Interview: Maria Mulder, head of colour and trim at Bentley

Maria Mulder has been head of colour and trim at Bentley since May 2015. Car Design News caught up with the designer to talk about working on limited editions with Mulliner, luxury and sustainability and creating a sense of driver well-being.

Car Design News: What does your day-to-day look like?

Maria Mulder: My role covers such an expanse, I think it is one of the most creative roles you can have in colour and materials. I don’t just look after the mainstream Bentley cars, I also work on limited editions, with Mulliner on the personal commissioning guide, on Coachbuilt models and also our visionary concept cars. So I often work with new material innovations. Mulliner and Coachbuilt probably require the most innovative exploration of materiality, and these are sometimes translated into our mainstream models of the future. The level of creativity that this encourages is astonishing.

CDN: How do you deem a new material worthy of exploration?

MM: We will not use a material just for the sake of it. There has to be a purpose and a clear intention. It needs to be beautiful, sustainable and functional, but it also needs to be better than what came before. It is a difficult task because we already use materials of the highest quality, but if it is the next best thing, it must come through.

CDN: What does material sustainability mean for Bentley?

MM: Sustainability is something that we have been involved in for a long time. We don’t shout about it too much because it has become ingrained in everything we do, and our customers automatically expect it from us. But our trajectory is constant improvement. There have been a whole host of new sustainable material innovators that are looking to do something different. We have examined the noteworthy mushroom leathers, pineapple fibres, coffee fibres – just to list a few examples. We are incredibly encouraged by some of the progress being made. We see ourselves as caretakers for the future, and we are on a journey to protect the planet.

CDN: How does sustainability tie-in with the luxuriousness that is affiliated with Bentley?

MM: Everything is connected. Take our EXP 100 GT concept for example. It features this copper-infused riverwood, locally-sourced. The trees were naturally-felled and preserved for 5,000 years in lakes, rivers and peat bogs. It’s so beautiful and has an amazing story, but it won’t filter down into our mainstream models because it is rare. But that keeps it unique, precious and collectible.

We also ^collaborated with a new innovator who used the by-product of winemaking to create a leather-like seating material that is 100% bio-based. We worked closely with local manufacturers who used with British Farmed Wool to weave carpets on a loom that was 110 years old. We worked with the textile manufacturer Gainsborough and an embroidery company called Hand & Lock, creating these unique panels with exquisite trapunto quilting. And then we had a digital expert bring it to life with lighting behind the panels. When you turn the car on, there is this theatrical moment when it comes to life. It’s not just one collaboration with one supplier - it’s bringing them all together and creating a hub of craftsmanship. The car came together so well because everybody was communicating.

CDN: How important is open communication?

MM: It is vital. I see interior and exterior designers, UX/UI designers as craftspeople. We are quite a small team and are constantly communicating. There is never a time when one person designs a surface and I come along and put a piece of leather on it. When the designers are creating surfaces, we are there with the materials and figuring it out together, we never work in isolation. We are having integrated conversations which means that when the parts are all put together in the car, you can tell that everything has been done with purpose. There is a cohesion and it all lines up.

CDN: What role will digital tools and surfaces play in Bentley vehicles in the future?

MM: In terms of digitalisation, we are looking at another wealth of innovators coming forward, making intelligent materials that offer potential for detoxing from the digital world. We love the idea of having something that is both analogue and digital. The material could be the analogue side of it, and the digital aspect appears when it is needed but disappears when it is not. It’s similar to the rotating display on the GT and Flying Spur – if the customer wants to just see veneer then they can, but if they need the technology it is there too. This is a concept and philosophy that we are working on moving forward.

CDN: Where do you stand on interiors that cultivate a relaxing environment versus cockpits that emphasise the driving experience?

MM: Different customers want different things from us. We have our Azure range, for example, that has wellbeing as the key focus. The colours and materials that we use are soft and muted, carefully chosen to create a relaxing environment. In contrast, we’ve got customers that love driving cars, so we have driver-focused colour splits inside the vehicles with some deep and dark moody tones. With the Bacalar, for example, we used black switch packs and touch areas with black anodised finishes. We can really create a character for the car, detuning some of the exuberant brightware but still giving so much attention to detail. So there is a duality to what we do, which makes it very challenging but also extremely engaging.