Designer Car Covers

Six fashion designers unveil the season's collection of couture car covers, created exclusively for Intersection Magazine, a publication that mingles "man and machine, art and design, fashion and architecture, music and film, in the back seat of a parked car."

Here you can read each designer's fascinating inspirations and creative process to achieve the intriguing final results.

Maison Martin Margiela - Paris, France

"The making of the car cover follows the same concept with our clothes design with a made-to-measure process. First we wanted a fabric that was as close to the cotton we always use for our furniture covering and press material, that is a rough boiled cotton, but taking into account the technical constraints of the purpose of the cover (water and wind proof, resistance, etc). Then we printed in real size of the car in a very contrasted black & white to create a "trompe l'oeil" effect. The challenge was to cut up the picture according to the parts of the car cover so when we put together the parts reproduce the picture in 3-D."



Visvim - Tokyo, Japan

"We came up with a pattern for the cover based on the car's specifications. We picked up the materials; we wanted to use traditional American-style hand-quilting patterns, so we found materials that would work and welded them to Gore-Tex. Once the process was complete, we stitched our quilt pieces and sealed off all the seams underneath with custom Visvim/Gore seam tape. Many years ago we used "Folk + Engineering" as a theme for one of our collections, and that seems applicable to this project as well."




Richard James - London, UK

"It's almost like a caricature of a suit. We decided the coat would be representing a bespoke suit in the making - something that's never seen other than the customer and the tailor. To begin with we made a calico toile, then pinned, shaped and sculpted on the car to fit perfectly. Then we picked out some key elements for the car - the wing mirrors, the classic Alfa grille and window shapes and highlighted them with panels of canvassing and lining."

Adam Kimmel - New York City, USA

"I collected jumpsuits from various Italian mechanics for the car cover. In Italy they wear them with colors and patches, unlike the bland grays and navy colored ones you see often in New York City. I wanted to use these suits to create something of a quilt to cover the car. I even left the arms attached to make the result more of an object. I figured if we blew air underneath, the arms would flail and give some life. When all was done the colors clashed so poorly that I threw the whole thing in a vat of black dye, which brought back that New York feeling in the end. I can't leave my roots even if I try."

Ksubi - Sydney, Australia

"When we approach design our reaction is to insubordinate or subvert a product's normal function. We found the idea of a mammoth black box that hovered two inches off the road whilst humming and blinking a tiny red alight at you, exciting. We are amused by the absurd minimalist of the idea, and also by how obnoxious and powerful the simple form could be. I might add that it would also be a great as a deterrent for would be thieves."

Bles - Berlin, Germany

"We like the idea that one could bring his/hers car upstairs and use it indoors for a different function and sit and sleep on it. It was meant to be in leather, but as it was a somehow couture dress and needed a very complex patter to fit, it took so long for us to try this first. But you should imagine it in a beige natural leather that ages and tans with time"