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Video: Chris Bangle delivers “Empowerment: Design without Designers” talk at Creative Mornings/London

Chris Bangle – the undisputed front man of car design – needs little introduction, so the prospect of the former BMW Design Director and now founder of Chris Bangle Associates giving a talk in our home town of London was too good to pass up. His presentation (which you can watch in full in the video to the left) touched on his time at BMW, but was more focused on the idea of empowering others to create: "design without you in the middle", as Bangle says. From the story of the co-creation of the staircase in his Italian studio to the idea of encouraging people to think about their culture when designing, his philosophies transcend disciplines.

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante Neiman Marcus at Los Angeles Auto Show

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante Neiman Marcus (pictured) at the LA Auto Show Neiman Marcus revealed its Christmas Edition car for 2013 last month, but all we got was a single scanned photo from the Neiman Marcus Christmas book of the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante. But now, as an introduction for the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante to the U.S. market, Aston Martin are planning to show the Neiman Marcus Edition Vanquish Volante at the Los Angeles Auto Show next week.

First Sight: Twin’Z: Renault x Ross Lovegrove

Among the many car brand-related unveils within Milan Design Week, Renault was the only marque to actually launch a fully-fledged concept car. Car Design News spoke exclusively to its technical project manager Minh Au Truong and design superstar collaborator Ross Lovegrove to find out more about this much-hyped vehicle. When the news leaked that Renault would be teaming up with product design royalty Ross Lovegrove on a concept car to be revealed at Milan Design Week, to say this reviewer and the staff at Car Design News HQ were "a bit excited" would probably be an understatement.