British designer, Sir Paul Smith has collaborated with Land Rover to create a bespoke Defender. A longstanding fan of the Land Rover Defender, Sir Paul Smith has owned several of the vehicles over the years. Paul Smith worked closely with Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) design team – who is on hand to fulfil individual customer commissions and personalisation – to create a unique vehicle, built entirely to his own specification. With guidance from Land Rover’s Design Director and Chief Creative Officer, Gerry McGovern, he was able to realise his uniquely personal version of this global automotive icon.
There are 27 different colours used on the exterior panels, all of which were chosen by Sir Paul Smith. Taking inspiration from the British countryside, as well as colours historically seen on Defenders used by the Armed Forces. In order to achieve the look he wanted, Paul gave the SVO team a set of Pantone colour references, which were then mixed specially for this vehicle.
Further adding to the vehicle’s bespoke design, Paul worked with Land Rover to ensure that the interior stayed true to his vision.
While Paul has added many playful and personal touches, the Defender retains traditional elements, such as the wing mirrors, door handles and wheels – something that was of paramount importance to the designer. These were then given a satin finish, to create a contemporary feel.
This exclusive Defender joins together two icons from the British automotive and design industries respectively and forms part of a year-long celebration of the famous Defender as it enters its final phase of production at the Solihull plant.
Along with the special Paul Smith Defender, Land Rover has announced three limited edition Defenders for 2015: the Autobiography, Heritage and Adventure models. Each special vehicle commemorates a unique element of the Defender’s versatile character and reflects its strength and breadth of capability.
