Launched in March to celebrate the creation of the brand in 1955, the ‘Alpine 70 years’ series devotes its second episode to design. Laurens van den Acker, Renault Group’s Chief Design Officer, and Antony Villain, VP Alpine Design, look back at the stylistic inspirations that have guided the brand's rebirth, as well as its projection into the future through the models of the Dream Garage.
The two designers welcomed us to the Alpine Design Studio to talk about the commando state of mind that has shaped the rebirth of the brand while respecting the style initiated in the days of Jean Rédélé. They also explain how electric technology offers interesting opportunities in terms of design, and how the Alpenglow concept car embodies the stylistic intentions of future models.
The two designers welcomed us to the Alpine Design Studio to talk about the commando state of mind that has shaped the rebirth of the brand while respecting the style initiated in the days of Jean Rédélé. They also explain how electric technology offers interesting opportunities in terms of design, and how the Alpenglow concept car embodies the stylistic intentions of future models.
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MotorTranscript
00:01You would have to build a berlinette in 2003.
00:04Would you change it aesthetically?
00:06If I could do a car, I would certainly be inspired
00:09by the big berlinette lines
00:11and I would like it to be more successful.
00:21It's probably the most exciting adventure design that you can have in your life.
00:25I haven't developed this brand with nostalgia.
00:46When I started in Renault Group in 2009,
00:49the very first question by the very first journalist that was asked to me was
00:53what are you going to do with Alpine?
00:59In terms of design strategy,
01:00we have three main ingredients.
01:02The first one was the mountain.
01:03It seems strange, but it was called a Alpine brand.
01:05At the time, it was quite unique.
01:07There was a very strong symbol around the Alps.
01:09It's a little uniric universe
01:11that allows us to inscribe our product in our game.
01:14The second one is that we are a brand born in competition.
01:16The competition is performance, lightness, aerodynamics,
01:20the beauty of technology.
01:22The third one is that we are one of the last French sporting brands.
01:26So French knowledge was a major element.
01:29The second one is that we are one of the most popular brands.
01:34To start up Alpine, we felt we needed kind of a commando team,
01:39but just the smallest amount of people
01:42that were extremely passionate and dedicated, focused.
01:45Anthony was part of the Renault Group design team.
01:55We had worked very closely together already on two production cars,
01:58the Clio 4, the Captur, and linked to this, the Renault Desir.
02:02I think he had everything to incarnate the brand.
02:06And what is really cool about Anthony,
02:09he is a complete 360 designer.
02:12He is not only interested in design, but also in interior,
02:15also in photography, also in graphics, also in branding,
02:18also in corporate identity.
02:20And he is full of passion and he can take people with him.
02:23I was born in 1974.
02:32I did not know the very beginning.
02:34And I did not talk about this brand with nostalgia.
02:38It was interesting.
02:39I thought it was a fantastic brand,
02:41and there was nothing to do with it.
02:43One of the founders' moments was in 2012.
02:46In 2012, with my team,
02:48we went to the garage of Jean-Charles Redellet,
02:50Paris, Rue Forest,
02:51where there were about all the Alpines
02:53that existed,
02:54an historic place of Alpines,
02:56where the brand was born.
02:57We went there, in the summer,
02:58it was 5-6 degrees.
03:00We had all the cars in the eyes,
03:02and I asked the team to draw all these cars.
03:05So, to put them in front,
03:07with a small block A4,
03:09and to say,
03:10you have 30 seconds
03:11to draw the cars in front of you.
03:13The goal is not to do an art work,
03:15but to seize the essence of each project.
03:17These are moments like this,
03:19which are both the team,
03:20the state of mind,
03:21but also to extract
03:23the essential ingredients
03:25that we're going to use
03:26during every adventure,
03:28that we're going to use always.
03:36We created the 110 in 2017
03:39as a missing chain between the past and the future.
03:41The 110 had to respect the brand.
03:44The brand had disappeared
03:45for 20 years.
03:46So, we designed this 110
03:48as a legitimate heritage
03:50of the 110 in the 1960s,
03:52as if it had never stopped to exist.
03:55It looks really like
03:56an amazing, sweet, lightweight sports car.
03:59And this is the feeling
04:00we needed to capture.
04:01Today, it's a different story,
04:02because the brand is now official.
04:03We know we are going to expand the brand
04:04from one car to six or seven cars.
04:06So now you need to give life
04:07and form and shape to this brand.
04:08Now it becomes a tree that grows branches,
04:11and you need to be very, very careful
04:13and make sure that every other addition
04:14to the brand makes sense
04:15and adds to the story
04:16and the history of the brand.
04:17and the history of the brand.
04:18On a senti the besoin,
04:19il y a maintenant deux ans,
04:20de créer quand même un objet
04:21qui cristallise ce registre formel
04:22and this writing to the future.
04:39On a senti le besoin,
04:40il y a maintenant deux ans,
04:41de créer quand même un objet
04:42qui cristallise ce registre formel
04:43et cette écriture pour le futur.
04:45On a créé le concept car Alpen Glow.
04:48Alpen Glow, c'est une symbolique,
04:49c'est les premières lumières
04:50the first light at the summit of the mountains.
04:52The idea was to show that we could use the Alpine codes
04:55that we have on a berlinet,
04:56but to project it in a way much more futurist.
04:59So Alpen Glow is also inspired by the vehicle of the Mans,
05:02with the long, very sculpted,
05:04the avant V, the four phares,
05:06which are reinterpreted,
05:08the sculptures much more exaggerated,
05:10much more sensual,
05:11but also more modern in terms of formal registries.
05:13And this object,
05:14we call it the aesthetic of all the Alpine future,
05:17since it inspired this new range.
05:19And this new range,
05:20in fact,
05:21it's not only sports cars,
05:22we are creating the future A110,
05:24which will respect the A110,
05:25all the codes,
05:26but will be influenced by Alpen Glow,
05:29which will have this modernity
05:31which will be pushed to a new level.
05:33And there are obviously objects
05:36which are more polyvalent in terms of usage,
05:38which will be called the new clients
05:39with 5 places.
05:40We always work with
05:42keeping these codes stylistic,
05:44keeping the elegance,
05:46the finesse,
05:47the aerodynamic,
05:48and the sensual lines,
05:50always with an influence
05:51of the concept car Alpen Glow.
05:53The electric vehicles give us
05:55the packaging advantages
05:56because we can put the wheels in the corners,
05:57the electric motors are relatively small,
05:58it allows us to get big wheels in the right places,
06:00so it allows us to get the proportions that we want,
06:01which is very, very nice.
06:02It allows us to get the proportions that we want,
06:03which is very, very nice.
06:04It's very, very nice.
06:05It's very, very nice.
06:06It's very, very nice.
06:07It allows us to get big wheels in the right places,
06:08it allows us to get the proportions that we want,
06:09which is very, very nice.
06:11It allows us to get the proportions that we want,
06:13which is very, very nice.
06:15It's very, very nice.
06:16It's important that Alpen change the scale
06:17to be able to address this new chapter.
06:19We've passed a dozen people today
06:21to 45, 50 people.
06:23So it's a team that has grown a lot,
06:25but also the opportunity to get unique talents.
06:28In fact, to make cars,
06:30it's amazing.
06:31To create an almost zero team,
06:34I admit that it's an experience that I love.
06:37It's extremely enriching, satisfying,
06:39and satisfying.
06:40And finding the good talents
06:42who know how to work together,
06:44it's an experience.
06:45It's a bit like in a sport team.
06:47It's not enough to have good talents
06:49or big egos.
06:50It's better to have players
06:52who know how to play together.
06:57This is obviously a huge project,
06:59not only for the Alpen Design Team,
07:01but for the company,
07:03because it plays a very important role
07:05in the group strategy.
07:06Everyone is looking at Alpen,
07:08and this is the highlight
07:10of what we have to offer.
07:11And so the pressure is on
07:13to make sure that we are
07:14technologically advanced,
07:15lightweight, exciting,
07:17accelerating,
07:18and we celebrate French innovation.