Embedded in DS DESIGN STUDIO PARIS, the Colours, Materials and Finishes (CMF) division embodies the perfect combination of design, luxury and expertise. Consisting of a team with varied creative backgrounds, the designers are continually seeking exactly the right lines, textures and shades.
This research is backed up by the remarkable expertise of the upholstery and paint workshops, the excellence of partner suppliers but also the creative craftspeople, who DS Automobiles has always worked with to make its concept cars stand out by developing proposed future materials with a high quality and exclusive finish.
Driven by this search for creativity and distinction, the DS Automobiles team launched a design competition for the best creative craftspeople in France, in partnership with the Studio Métiers Rares. The first competition appealed to professional artists’ innovative powers through a technical and aesthetic challenge, which enabled a deepening of the creative and innovative bond between DS Automobiles and these professionals, who are either established or emerging from art’s creative scene.
Launched in 2021, the first DS x MÉTIERS D’ART resulted in the design of an exclusive DS 9 interior trim by the winner Anne Lopez. A graduate in Fine Art from Paris and the École d’Art Mural Versailles, she draws inspiration especially from movement and the effect of the wind on nature.
From November 2022, the DS x MÉTIERS D’ART – DS LUMEN design competition will come to be divided into four stages. To start with, candidates have to register an account. An internal committee will appoint ten entrants who have to make samples with an allotted budget.
Chosen by a jury made up of the DS Automobiles team and leading figures in the fields of art and design, three finalists will then be invited to create a part for the grille on new DS 3 E-TENSE, still within a defined budget. The jury will decide the winner of the competition, who DS Automobiles will entrust to make a covering for the grille of new DS 3 E-TENSE, as well as a grant of 5,000 euros.
We are committed to finding and promoting talent among French artists. Motivated by the success of the first DS x MÉTIERS D’ART which gave rise to the creation of an exclusive interior for DS 9, we are eager to start this second one with the themes of light and transparency that are important to us.
The medium of expession will be the grille of new DS 3 E-TENSE. 100 per cent electric, this model can be rid of the traditional limitations of cooling to offer a new surface on which the artists can freely express all their creativity, savoir-faire and expertise.
Thierry Metroz, Design Director
The DS x MÉTIERS D’ART design competition is only for professionals located in France.
Participants can sign up on https://www.dsautomobiles.fr/fr/marque-ds/appel-a-creation-ds-x-metiers-d-art/appel-a-creation-2eme-dition.html from 29th November 2022 and send in their entry up to 6th January 2023.