After five years as Head of Design at BMW, Domagoj Dukec takes over as Head of Design at Rolls Royce. He replaces Anders Warming, who becomes Head of Design, Advanced Design and Design Identity for the BMW Group.
BMW Group and prestige brand Rolls Roycecross paths in their respective design departments.
The BMW Group has held the right to use the Rolls Royce brand since 2003.
Rolls Royce has recruited its new Design Director, Domagoj Dukec, from BMW, where he has held a similar position for the past five years. While BMW has appointed his predecessor at Rolls Royce, Anders Warming, as Director of Design, Advanced Design and Group Design Identity.
Both will take up their positions on October 1.
20 years’ experience
Domagoj Dukeci brings with him “more than 20 years of experience in senior design positions” to the reins of Rolls-Royce styling, says the group in a statement.
Born in Frankfurt and of Croatian origin, Domagoj Dukec studied transport design at the Pforzheim College of Design in Germany. After completing his studies in 1999, he embarked on “aninternational career that led him to spend several years in design studios in Paris, Barcelona and São Paulo”. Domagoj Dukec first worked for the VW Group in Barcelona as an exterior designer, before joining French carmaker PSA in Paris in 2001. Initially responsible for theCitroën brand as Senior Exterior Designer, he then oversaw exterior design.
In 2010, Domagoj Dukec began working for BMW in Munich, first as Exterior Designer, then as Exterior Design Manager and Head of the BMW M and BMW i Design Studio. Since April 2019, he has been Design Director for the BMW brand.
Substantial and lasting impact
At Rolls Royce Motor Cars, Domagoj Dukec therefore faces the challenge of succeeding an Anders Warming, who, according to Managing Director Chris Brownridge, “has had a substantial and lasting impact” on the brand, with “his rich experience and creativity” having “determined” its “future aesthetic direction”. However, Chris Brownridge says he and his teams are “delighted to welcome Domagoj Dukec, to build on Anders’ achievements and take our exciting cars into a new era”. Anders Warming’s flagship achievements at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars include the successful launch of “Spectre, a bold evolution of Cullinan and a new expression of Phantom”.
In addition, “in line with the brand’s commitment to make bespoke, including bodywork, a key strategic cornerstone of its future success”, he also “oversaw the four unique Droptail body-built models ‘, described as ’magnificent” by the group, as well as a number of privately-collected cars.
Rolls Royce philosophy
Domagoj Dukec’s mission at the legendary English brand, founded in 1904 in London, will be based on the brand’s “design philosophy”, which is “based on sustainable principles” that enable “innovation and creativity”, “while ensuring that a Rolls-Royce is always recognizable, even if you don’t see the unique Pantheon grille or the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot”.
The group thus evokes a brand signature of “three lines” that “harmonize to create a form that is always unmistakably Rolls-Royce: the float line – the classic lateral line that underlines the car’s dynamism; the waist line, which confers a sense of purpose; and the silhouette: striking, powerful and iconic”.
Domagoj Dukec is thus entrusted with the “difficult but fascinating mission” of “negotiating the space between preserving the brand’s distinctive presence andensuring that a Rolls-Royce car is both timeless and of its time”…
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Read also > Rolls Royce reports record results for 2023
Featured Photo: © Rolls Royce
