A decade-long partnership.

Mercedes-Benz has been partnered with Festival d’Hyères, the International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Fashion Accessories, since 2012. This is part of Mercedes-Benz’s long-standing effort to support emerging design talent.

Founded and directed by Jean-Pierre Blanc and chaired by Pascale Mussard, the festival has been promoting and supporting young international fashion talent since 1986. At this year's 38th Festival d'Hyères, Mercedes-Benz is awarding the Sustainability Prize to one of the aspiring designers for the third time.

The campaign with the C 111 artwork.

Photographed by Kristin Lee Moolman and styled by Louise Ford, the campaign highlighted the ten looks of the finalists in the competition, featuring emerging models Julia Hobbs and Yannick Konan, along with the artwork "C 111" from the company-owned Mercedes-Benz Art Collection. The sculpture by the Berlin based artist Michael Sailstorfer is a re-interpretation of the legendary Mercedes-Benz C 111, which he created out of a Mercedes-Benz 190 E. Both, the artwork and the fashion designs, are driven by the idea of creating something new through upcycling.

  

About the artwork by Michael Sailstorfer.

In the artwork commissioned by the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection in 2011, Michael Sailstorfer uses the artistic practice of real collage to build his dream car from childhood days. To this end, he converted a Mercedes 190 E (W 201, produced as a series model 1982-1993) with attention to detail and, thus, designed his version of the legendary Mercedes-Benz C 111 (the C 111 series consisted of prototypes and experimental vehicles around 1970).