Smart Fashion! Inevitable pun I suppose, but it’s both intelligent, and Smart - like the car. On unexpected design surprises, the last thing i expected when literally popping into Japan for an afternoon to visit Mercedes-Benz’s Tokyo studio, was to be drawn to the FASHION. The functional details worked into these two outfits are too fun not to focus on ~ and they are in fact, accessories to further flesh out the lifestyle they imagine along with the Smart escooter and concepts. Noteworthy details? The woman’s leather jacket has a button on back protector while riding… and when unbuttoned it also doubles as a clutch! Protective AND hands free? The designs on the dress are all made of reflective ribbon ~ perfect to keep you safer en route, yet also playful in a club. The skirt can be shorted with a quick tug to create cute rippled accents and bring it to a perfectly short length ~ but if that length may show a little too much when you hop on the scooter ~ easily lengthen it while riding! The men’s jacket has nice cuff details to protect your knuckles, yet is still sleek and doesn’t scream riding gear.

Random fun fact for design kids ~ the Mercedes Benz design team embraces “Cross Over Designers” (i.e. non-traditional automotive designers) and allows their designers to really focus on their strengths… There are 8-10 designers that focus on light design! They brought on an ex-Adidas shoe designer to focus on fun details because they loved his sketching style. One of their material & trim folks is a fashion designer… so maybe its no wonder that these “cross over designers” can add fresh perspectives and more well rounded concepts like these! There’s a certain thoughtfulness and completeness to the concept being taken so far as to include lifestyle accessories that strike a functionally chic balance in the Smart’s scooter fashion… take a peek at the details on the next page!

Tags: concepts - fashion - luxury - Mercedes-Benz