To commemorate 70 years of the Land Rover brand, the atrium seating at the Design Museum, London, has been re-upholstered with 18 original materials used in Land Rovers from 1948 to 2018 for the Material Innovation installation.
“Land Rover materials and fabrics are rigorously tested to meet the exacting standards of our customers. This installation reflects the history of our seating from cloth to leather and includes our latest technical materials from Kvadrat in the new Range Rover Velar.” – Gerry McGovern, Land Rover Chief Design Officer.
The sustainable textile developed by Kvadrat for the Range Rover Velar (2017) is a premium alternative to leather. Other examples on display include the original fabric from the first Land Rover (1948) and the cloth designed with Sir Paul Smith for his special edition Land Rover Defender (2015).
Deyan Sudjic, Director of the Design Museum, said: “The Land Rover is one of the great design success stories. This installation is a great opportunity for our visitors to see seven decades of new thinking about textiles in the context of vehicle design. And this is one part of the museum where we are definitely saying please touch.”
Visitors are invited to not just view, but to discover and experience the different qualities of these authentic fabrics; a change from the usual ‘don’t touch’ rule at museums.
