Cadillac CMF chief: "I fell in love with the idea of being a fashion designer for a car"

Cadillac turned up to the Paris Motor Show with a beefed-up, outdoorsy Optiq Arctiq. Also present was CMF manager Laetitia Lopez who took time out to explain to CDN the American brand’s new approach to materials.

Car Design News: Tell us about some of the sustainable materials in the Optiq.

Letitia Lopez: We focus on conscious and responsible materials. All our fabrics in our Cadillacs are 100 percent recycled yarns. It’s the same with our floor carpet and cabin carpet. In the past, we used to have colours on seats and armrests but we are trying to have a new approach, as fashion designers do.

So here, instead of having the colours on stitching or piping or things like this [points to seats], we bring the colour accents to surprising areas. Storage has been one of them, the door pockets, for example, where we have a material called Tide [a soft-touch, non-woven fabric made from repurposed materials].

And then my favourite elements are all the knurlings, the patterns. All are created by the CMF team because we want to ensure harmony between the many patterns and details. If we look closely at the external headlamps, for example, you will find similar lines. So the goal is not to create one pattern that we will use everywhere, it’s more to create a family of textures and patterns.

Just to finish on sustainable material: you have actually the same material used for wrapped parts or decoration, with a play on matte and gloss finishes; instead of having carbon fibre, we wanted to give a new appearance. We are also offering a newspaper-based wood for this vehicle, which is made of recycled newspaper mixed with wood. It is a more modern approach to standard wood veneers.

CDN: So this is a new material idea that came from your team?

LL: Yes, we proposed it. We were trying to think of ways to reduce waste. It uses traditional manufacturing for wood veneers combined with recycled newspapers.

CDN: We hear that CMF has a stronger voice with the design process than in days gone by, is this true for Cadillac?

LL: I completely agree – both with Cadillac and also across GM as a whole. Our CMF team has our own studio now. Before, the exterior or interior designers were leading the way but now I think we are coming with a very strong opinion and point of view to revise those traditional codes.

The beauty in this is that once it’s convincing, we have this beautiful transition where they are actually sketching based on our ideas. Everything starts to blend. In my view, it’s pretty powerful and I think we can see this in our products.

CDN: How big is the team?

LL: I have a team of eight designers.

CDN: So in terms of inspiration, where are you getting ideas from?

LL: I did my studies in the fashion industry. I did all my internships in the fashion industry, but then I fell in love with this idea of being a fashion designer for a vehicle.

CDN: Why do you look to fashion?

LL: I strongly believe this is where everything starts. It doesn’t mean we look only at fashion. We really look at everything, because we are focusing everything we do on our customers, making sure we fit with their needs, and, of course, with our brand and heritage. From there we do our own mix and we decide what our goals are – what we want to move forward with.

CDN: And what about things like furniture design. Do you visit the Salone in Milan, for example?

LL: We are sending our team members there. We send them to New York, it depends what is going on. The powerful element with General Motors is that we have studios across the globe, including China and Korea. We work very closely with them, sharing information, sharing trends. I have weekly meetings with them to make sure our products are aligned with the market over there, so that we don’t need to tweak anything.

CDN: What are the key differences you’re noticing in terms of what, say, a Chinese customer might like versus an American?

LL: There are differences in their approach to luxury, I would say. But when it comes to us designing, we really have a global approach. We get all the data and feedback we get from our customers globally, and we get inspiration from them.

Equally, we don’t want to have a Lyriq for North America, a Lyriq for China or for Europe and so on. We are a global brand, and we want to have this standard across the world. I think we are really close.

CDN: Is this global outlook reflected in the make-up of your team?

LL: Oh, yeah. I have people from Korea, Iran, Australia. We all have a different mindset, we see things differently, and I think that’s the beauty of our products. I think Cadillac is about emotion. And if we can all bring something emotional to our vehicles, they can only be successful.