The first DS x Artistic Profession competition rewarded designer Anne Lopez by giving her “carte blanche” (free hand) to reimagine the interior of a DS 9, automatically unique! A work to discover next June.
DS x Artistic Professions: The work DS 9 by Anne Lopez
Initiated by DS Automobiles in 2022, DS x Artistic Professions is a competition open to craftspeople based in France. It is the first part of an event that promises to be iconic. The designer, Anna Lopez, as the first winner, was invited to reimagine the interior of the DS 9.
The DS is a story of aesthetic revolution… While its slender muzzle and fine chrome grille have, since the 1950s, laid the groundwork for a new vision of the automobile—the Citroën DS, also known as the most beautiful car in the world, opens an even more precious page in its history, today!
If in October 1955, the 42nd Motor Show opened at the Grand Palais, featuring a DS car presented as a jewel of technology for the time, but above all, a look, an extraordinary silhouette… It is in the heart of the Grand Palais éphémère that the presentation of this new DS 9 X Artistic Professions will take place in June 2022.
It was Anne Lopez’s vision that was chosen by a jury composed of members of DS automobiles and personalities of art, fashion, and design (Pascal Morand, Executive President of the Federation of Haute Couture and Fashion, Lison de Caunes, Master of Art in straw marquetry, Hubert Barrère , Artistic Director of the Maison Lesage and corsetier, Anna Le Corno, cabinetmaker and designer of the Atelier Farouche Paris, Béatrice Foucher, CEO of DS Automobiles, Thierry Metroz, Director of Design DS Automobiles and Jean-Philippe Vanhulle, Head of the DS Automobiles saddlery studio.)
All were won over by her bold and elegant vision.
Thierry Metroz, Director of Design at DS Automobiles, specify this vision: Since the creation of DS Automobiles, we have established numerous collaborations with associations, artists, and artisans with extraordinary talent. DS x Artistic Professions is part of this constant quest for innovation. It was an opportunity to discover great minds. Anne Lopez has created an extremely powerful design with a lot of sophistication and elegance. I loved the way she put movement into her work and captured the light. There is a character who fits perfectly into the spirit of the interior of DS 9 and has a really amazing impact when you see the cockpit of DS X Artistic Professions.
In order to create this couture trim, Anne Lopez drew on the idea of movement and in particular the caresses of the wind on nature. She says: I found it surprising and very innovative that a luxury car brand like DS Automobiles uses professional artists to work on the interior of a car.
I was inspired as I work in movement and wind, and it seemed logical to me to transmit this dynamic. From the first stage, I fell for the shape of the product I was working with, I imagined it as a wing. My goal was to communicate the shape with the material I was going to apply. I envisioned a kind of feathered creature that was a hybrid between a bird and a reptile, between a feather and a scale.”
The result? A DS 9 X Artistic Profession with a stucco interior finish. The coating engraved by the artist catches the light to better give the reverberation effect of the movement… The gilding and eggplant color give even more charisma to this definitely already iconic car! To discover from 9 to 12 June, at the Grand Palais Ephémère.