Words: Jonathan Wells
Photography: Alberto Chimenti Dezani
It’s a match made in heaven: haute couture and high-end cars. Perhaps that’s why, for decades, designers have been collaborating with carmakers to mount their unique fashions on four wheels. In 2016, Hermès joined forces with Bugatti to create a custom Chiron. In 2011, Maserati debuted its opulent GranCabrio Fendi. And, back in 2006, Lamborghini released a Murciélago Versace Edition.
But these partnerships’ most purple patch rolled around in 1978, when Lincoln launched a special edition of its Continental MkV coupe, trimmed and tailored by French fashion house Givenchy. It was an impressive, undeniably chic motor, but suffered in comparison to one particular competitor. For 1978 also saw the Gucci x Cadillac Seville unveiled, a car from another American manufacturer – but one that easily cleared its countryman in the style stakes.
How did the Gucci x Cadillac Seville come to be?
Like many of the label’s more outlandish ideas, the Gucci x Cadillac Seville was conceived by the Italian fashion dynasty’s eldest heir, Aldo Gucci. Keen to reinforce the brand’s relationship with its American audience, Gucci had set his sights on the Seville (one of Cadillac’s more luxurious models, introduced two years previously, in 1976), and went about lobbying the carmaker for a collaboration. Aldo wanted to create, in his own words, “another stone in the necklace of [Gucci’s] international success”.
For Cadillac, the partnership made stylish, sophisticated sense. Together with Gucci, plans were drawn up and the job of constructing the special edition models was given to Miami firm International Automotive Design Inc.
Worldwide orders would be placed through local Floridian distributor Braman Cadillac and, in 1978, at Miami Beach’s Fontainebleau Resort, Aldo unveiled the car, with its price tag of $19,900 (over $7,000 more than the standard Seville model).
What did drivers get for their money?
For starters, a five-piece set of specially designed Gucci luggage, including a briefcase and suit carrier. But the car also bore many of the designer’s famous hallmarks. Most notably, perhaps, its beige vinyl roof cover was adorned with the famous Gucci ‘Double G’ honeycomb pattern, which stretched down over the car’s C-pillars. These pillars also featured a 3D rendering of Gucci’s late-1970s logo: a golden shield upon which stood a heraldic knight.
Inside the car, Gucci nameplates were fixed to both the steering wheel centre (in place of the Cadillac emblem) and the passenger glove compartment door.
At the centre of each wire-spoked wheel, there were caps bearing the brand’s famous interlocking G symbol. This enduring logo (which replaced the shield as Gucci’s official logo, in 1992) was also designed by Aldo, and took pride of place on the Seville as a 24k gold-plated bonnet ornament.
The limited-edition Seville was offered to buyers in three colours: black, white, and a medium brown. A pinstripe, in the label’s recognisable red and green, traced its centre line, and was bumped up in weight to span the boot (where yet another golden Gucci logo featured alongside the Seville badge). These typically Italian shades continued inside the car, trimming leather studded seats with tricolour Gucci fabric across the headrests, armrests, headliner, and even the floor mats.
Are there any Gucci x Cadillac Sevilles left in the world?
The original production run is disputed, but the number is thought to be around 200. Allegedly, only 10 of these remain on the road. But the Italian label continues to celebrate its first foray into the world of motoring and even launched a die-cast model of the Gucci Seville with Hot Wheels (under the ‘Haute Wheels’ banner) in 2021. It cost $120 and sold out almost immediately.
This undying popularity is proof of the Gucci x Cadillac Seville’s importance. The fashion-forward model may sadly be soon lost to time, but it will be forever remembered as one of the first cars to successfully bring the runway to the road.
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