TVR supercar gets 'Kylie' treatment

At the start of the four-day Supercar Run at the end of June, from Kensington Gardens to Monte Carlo, to raise funds for the Children with Aids Charity, Opus 9 unveiled their entry, a British racing green TVR Chimaera, featuring a printed leather interior. The designers of the vehicle's interior, Edward Griffiths and Jan Cicmanec are best known for their leather showpieces and were part of the team that created Kylie Minogue's 'Kyborg' outfit which she wore on the Fever World Tour. The design for the car is based on 'the display techniques of orchids and the go faster stripes and colours adorning the dragsters at Santa Pod.' At the heart of the concept is the use of a new patented process which prints full colour, high definition images onto leather and which, they say, is unlike any other leather printing process on the market. According to Isabelle Courtney-Guy, sales director of Opus 9 Limited, the printing method used is the equivalent of 'tattooing' leather without impacting on the traditional characteristics associated with leather. 'The leather can still be used in any range of applications, which provides numerous opportunities within other industries that use leather including footwear, furniture, accessories and, of course, fashion. A sample will be on display at the event, Ms Courtney-Guy added. The fashion sample was modelled by Opus 9's co-driver, 23 year-old Dannie Blaker who wore a printed leather outfit by Griffiths and Cicmanec to complement the vehicle's interior. The creation is called 'Hot Dragster Hot Pants'.