only, and the exterior designer shares that drivers have the option to switch the engine when needed. A glass roof tops the ceiling of the car, illuminated from the side so it glows at night, and the cabin resembles a living room with the fuzzy material used in the flooring. A super slim screen in the cabin includes vents for airflow, and the design team places speakers in the door panels too for surround sound.

all images by Thibaut Grevet, courtesy of Mercedes-Benz, unless stated otherwise

camouflaged erlkönig look for the CLA class coupe

Inside the CLA Class coupe, the Mercedes-Benz team weaves bamboo fiber into floor mats and adds artificial and vegan silk-like fabric for the door pockets. The seats are upholstered in tanned leather made of coffee beans, and the designers recycle discarded paper into components to produce the wooden parts found within the car’s design. Outside, Mercedes-Benz marks the coupe with its iconic star emblem, both at the front and back. During the festival talk designboom frequented, the design team says that they want the star to signal the brand and have it (twice) as a natural design feature in its next models.

Eyes off the CLA Class coupe, the 39th Festival d’Hyères also sets the stage for the 4th edition of the Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Mentorship. It’s their initiative to help the next generation of fashion designers be more informed on how they can repurpose materials and put sustainability into play as tangible fashion designs. It’s here that the car manufacturer presents a glimpse at the custom camouflaged Erlkönig look of the CLA Class coupe through a campaign video of the mentorship program. The manufacturer says that the term Erlkönig was introduced by a German automotive magazine for the Mercedes-Benz 180 in 1950, and the upcoming CLA picks up where it left off.

rear view of the Mercedes-Benz CLA Class coupe which is set for a 2025 release

Mercedes-Benz moves forward with Sustainability Mentorship

The camouflaged Erlkönig look has a swirling pattern in charcoal black and silver gray, repeating all over the vehicle like an animal print. In the campaign video, viewers can also see the graffiti-like HYERES lettering in red on the sides and the tire rims of the custom look as it signals the Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Mentorship program. In early 2024, fashion leaders Orsola de Castro and Tamsin Blanchard of Estethica hosted digital group sessions and one-on-one mentoring for ten young fashion designers and participants on how they can build their own brands.

At Villa Noailles, their collections are presented at The Shortlisted Showroom, a long-time sponsor of Mercedes-Benz. It was Logan Monroe Goff who was selected from among the mentorship’s ten finalists to receive the Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Prize, following the decision of the Festival d’Hyères Fashion Jury, led by Nicolas Di Felice, the Artistic Director of Courrèges. All ten finalist collections are featured in the brand campaign with the new CLA as well as the custom, camouflaged Erlkönig model. As of publishing the story, Mercedes-Benz is set to release the CLA Class coupe starting in 2025.

at the 39th Festival d’Hyères, Mercedes-Benz shows the camouflaged Erlkönig look in a campaign video