Lilana Nicoghosian brings fashion and product inspiration to CGT Automotive

CGT supplies cutting-edge synthetics to most major OEMs in the auto industry. In her role as design manager, CGT global automotive division, former Ford color and trim designer Lilana Nicoghosian brings a wealth of experience and insight to the company's drive to provide customers with modern, tactile materials inspired by the worlds of fashion and product design. This mood board was created by Nicoghosian as part of a bi-annual design show that she presents to major OEM design studios around the world.

"We look at what's happening in other industries - in fashion and product and furniture design - as well as cultural trends, and take all that into consideration. This year's show focused on MegaCities and how virtual technology is playing a role in reshaping the lives of the people who live in them," she says.

"Virtual or digital technology blends perfectly within the products we use in our day-to-day lives, where the user can completely customize the look, feel, and color of his or her products." These vibrant colors – ‘dust', ‘dragon gold', ‘dragon red', ‘city dust', and ‘tea house' – were specifically designed to invoke Shanghai's exciting blend of ancient and modern aesthetic approaches.

Nicoghosian at work inside CGT's innovation studio (2), which is a satellite office based in Bingham Farms, Michigan. "Inside it we have a library of carefully categorized materials that I've collected at fashion and furniture and technology shows from around the world. OEM designers come in there frequently to go through our samples for inspiration, or to ‘think-tank' with us on the design of their showcars. The library is open to everybody."

Two more moodboards (4, 5) from CGT's 2012 design show. "I was really inspired by the landscape of Shanghai – the meshing between ancient and modern design cues. Here, people's lives seamlessly interface with the digital world, and my patterns attempt to forecast the shapes that consumers will gravitate to. The kinetic board [5] shows how these architectural designs and the webbing we're seeing in fashion inspired the new grain patterns that I created (7). The colors are adjusted so that they don't try to match nature, but instead interpret it through digital eyes."

A photo of CGT's vinyl upholstery, as fitted to the A-surfaces of Volkswagen's entry-level North American Passat. "Europe has been very open to full synthetic seating for a number of years now, but recently we've been seeing a trend for it catching on in North America too," explains Nicoghosian.

"We showed our synthetic seats from Volkswagen's range to the North-American OEMs and they were very positive. Since then, we've been working closely with them on customizing our products so that they get the perfect grain, the perfect feel and texture that they want." Other innovations include the award-winning ‘Vehreo' biologicalbased interior trim coverstock, which uses recycled post-consumer waste such as PET bottles, from which 55 percent of its textile backing is manufactured.

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