Land Rover creates bespoke Defender for Paul Smith

British designer, Sir Paul Smith, has collaborated with Land Rover to create a bespoke Defender, which was revealed today at the designer's shop at No. 9 Albemarle Street in Mayfair.

A longstanding fan of the Land Rover Defender, Sir. Paul Smith has owned several of the vehicles over the years. "The Defender is a British icon, which is something I'm exceptionally proud of," says Paul. 

Paul Smith worked closely with Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) design team - which is able to fulfil individual customer commissions and personalisation. 

The vehicle features 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, he says, "I wanted deep rich colours, but at the same time, I wanted them to work together yet be surprising." 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. "This is a complete one-off; I wanted to give this Defender a feeling of luxury, so I used a mix of leather and fabric for the seats. I actually used the fabric that I design for Maharam, the American upholstery company." The vehicle features lots of special Paul Smith touches.

"Inside, black leather contrasts against blue stitching and there are lots of little hidden details throughout. For example, there is an image of a set of keys printed inside the glove compartment. Then there is a hand-painted bee on the roof, which is another little tongue-in-cheek reference to the countryside and the heritage of the car. My designs are known for their attention to detail, so I didn't want this Defender to be any different."

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.