Sergio Hudson’s latest design endeavor is tied to the highway, not a runway.
To help Volvo Cars celebrate its 70th anniversary in the U.S., the carmaker has tapped the designer to create a few looks inspired by the interior of the Volvo EX90. Starting Monday, shoppers in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. can find two limited-edition items that are made with the same upholsteries that are found in the electric vehicle. The South Carolina native, who now lives in Los Angeles, also pulled a few pieces from his signature collection that complement the designs.
Reached Tuesday in Charleston, S.C., where Volvo Cars has “a huge factory,” Hudson, who grew up two hours away in Ridgeway, S.C., knows the the city well, thanks to holiday and summer visits to see relatives. Regarding the collaboration, he said, “Really, we wanted to show how fashion and automotive could meet. The coat is made out of [the same responsibly sourced natural wool] fabric that is used in the car. The belt is made from Nordico, a recycled material that Volvo makes that has a leather feel. The car was already designed. I just did the coat.”
The $1,895 Tailored Wool Blend Car Coat that uses Volvo’s responsibly sourced wool is meant to be a modern take on the classic car coat. In the age of open-air driving in the early 1900s, car coats were worn for practicality to weather the elements. The designer has also made the $225 Nordico in Dawn Belt, which uses a surface material that consists of bio-attributed PVC with a platinum-inspired buckle with an embossed co-branded logo.
“Design is design. That’s why so many designers make a foray into interior design. A lot of us wind up doing other types of projects that are not just fashion,” Hudson said.
Through the years, fashion designers have collaborated with car companies in different ways. Starting in 1976, Lincoln recruited Bill Blass, Emilio Pucci and Hubert de Givenchy to choose the color schemes for what became the Mark IV Designer Series. During that same decade, American Motors teamed up with Pierre Cardin and Oleg Cassini. More recently, there have been collaborations between Armani and Fiat; Kith and BMW; Hermès and Bugatti, and Filson and Bronco.
Seeing the Volvo project come to fruition after discussing it for so long was the highlight for Hudson, he said. “This is not gimmicky. Volvo invented the three-prong seatbelt. When we did the belt, we wanted to do something that addressed that and that also looked like a real fashion piece. I’m excited about it.”
Sergio Hudson
Photo Courtesy Volvo Cars
Just as his signature collection is inspired by people and women, so too were the Volvo-centric creations. “In my mind, I was designing for the women that would buy the car. It’s a woman, who wants to be different. Our first family car was a Volvo. My customer is like my mother. She wants the car that not everybody will have,” Hudson said. “She wants something that will be safe for her family and that will make her stand out. That’s who the Volvo woman is and that’s who the Sergio Hudson woman is. I was designing for my customer any way.”
To that end, Hudson culled a three-look capsule collection that pairs the collaborative items with existing garments from his signature line — high-waisted boot-cut denim trousers, a houndstooth vest and signature pants, and a long-sleeved minidress embroidered with paillettes. The creative is adept at multitasking. Earlier this year, he suited up 18 guests including himself for the Met Gala and then he ran into five or six others, who were wearing his designs that they had purchased. “It was intense. But we got it done, thankfully, due to our wonderful people,” he said.
Plans are already underway for his label’s 10-year anniversary collection. “Hopefully, we’ll be doing something really big to celebrate that in January,” Hudson said.
As for the passage of time, “I said earlier today that it feels like it has been one year and 50 years all at the same time,” he said. “Just being able to have a collection after 10 years is a feat of amazement especially with all of the changes in the economy — how things go up and down — the coronavirus and the pandemic. To come out of that and still be surviving is something to be celebrated.”
Although Hudson does not own a car at the moment, he is looking into getting one and an “EX90” might be in his future, he said.
