In a new collection from Heron Preston, Mercedes-Benz airbags get the couture treatment.
Hundreds of Mercedes-Benz airbags feature in a new collection from designer Heron Preston, released ahead of Berlin Fashion Week.
The concept collection, which features three women’s and three men’s looks, is part of a giveaway in collaboration with streetwear reseller, GOAT that celebrates two milestones.
“The airbag concept collection is inspired by two anniversaries of the life-saving technical innovation: the airbag patent 50 years ago and the first serial introduction into our flagship model, the S-Class back in 1981,” Bettina Fetzer, Mercedes-Benz AG’s vice president of communications and marketing, said in a statement. “We are convinced that co-creation and collaborative projects create memorable and unique moments with our brand.”
“Mercedes-Benz and my brand share a common value of reducing our impact on the planet, and that was the starting point of the co-operation,” added Preston.
He says as someone who is fascinated with culture and someone who shapes it “the partnership felt both exciting and natural.”
The designer says he left the bags true to form without dying or adorning, save for an added Preston label. He told Vogue: “98% of what you see is authentic to the actual airbags. I preserved as much as I could; I didn’t want to change too much. I kept the integrity all there.” And, yes, the collection inflates.
Sustainable icons
Mercedes Benz and Preston are both champions of sustainability. The luxury car manufacturer recently announced its plans to shift to fully electric vehicles ahead of the launch of its first S-Class EV. For Preston, sustainability has always informed his minimalist designs. In 2018, he launched Re-Design, a program that works with reclaimed materials to make one-of-kind items.
“Upcycling and celebrating sustainability have been my earliest approaches to design, since launching my collection, and I loved lensing a celebration of the airbag’s anniversary in this way to create a beautiful collection from recovered materials alongside some of their most advanced fleet of fuel-efficient and electric vehicles,” Preston said.
The designer says the inspiration came during lockdown as he drove around New York in his Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon.
“I’ve been really studying human beings and looking at what people are wearing in the streets when I drive around every day,” he told Vogue. Preston estimates he used hundreds of airbags in the designs.
Throughout Berlin Fashion Week, Mercedes-Benz will showcase the collaboration through a series of photos and videos shot by Thibaut Grevet that also highlights the new electric vehicle. Then, the pieces will given away as part of a contest commencing on September 10 on the GOAT website.