Mercedes-Benz has released a short documentary chronicling the wholly unique (and just as wholly innovative) creative process behind the Project Maybach collaboration, which saw the late Virgil Abloh working alongside Gorden Wagener.
What began as merely a sketch of a concept ultimately grew to include several celebrated facets, each of which fell under the guiding premise established by Abloh.
“The premise is to use two words to drive you to a new action,” Abloh explains in the newly released footage, as seen above. “So utility and luxury are usually not used in the same sentence and the car we’re developing can function as such.”
For Wagener, this artistic pairing allowed for two creatives with varying but ultimately complementary styles to unite behind a shared goal of pushing all possible boundaries.
“I think it’s always great when two people have a different creative approach and different creative background,” he says in the brief doc. “Virgil does a lot of stuff from fashion to art and so on so he has a different view. And I have a different angle too and it’s very interesting to combine these two.”
See the full behind-the-scenes experience, also featuring Mercedes-Benz AG’s VP of Marketing Bettina Fetzer and more, up top.
Closing out the video is a message touching on Abloh’s passing, with the Mercedes team saying they were “honored” to have worked with the “creative genius” during his time here on Earth.
“With care, consideration, and respect to his family and friends, we share this behind-the-scenes of the project Maybach,” the statement reads. “We are honored to have worked with a creative genius and to have been inspired by his ideas and his attitude.”
As previously reported, Drake’s video for his Honestly, Nevermind track “Sticky” prominently featured the Abloh and Wagener collaboration. The track itself, meanwhile, closes out with a sample of an Abloh lecture from 2017.
