CADILLAC HOUSE TO HELP DESIGNERS BRING THEIR VISIONS TO LIFE IN ITS THIRD SEASON AS OFFICIAL NYFM: MEN’S VENUE FOR S/S 2018

  • CADILLAC AWARDS GRANTS TO DESIGNERS Exhibiting AT CADILLAC HOUSE
  • NYFW: MEN’S OFFICIALLY KICKS off with the Todd Snyder SHOW and after-party AT Cadillac House

NEW YORK — Cadillac will celebrate its fifth season as a sponsor of New York Fashion Week: Men’s (NYFW: Men’s), continuing its partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). Additionally, Cadillac House (P4), which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, will serve as an official runway venue for the third season.

To further demonstrate its commitment to menswear for Spring/Summer 2018, Cadillac awarded grants to the seven designers showing at Cadillac House: Todd Snyder, Robert Geller, DYNE, Kenneth Ning, Matiere, Luar and Rochambeau. The designers submitted proposals demonstrating how they would creatively reimagine Cadillac House, an adaptive space that naturally provides a blank canvas to develop immersive concepts. The seven designers selected represent the diverse mix of talent displayed at NYFW: Men’s each season, from icons who have showed since its inception to newcomers showing for the very first time. This funding will enable the designers to push boundaries and produce an experience beyond the traditional runway show.

“It was important to us that our commitment to NYFW: Men’s continued to evolve this season, so we provided grants to help both established and emerging designers realize their most dynamic and compelling shows possible,” said Nathan Tan, associate director of Brand Partnerships and Experiences for Cadillac. “To cut through the clutter today, designers need to think outside the box, but too often their vision can be limited by the venue. Cadillac House was developed as a place to foster new ideas, offering the designers the opportunity to transform the space as they wish.”

“New York Fashion Week: Men’s continues to provide a world-class platform to showcase the creativity of the American menswear industry,” said Mark Beckham, vice president of Marketing for the CFDA. “Cadillac’s continued commitment to the CFDA provides designers with the opportunity to present their collections to a global audience in a unique and impactful manner.”

Cadillac House will be a busy destination this NYFW: Men’s season. The venue will kick of the week on July 10 by hosting the Todd Snyder runway show and after-party, featuring a performance by Lewis Del Mar, and the space will wrap up the week with a closing party on July 13 hosted by Rochambeau.

“We are very excited and honored to be selected to present at Cadillac House this season.  It’s such a great space; it has all the technology you could hope for,” says Todd Snyder. “The grant from Cadillac gave us the ability to put a spin on our presentation.  I am really excited to have Lewis Del Mar playing live music during our show and we’ve created a video that will play pre-show on Cadillac House’s unique displays.”

Each day, Cadillac House will transform with new scenes from each designer. Its open veranda features the 1953 Cadillac Le Mans prototype vehicle and its oversized windows give those who pass by on Hudson Street a glimpse of all the action.

  • July 10 | 7 p.m. Todd Snyder + After-party
  • July 11 | 12 p.m. Robert Geller | 4 p.m. DYNE
  • July 12 | 12 p.m. Kenneth Ning | 4 p.m. Matiere
  • July 13 | 12 p.m. Luar | 8 p.m. Rochambeau + After-party

From the designers:

Robert Geller: “I am really looking forward to showing at Cadillac House. It is a beautiful location in the heart of Manhattan and their grant really helped us to put on an inspired show.”

Christopher Bevans, DYNE: “Being a fan of Cadillac since I was kid, I loved their attention to detail and how iconic the silhouettes are. It’s exciting to be a part of a brand like Cadillac and showing in their beautiful space; everyone on the team has been so helpful in executing my ideas. It gives me an amazing platform to showcase the Spring 18 collection and the grant allowed me to create a video piece that is as dynamic as the collection.”

Kenneth Ning: “Cadillac’s generous grant allowed me to go digital with our atmospheric ambience. The video installation we were able to produce, will give our guests an immersive experience starting from the street leading into the venue.”

Scot Shandalove, Creative Director of Matiere: “The timing couldn’t be better for Matiere to be showing with Cadillac this season as we feel the technology and energy that Cadillac House provides reflects the core ethos of our brand. The grant Cadillac awarded to Matiere provided us an opportunity to elevate our show experience by including a collaboration with the Alonzo King LINES Ballet from San Francisco for our SS18 ‘Reflections’ presentation.”

Raúl López, Luar: “Cadillac House provides the perfect opportunity to infuse technology and open space into the context of my show – something I am always looking to do but not always able to achieve. The subtle yet powerful use of 72 monitor screens to create an ambiance is a techie’s dream, especially for someone like me who is constantly looking to the future for answers.”

Rochmabeau: “Cadillac is a dream partner for Rochambeau for this NYFW:Men’s. Ever since Cadillac House opened in our neighborhood, we have wanted to do something amazing there; turning the entire space into a Yung Jake art installation is the perfect opportunity.”

ABOUT CADILLAC

Cadillac has been a leading luxury auto brand since 1902. Today Cadillac is growing globally, driven by an expanding product portfolio featuring distinctive design and technology. More information on Cadillac appears at www.cadillac.com. Cadillac’s media website with information, images and video can be found at media.cadillac.com.

ABOUT CFDA

The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc, (CFDA) was founded in 1962 and aims to strengthen the impact of American Fashion in the global economy. In addition to hosting the CFDA Fashion Awards, the organization owns the Fashion Calendar and stages the bi-annual New York Fashion Week: Men’s. Other initiatives include the CFDA {Fashion Incubator} and the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund as well as several Scholarship and charitable programs. For more information, please visit www.CFDA.comfacebook.com/cfdatwitter.com/cfda,cfda.tumblr.com, and youtube.com/cfdatv.

Inside the Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept with Christine Park

The Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept is the next expression of Cadillac’s Art and Science Philosophy demonstrated in a premium luxury sedan.  In the XTS Platinum Concept Reveal Cadillac said this about the XTS Concept:

It’s about artfully exceeding the Customer’s daily needs, while updating the genre for a modern sensibility.  Understanding those needs led us to design the XTS from the inside out.   What we are suggesting is a personal headquarters.   An exquisitely crafted, spacious environment that provides gracious comfort and amenities for all passengers. Generous head, hip, and leg room are provided in both the front and rear compartments, so there is no need to apologize for your guests in the back seat.  They even get their own self-rising infotainment screens, and their own connectivity options.

2010 Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept.

In the following email interview Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept Interior Designer Christine Park was kind enough to respond to our questions about the XTS Platinum Concept.  Many of her responses focused on the Concept nature of the XTS Platinum Concept.   The Concept has been well received at the Auto Shows around the country so far, and in the Automotive Press.   As good as it looks, hopefully the Cadillac XTS is on its way to production quickly with substantially the current interior design.

Christine Park of General Motors Design

The XTS Platinum Concept has received some rave reviews for its design so far.  Do you foresee the concept design being fully carried over to the production version, or will there be some changes?

“Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept is a concept vehicle, a design study moving Art and Science philosophy ahead, driven by style and technology.  It suggests a new way to approach an elegant car of this scale.”

Outside of broad terms like modern and elegance, was there anything you felt the XTS required to be part of the Cadillac brand?  Was there anything you felt required to include in the XTS design that is shared by other Cadillac models?

“Everything we do in Cadillac Design is intended to push the brand forward – both ideas for the future and production content. XTS shows the evolution of Art & Science-combination of ultimate artistic expression and highest level of technology, which is the theme driving all aspects of Cadillac.

Art and Science philosophy is taken to the next level in the Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept. We pushed the artistic side to the fullest, resulting in a beautifully sculpted exterior body surface and elegantly crafted interior environment. And science allowed us to create unique details and features; laser etching and programmable perforations in the interior, unique display screen technology, vertical lighting in the exterior, etc. Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept is a study showcasing the evolution of Cadillac’s Art and Science philosophy.”

Will the XTS use the 4th generation Haldex AWD system as standard equipment or as an available option?

“What we have is a concept – it’s not a production car. So we’re still working on these kinds of things.  We call this system advanced AWD, it debuted for Cadillac on the 2010 SRX Crossover. We do think that AWD will continue to be important for luxury consumers.”

Are other engine options besides the hybrid 3.6L planned?

“Again, Cadillac XTS Platinum is a design study suggesting our thinking, rather than a production car introduction.  We are interested in the plug-in hybrid in general. In the concept it showcases how we believe that luxury cars of this type of size and scale will depart from tradition. Traditionally, you would see larger engines often on a car in this range. All over this concept we have technological elements that suggest a bit of a new formula going forward.  Normally Cadillac does offer engine choices in production – so one could expect that to be the case in the future, especially.”

Will there eventually be an XTS-V series?

‘Probably not. What Bryan Nesbitt talked about when we introduced the XTS in Detroit was that we have two important pillars for Cadillac – V-Series on the high-performance end, and Platinum showcasing the full extent of luxury. We’ll apply either of these according to the natural consumer desire in a particular segment.  CTS is a sport sedan, so the V-Series is a natural.  Escalade is mainly about luxury, so Platinum is a natural.  A car the size/scale of the XTS is about luxury and technology inside the car – that’s why it’s a Platinum.  This concept  was somewhat of an inside-out car – it’s about the space, luxury and tech that the occupants experience. We wanted to explore that in a new way – that’s what this car is about.”

2010 Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept.

Which cars do you believe will compete most with the XTS?

‘While XTS is a concept right now, we obviously look at the top tier luxury sedans – Lexus, Mercedes, Audi, etc.”

The CTS team had a blog that shared their insights during ongoing development. Will there be anything like that for the XTS?

“Maybe. We do try and share some of the behind-the-scenes elements.”

What was your biggest challenge, professionally or personally, in designing the XTS?

“Overall, the biggest challenge in designing any vehicle is predicting the market and how the car will be received. As designers we are trained to be Visionaries and understand our customer’s needs and desires. Most of the times it is a hit, but sometimes it can be a miss. Clearly, with the enormous amount of positive feedback the car has received, Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept is a success. It is very rewarding to be part of Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept design.”

What’s around the bend for you as a designer? Are you presently working on other concept vehicles for Cadillac?

“All I can disclose is that I am working on Cadillac vehicles and I am extremely excited to be part of the brand. There is a great, unstoppable momentum in Cadillac Design – stay tuned for more amazing products.”

Thank you to Writer Jane Devin for suggesting and collaborating on this post.  Jane has been writing about cultural & social issues for several years. She presently blogs at Finding My America, where she chronicles her experiences as a Writer on the road, as well as on The Huffington Post.  She can be reached by email at jane@janedevin.com. You can also find her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.