Rolls-Royce Motor Cars PressClub · Article.
ROLLS-ROYCE BLACK BADGE: THE ORIGIN STORY
21.10.2021 Press Release
The marque reveals an unexpected history of subversion within Rolls-Royce, including the creation of Rolls-Royce’s alter ego: Black Badge. In addition to the extraordinary origin story of the marque’s permanent Bespoke series of motor cars, the brand has elected to bring its learnings together with an animation, created in partnership with highly conceptual non-fungible token (NFT) creator, artist and illustrator Mason London.
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Georgina Cox
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
This article in other PressClubs
- Rolls-Royce reveals origin of Black Badge ahead of announcement on 28 October
- Black Badge channels the subversive spirits of founders C. S. Rolls and Sir Henry Royce
- Black Badge responds to the demands of a new class of disruptors and visionaries
- Design and engineering execution challenges established assumptions about the brand
- Black Badge motor cars now represent 27% of Rolls-Royce product commissions
“Rolls-Royce has always attracted a unique breed of outliers,
visionaries and iconoclasts. We are proud to provide these men and
women with a perfectly engineered canvas upon which they can express
a subversive and confident projection of their success.
“Black Badge represents a natural evolution for a brand that is
defined by a culture of collaboration with its clients. Black Badge
is not a sub-brand. It is an attitude that represents an authentic
and confident response to the desires of a new group of clients who
proudly practise bold self-expression.”
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce
Motor Cars
At 13:00 BST on 28 October 2021, Rolls-Royce Motor
Cars CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös will announce a new product in the
brand’s portfolio. Ahead of this statement, the marque reveals an
unexpected history of subversion within Rolls-Royce, including the
creation of Rolls-Royce’s alter ego: Black Badge.
In addition to the extraordinary origin story of the marque’s
permanent Bespoke series of motor cars – which now account for 27% of
Rolls-Royce commissions worldwide – the brand has elected to bring its
learnings together with an animation, created in partnership with
highly conceptual non-fungible token (NFT) creator, artist and
illustrator Mason London.
A SUBVERSIVE HERITAGE
Rebellion is not a new concept at Rolls-Royce. The very
foundations of the company represent a wilful challenge to what was
perceived to be possible – or even polite – as founders Sir Henry
Royce and C. S. Rolls both rejected the destiny of their births. Royce
ascended from humble beginnings to become an engineering giant of his
times, creating motor cars for and with the gentry. Rolls, an
aristocrat, wore white-tie spattered with oil to grand Cambridge
University occasions, earning him the moniker ‘Dirty Rolls’.
Today, ‘disruptor’ has become the popular label for those who
refuse to adhere to established conventions. This attribute has made
fortunes, slain great institutions and even challenged the very notion
of currency. Had the term existed in the early 20th century, Rolls and
Royce would have been among the era’s arch-disruptors. Through an
agonising pursuit of perfection, they proved that a car could credibly
replace the reliability and frugality of a horse and carriage.
Indeed, they were so successful that their motor cars instantly
became the preserve of those who ruled. Later, Rolls’ pursuits as an
aviation pioneer were driven by a heroic yet dark urge to further the
cause of his era’s second great mobility revolution – flight – until
he tragically lost his life performing at an air show. In so many
respects, Rolls created the firebrand archetype that Elon Musk, Mark
Zuckerberg, Richard Branson and Larry Ellison strive to emulate today.
It is no wonder that in every era since these two men met, the
outliers, visionaries and iconoclasts who define the modern world have
felt so comfortable in Rolls-Royce’s company. Though wildly different
in character, approach and legacy, individuals such as John Lennon,
Karl Lagerfeld, Sammy Davis Jr, Sophia Loren and today’s young
pioneers in technology, embedded intelligence, fintech and big data
are all bound by the rebel spirit of Rolls and Royce.
The case for Black Badge – the marque’s first permanent Bespoke
series of motor cars – as an authentic and contemporary response to
the current generation of this legacy, could not have been clearer.
THE BIRTH OF BLACK BADGE
Before considering Black Badge, it is vital to understand the
roots from which it grew, and the trajectory Rolls-Royce took
following the relaunch of the brand in 2003. The Goodwood era began
with Phantom in 2003: a pinnacle saloon motor car that artfully
recalled the grandeur and imperiousness of its forbears. Following
Phantom’s launch and subsequent success, the marque’s specialists
listened to a new tone of feedback. Clients requested a less formal
expression of brand, which summoned the introduction of Ghost in 2009,
the motor car that went on to become the best-selling Rolls-Royce in history.
Following the success of Ghost, Rolls-Royce consolidated the
revival of the marque by attuning itself to the very different desires
of an ascendant generation. These women and men demanded even more
dynamic motor cars. Wraith, a gran turismo that channelled the more
urgent nature of Rolls’ spirit was later followed by the all-terrain
Cullinan – itself a pure expression of the marque, reimagined not just
for a new client, but for a new purpose. Together, these cars, along
with the introduction of a seductive drop-head coupé, Dawn, redefined
Rolls-Royce’s ever-younger customer base, driving the company to
unprecedented commercial success and injecting vibrancy and a renewed
sense of purpose into one of the world’s most revered institutions.
BOLD AND BESPOKE
The clients who came to Rolls-Royce in this bold new era were
drawn from new industries and geographies. Their success was defined
on their own terms. It is only natural that they sought to project
their newfound liberty with the same contrarian spirit that had served
them so well during their ascent. Simply acquiring the very best was
no longer enough. The objects with which they surrounded themselves
needed to project their individual sensibilities, tastes and paths to greatness.
The execution of this new vision fell to Rolls-Royce’s Bespoke
Collective. Increasingly, these experts within the marque were being
asked to create cars that countered the expected codes of luxury. The
decorative mastery of traditional materials such as lacquered woods
gave way to more technical and contemporary expressions of
craftsmanship. Exhaustively engineered technical fibres,
aircraft-grade aluminium and starker colourways defined a confident
new interior aesthetic.
At Rolls-Royce there is no requirement for structured approaches
to market research. The brand understands its customers because the
very execution of its product is achieved in close personal
collaboration with them. Furthermore, its senior executives integrate
themselves into their clients’ lifestyles, knowing many personally and
often defining future projects not by internal codenames but the name
of the first client who requested it.
Bespoke had become as much a part of Rolls-Royce as the motor
cars on which it was overlaid. But it was through this global archive
of commissions that one clear pattern emerged: a desire to
respectfully subvert Rolls-Royce. Indeed, this realisation was
confirmed following a chance meeting between Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös and a client who had tasked an outside tuning
house with cloaking his Wraith in black chrome and darkened wheels.
This tallied with what Müller-Ötvös had experienced during
several meetings with individual clients who commissioned their own
“darker” Rolls-Royces and confirmed the requirement for a sanctioned
answer to this new movement. These clients did not believe Rolls-Royce
would agree to their wishes. They were misinformed. The brand’s
contemporary success is defined by a willingness to listen,
participate and define changing cultures and norms. Black Badge was born.
BLACK BADGE AND THE BROADER LUXURY INDUSTRY
As Rolls-Royce’s clients became younger, more dynamic and
diverse, so did the scope of inspiration. The marque’s specialists
recognised a movement in fashion and haute couture that was
channelling a similar spirit, one that celebrated the tension between
rebellion and design tradition. Inspiration was frequently drawn from
classic garment silhouettes but led to a fresh and contemporary mood
through dark yet innovative materials, often accented with a flash of
bold colour. Creators such as John Varvatos, Alexander McQueen, Rick
Owens, Yohji Yamamoto and Ann Demeulemeester championed a similar
aesthetic. Comme des Garçons’ protégé Kei Ninomiya was so
moved by the theme of darkness he created the Noir label in its honour.
However, this movement extended beyond the catwalks and onto the
streets of the world’s most exclusive enclaves. From Tokyo to Los
Angeles, architecture in monochrome dramatically increased in
popularity. In the first half of the 2010s, yakisugi, the
ancient Japanese technique of charring exterior wood, experienced a
considerable resurgence, while the Nashville-based O’More College of
Architecture & Design coated its 2017 show house in black.
The women and men popularising this movement also carry this
aesthetic with them as they travel, hence Rimowa’s iconic black
suitcase and Bottega Veneta’s black Cassette bag. Increasingly, they
travelled in black aircraft – several charter companies, such as
Blackbird Air, specialise in provisioning fleets of black private
jets. Even in cuisine, the colour now has an immovable status as a
rare luxury across the world – as glossy as caviar, as deep as squid
ink and as potent as truffle.
Materials at the very core of traditional, high-luxury products
were also being challenged. Three pioneering sailing yachts, Maltese
Falcon (88 metres), Black Pearl (106.7 metres) and Sailing Yacht A
(142.8 metres), combined the form of a heritage sailing craft with
execution in technical fibres. This challenged the established use of
woods for key structural components as well as fitted surfaces and
freestanding furniture.
The ultimate expression of future-facing style; stripped of
excessive decorative effects and pared back to its innate graphic
force, this aesthetic represents restraint, intellect, discipline and
a way of living in an increasingly complex world. It also captures the
spirit of Post Opulence in a turbulent post-pandemic world. In our
hyper-stimulated, kaleidoscopic era, enhanced by AI and VR, it has
come to represent a place of rest and precious privacy. From
black-screen mode to blackout eye masks or simply lying in the dark
under the stars, we universally appreciate the value of retreating
into our own personal void.
A TRULY CONTEMPORARY MOVEMENT
Similarly, at Rolls-Royce, colour palettes that deferred to
heritage were replaced with a darker aesthetic that communicated
presence without distracting from the motor car’s silhouette. While
black products have reflected a traditional code of luxury,
particularly in fashion, Rolls-Royce’s designers now work to subvert
it through the injection of bold colour. In the same way that Chanel’s
little black dress has evolved, Rolls-Royce’s clients have become
increasingly bold, integrating neon flashes with the noir mood of
Black Badge.
For the first time, a Bespoke response to changing customer
demand was expressed with equal weight by the engineering team as by
the design collective. These new individuals sought more immediacy and
dynamism. Rolls-Royce responded with uprated power, brakes, suspension
and by allowing into the interior suite a little more of the aural
character of the V12 powertrain.
This deeply authentic, holistic approach reflected the changing
environments in which a Rolls-Royce operates, from country estate to
night-time urban playground. Indeed, it is through Black Badge that
the marque came to define the pinnacle of this new way of living and
channel the spirit of its founders, disrupting itself to thrive in
times of unprecedented change.
The next chapter in Black Badge’s remarkable history will be
announced at 13:00 BST on 28 October 2021. Visit
www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com for more.
CO2 EMISSIONS & CONSUMPTION.
Wraith: NEDCcorr(combined) CO2 emission: 365-363g/km;
Fuel consumption: 17.7-17.8 mpg/16.0-15.9 l/100km. WLTP(combined) CO2
emission: 369-357g/km; Fuel consumption: 17.3-17.9mpg/16.3-15.8l/100km.
Dawn: NEDCcorr (combined): CO2 emission: 372-367
g/km; Fuel consumption: 17.3-17.5 mpg / 16.3-16.1 l/100km. WLTP
(combined): CO2 emission: 381-372 g/km; Fuel consumption: 16.7-17.1
mpg / 16.9-16.5 l/100km.
Cullinan: NEDCcorr (combined) CO2 emission: 341 g/km;
Fuel consumption: 18.8 mpg / 15.0 l/100km. WLTP (combined) CO2
emission: 377-355 g/km; Fuel consumption: 17.0-18.1 mpg / 16.6-15.6 l/100km.
Ghost: NEDCcorr (combined) CO2 emission: 343 g/km;
Fuel consumption: 18.8 mpg / 15.0 l/100km. WLTP (combined) CO2
emission: 347-359 g/km; Fuel consumption: 17.9-18.6 mpg / 15.2-15.8 l/100km.