The most detailed ever single embroidery to feature in a Rolls-Royce motor car has been designed and created at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex. A Peregrine Falcon, the fastest bird in the world, famed for its power and speed, has become the subject of scrutiny for the marque’s talented Bespoke Design team. An embroidery featuring the bird of prey is befittingly lavished on Wraith, Rolls-Royce’s powerful, dynamic Grand Tourer.
This intricate embroidery is the latest masterpiece from the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective. The bird of prey, designed by the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Design Team, is interpreted in photo-realistic complex detail amongst clouds on Wraith’s headlining. Consisting of nearly 250,000 stitches, the dramatic embroidery took a team of designers, craftspeople and engineers over one month to develop.
Josh Liles, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Bespoke Embroidery Specialist is highly skilled at interpreting clients’ wishes and translating them into embroidery. Before becoming an apprentice in the Rolls-Royce leathershop, Liles was trained in Mechanical Engineering and 3D Design and Architecture. After nine years with the marque, he now leads a team of talented craftspeople assuming responsibility for all of the marque’s embroidery.
“The design required hours of observation of a Peregrine Falcon – we needed to understand the musculature, the movement, the shading of the feathers. We wanted the bird to adopt an alert and predatory stance. We created multiple iterations of the embroidery – the direction, length and spacing of the stitch can have a great impact on the final image. We purposefully shaped the beak and angled the eye to create a sense of aggression.” Liles commented.
He continued, “The Falcon embroidery became a labour of love. Technically, it is exceptionally difficult to embroider this density of stitches onto leather. Embroidery puts stress and tension on leather causing a physical wave in the material, which naturally, is unacceptable in a Rolls-Royce.”
The sky resonates throughout this specially commissioned Wraith with signature elements expertly incorporated into key focal points of the motor car. Inspired by towering contemporary architecture that reaches into the clouds, a distilled artistic motif features throughout the car’s interior which can also be read as an abstract interpretation of a Falcon’s wing. The design is initially encountered on Wraith’s Bala Blue and Andalusian White exterior in the form of an Arctic White coachline, painted by hand using a fine squirrel hair paintbrush. Inside, the motif is used as an embellishment between the rear occupant’s seats. Additionally painted onto the motor car’s piano finish fascia, the motif brings the interior leather colour of Charles Blue to the forefront. A Bespoke Rolls-Royce clock completes the aesthetic in Baby Blue, with guilloché inspired detailing – most commonly found in fine jewellery and horology.