LONDON: The Rolls-Royce Cullinan Cosmos is a one-of-one commission that celebrates the drama of outer space.
It was commissioned by a family who shares a fascination for the universe with their four-year-old son.
This theme was brought to life through a constellation of bespoke details.
At its centre is a Rolls-Royce first – a hand-painted Starlight Headliner painstakingly developed by one of the marque’s in-house artists over 160 hours.
The Cullinan Cosmos is finished in shimmering Arabescato Pearl, recalling the soft lustre of moonlight across a midnight sky.
The exterior is completed with a hand-painted twin coachline in Charles Blue and an Illuminated Spirit of Ecstasy that glows like a distant star by night.
The reclining seats are finished in Charles Blue and Grace White leather with matching Grace White contrast stitching and piping.
Piano White veneers add a crisp, technical edge that subtly echoes the high-gloss surfaces of satellite casings.
The commissioning clients worked with Rolls-Royce designers to create a unique Star Cluster motif, which appears as bespoke embroidery on the door panels and headrests, and as a hand-painted artwork on the front passenger fascia.
The Cullinan Cosmos features the first fully hand-painted Starlight Headliner ever created for a Rolls-Royce motor car.
Developed over 160 hours and painted entirely freehand by one of the marque’s in-house artists, it depicts an ethereal interpretation of the Milky Way – the hazy band of stars and cosmic mist visible in the night sky – colour-graded to complement the bespoke interior palette.
To create the luminous cloud formations, the artist used more than 20 successive applications of acrylic paint, building depth and dimension with a variety of brushes.
To achieve the mist effect, the artist turned to an unexpected tool – a makeup brush – to allow the lightest layer of pigments to dry delicately on contact.
The shimmering field of painted ‘stars’ was formed using a combination of fine, pointed brushes and a speckling technique, giving the final composition an organic, celestial quality.
Only once the painting on the Starlight Headliner was completed and sealed were the fibre-optic perforations individually punched and positioned by hand to complement the contours of the artwork.
“We wanted to create something our family would remember forever: a Rolls-Royce that captures the essence of the cosmos and shows that no dream is out of reach,” said the commissioning client.
"For the Bespoke Collective, this project also explored new frontiers, with our first-ever hand-painted Starlight Headliner. Bold in its conception and spectacular in its realisation, this commission demonstrates how Rolls-Royce brings clients’ otherworldly visions to life with drama, depth, and absolute precision,” said Rolls-Royce Motor Cars head of bespoke Phil Fabre de la Grange.
