How J Brand Co-Founder Susie Crippen’s Career Was Changed In Uganda

The J Brand co-founder is empowering the women of Uganda via her latest venture.

By Kathryn Romeyn 21/01/2020

Susie Crippen is on a mission. Striding through a colour-soaked textile market in Uganda’s capital city of Kampala, she makes for a strange blip among the bundles of batik and kitenge (traditional batik-dyed fabric worn by African women) fabrics that stretch from wall to wall and floor to ceiling. Her cropped brown hair and casual Western look—jeans and a loose cotton tee with a miniature cross-body bag slung across her torso—couldn’t be more out of place in this hyper-colour scene, and yet the 55-year-old entrepreneur proceeds with laser focus, weaving through a crowd of young boys tying hefty bundles and women draped in the same vibrant patterns they stock in their stalls. She is on the hunt for the perfect pattern—1700 metres of it.

“I woke up at 3:30 a.m. thinking about the fabric I bought yesterday and worrying about if it was the right one,” Crippen says as she holds up a stiff swatch bearing a Moroccan-style zellige pattern. In this sea of fabric, she’s searching for the one—and eventually finds it. The design looks straight out of Dries Van Noten’s sketchbook. She decides it’s the perfect look for an obi-belted wrap dress and wades back into the rainbow-bright stacks for more.

Crippen allocating fabrics.

Crippen allocating fabrics. Photography by Rachel Ambrose

Crippen is no stranger to big ideas waking her in the night. The co-founder of the J Brand denim label has a well-honed talent for following her instincts to success. When she launched her business in 2005, her concept for the perfect jean was simple, if not particularly popular at the time. “Nobody was doing a clean, dark jean,” she says. “But I didn’t want rips and appliqué Buddhas on my butt.” Apparently, neither did most women: Five years later, J Brand was bringing in more than $116 million in gross sales with its minimalist, polished jeans.

In 2010, Crippen and her partner sold 52 per cent of the company to Star Avenue Capital, which two years later sold the majority stake to Fast Retailing for close to $420 million. It was an indisputable win for the former stylist. But when Crippen returned as J Brand’s creative director seven years later, she found herself in a decidedly less favourable position. After six months in the job, she was fired over creative differences with management. So Crippen followed her instincts once again, this time to a self-imposed six-month sabbatical and, eventually, a safari in Uganda.

Washing and drying dresses.

Washing and drying dresses. Photography by Rachel Ambrose

That trip turned out to be so much more. Crippen had come to Uganda to see the mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, but she paid an impromptu visit to Ride 4 a Woman, a nonprofit organization in the nearby village of Buhoma that teaches women new skills such as weaving home goods and sewing textiles, that turned out to be the pilgrimage that would set her next chapter in motion. The designs the workshop was turning out were lively—the women even more so—and as she watched the technicolour fabrics being fashioned into traditional wraps, the creative spark that conceived J Brand began to light up once again.

But when she returned to Los Angeles, the idea persisted: “Every time I would think about it, my feet would get hot.” Inspired by the vivid fabrics she had seen in Bwindi, she began experimenting with the bit of kitenge she had taken home. Nine months later, she returned to Uganda with her first prototype—a wrap dress with rolled dolman sleeves—and a business plan for 4, a new fashion label of dresses, skirts and shirts bringing together modern cuts and traditional African fabrics. Moreover, she brought life-changing work to the employees of Ride 4 a Woman.

The Ride 4 a Woman workshop.

The Ride 4 a Woman workshop. Photography by Rachel Ambrose

Back at the textile market, Crippen has been joined by Evelyn Habasa, Ride 4 a Woman’s founder. “Evelyn is one of the most charismatic human beings you’ll ever come in contact with,” Crippen says. “She’s like the Gandhi of Uganda.” Habasa established the NGO with her husband, Denis Rubalema, in 2009 and it has since grown to employ 50 women, all of whom have become breadwinners for their families after learning to sew and weave baskets. With the addition of 4’s first collection—two dresses, a skirt and a top—to the production line, that staff is poised to double.

Crippen plows through fabrics, climbing higher and higher among the unsteady stacks while Habasa negotiates with stall owners for the price of each swatch that’s unearthed. There’s an easy camaraderie among the women—one that the J Brand vet struggled to find in her previous roles. “I’ve never had that experience where I wasn’t in battle and constant explanation mode to men about what women want to wear,” says Crippen, draping a vibrant cobalt fabric with a triangle pattern over her shoulders. “Evelyn just lets me do my thing. She provides all the support of making the dresses and gives me the space to let my creative vision unfold.”

Crippen and Habasa scouring a textile market in Kampala.

Crippen and Habasa scouring a textile market in Kampala. Photography by Rachel Ambrose

The benefit, of course, extends far beyond the two women. A few days later, at Ride 4 a Woman’s workshop, Habasa’s team assembles at 9 a.m., dressed in fluorescent green T-shirts over full kitenge skirts, to greet their new designer. Crippen has just arrived from Kampala, but she’s hardly travel-weary. Instead, she’s beaming, and the women are jubilant, too, as they welcome their visitor with a dance, jumping high to the beat of a drum, then landing barefoot on the packed dirt only to spring back up once again.

“It’s a sign of love and welcome,” says Habasa. “They do this every morning before they start working to say thank you for the gift of happiness, togetherness and Ride 4 a Woman.” Today, however, there’s a palpable energy surrounding Crippen’s curious new project.

Cutting dress patterns.

Cutting dress patterns.

“I brought some things for you,” says Crippen, pulling out a mesh bag of flower-shaped pincushions and sliding one up her forearm like a corsage. Fabric shears, snips of material and slivers of tailor’s chalk emerge as the women ooh and aah at their new tools. “And I brought 4 labels. Our goal is to make 600 dresses, and we have 600 labels, so you can’t make any mistakes,” she jokes rather seriously, while Habasa translates.

There’s an interactive fashion show so the team understands what they’re making, and before long the pavilion is buzzing, with the women washing, measuring, sorting, cutting, pinning and stitching the new collection together. Crippen is right in the mix, encouraging and complimenting the cutting team, pinning fabric to patterns and triumphantly holding up the first completed sample. There are language barriers—she’s a talker and wonders whether they catch on to her humour—and hiccups to troubleshoot, but the collective confidence soars.

Fabrics.

Fabrics. Photography by Rachel Ambrose

“I’ve always been a bit of a perfectionist about fit,” admits Crippen as she twirls in the first completed skirt of the day—a long, fitted wrap of subtly flared panels that’s both sexy and effortless. Though these pieces, which are priced from $270 to $285, may not come with faultless seams, authenticity—and opportunity—is clearly sewn into them. Crippen plans to return to Bwindi every spring—the low season, when Ride’s women most need work—to produce another capsule collection. Like a favourite pair of jeans, each dress, skirt and top is a classic, no-fuss piece that gets better and softer over time.

Crippen herself has gotten bolder over time, having regained her voice since her second departure from J Brand. “It took me a long time to re-establish my self-esteem in terms of my ability to make creative choices and stand in my aesthetic vision,” she says. “Spending the time I have with these women has made me feel more connected to everyone in the world. That’s something I’ve been looking for ever since I went into business: a vocation I can thrive in and that people benefit from. That’s the ultimate dream job.”

Susie Crippen wearing one of 4's designs.

Susie Crippen wearing one of 4’s designs. Photography by Rachel Ambrose

Join the Ride

To follow in Crippen’s footsteps—tracking mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or visiting the ladies of the nonprofit Ride 4 a Woman—contact Abercrombie & Kent. Those seeking more immersion in Ride’s hub of female empowerment can also stay the night in one of the NGO’s 11 guest rooms, where the decor, including wax batik curtains and pillows, is provided by the women in Ride’s workshop, naturally. Proceeds go directly to Ride 4 a Woman and support other projects created to benefit the women of the village.

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This Italian Company Made Ernest Hemingway’s Favourite Pens. Here’s How It’s Done.

At Montegrappa, a focus on age-old techniques makes for unique, heirloom-quality fountain pens.

By Jeff Buchanen 04/11/2024

In this age of digital supremacy, it’s reassuring to know the pen is alive and well. And nowhere is it thriving quite like it is in Bassano del Grappa, a picturesque medieval village in Veneto, Italy, that has been home to Montegrappa, the country’s oldest pen company, since 1912. The firm specialises in rollerball and fountain pens for the discerning, and its products are still made in its original factory on the banks of the Brenta River. 

Notable actors, athletes, musicians and even popes have used its wares, but the seed for one of Montegrappa’s most significant endorsements came when a then-unpublished author encountered the brand in 1918. Ernest Hemingway, just 19 years old at the time, was serving as a volunteer ambulance driver for the American Red Cross when he was assigned to a station 100 m from the factory. The robust Elmo model, still produced by Montegrappa today, became his writing instrument of choice. 

More than a century later, Montegrappa pens remain renowned for their design and are still largely crafted by hand according to the company’s old-world manufacturing process. And while you can order a model off the shelf, varying levels of customisation are also available. Through the Extra Custom program, you can commission a uniquely hand-painted or burin-engraved style made from sterling silver or yellow, rose, or white gold and have the barrel decorated with an image or motif you select. Such pieces can require several weeks to complete, and prices range from around $2,400 to as high as $67,000—all to create a pen that’s a story in itself. 

Each pen requires at least 36 individually handcrafted components—some considerable, others tiny and delicate. 

As perhaps the most visible component, the pen clip is hand-polished to a mirror-like shine. You can opt to have it set with a small cubic zirconia, as with this sterling-silver example.

Mammoth ivory, ethically recovered from Siberian permafrost, is carefully machine-turned to create the cap. The company also offers celluloid for its caps and barrels, as well as exotic woods, marble, carbon fibre, various metal alloys and a house-made resin called Montegrappite.

The cap band is machine-engraved with the company logo. The process also allows for the back of the band to be similarly etched with your initials in a selection of three fonts.

A burin is used to inscribe a “leaves and scrolls” pattern on the pen’s barrel. The intricate technique can also be used to reproduce photographs or works of art.

Montegrappa uses ebonite, a vulcanised rubber, to make its feeds, which connect a pen’s nib to its reservoir. The material is more porous than hard plastic, allowing for better ink flow. A craftsman precisely cuts the feed’s fins to ensure the best performance.

Montegrappa

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From Striped Hawaiian Shirts to Colorful Ceramics: 4 Luxe Items You Can Buy at Italian Hotels

A handful of Italy’s most beloved family-owned hotels are morphing into luxury brands of their own. Here, four in-house items worth traveling for. 

By Naomi Rougeau 04/11/2024

Hotel Passalacqua, Lake Como 

These days, it takes more than the finest linens and a Michelin-starred restaurant to take the No. 1 spot on a list of the world’s 50 best hotels, which Hotel Passalacqua did in 2023. The spa is stellar, to be sure, as is the pool house, which was decorated in collaboration with J. J. Martin of La Double J. But to fully embrace the villeggiatura and sense of place, even the tiniest details matter. Case in point: the hotel’s signature brass-fish bottle opener (there are also key chains), which will mentally transport you back to Lake Como every time you reach for a cold one. 

Le Sirenuse, Positano 

The red cliff-top hotel with sweeping views needs little introduction. Its owners, the Sersale family, were early to embrace the branding potential of the beloved property by launching an on-site boutique, Emporio Sirenuse, in 1993. These days, you can find Le Sirenuse’s clothing and swimwear everywhere from Net-a-Porter to Harrod’s, but nothing matches shopping the collection in person. If there’s only room in the suitcase for one thing, snag the brand’s riff on
the Hawaiian shirt in vacation-ready stripes. 

Borgo Santo Pietro, Palazzetto 

At Borgo Santo Pietro in Tuscany, the focus is on the serene landscape. (The spot was once a healing rest stop for medieval pilgrims.) Naturally, there’s an emphasis on farm-to-table cuisine, but more interesting might be the farm-to-spa treatments. Made in-house, the renowned Seed to Skin range draws on local remedies dating back to at least 1129; expect natural ingredients such as butterfat, thermal water, and raw honey. Grab the award-winning Eye Rescue Duo, a secret weapon for maintaining your post-vacation glow. 

Palazzo Avino, Ravello 

A once-private villa built in the 12th century, Palazzo Avino is one of the Amalfi Coast’s most celebrated hotels. When a former art gallery adjacent to Ravello’s beloved “pink palace” came up for sale, hotelier Mariella Avino and her sister Attilia made an offer. Mariella envisioned the new space, now dubbed the Pink Closet, as a spot to promote homegrown talent, partnering with the Camera Nazionale della Moda in order to provide a platform for emerging designers. We like the colorful, locally made ceramics—perfect for alfresco entertaining.

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Time Flies

Bugatti’s hybrid Tourbillon is the most powerful model in the marque’s history. And the coolest bit? An instrument cluster inspired by the finest Swiss horology.

By 30/10/2024

First there was Veyron. Then came Chiron. Now Tourbillon. Bugatti’s new 1,800 hp (1,342 kW) hypercar delivers even more shock-and-awe than its predecessors. Gone is the famed 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 engine. In its place is a new 1,000 hp (746 kW), 8.3-litre naturally aspirated V16 paired with a trio of electric motors delivering 800 hp (597 kW). That combination makes this the most powerful Bugatti ever.

While the design of the all-carbon-composite body is clearly derived from the signature lines of both the Veyron and Chiron, its roofline is lower, the body lighter and more aerodynamic, and that iconic horseshoe grille more imposing. Yet the likely headline feature will be the car’s all-new interior featuring a skeletonised, titanium-and-sapphire-glass instrument cluster inspired by Swiss watchmaking (for the uninitiated—“tourbillon” refers to the mechanical complication that increases accuracy in high-end timepieces).

The 1,800 hp Bugatti Tourbillon hybrid.
Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S

“Beauty, performance, and luxury formed the blueprint for the Tourbillon. What we have created is a car that is more elegant, more emotive and more luxurious than anything before it,” stated Mate Rimac, Bugatti Rimac’s CEO, to Robb Report during an exclusive preview at the company’s newly opened design studio in Berlin.

He explained that, four years ago, when the Tourbillon concept was on the drawing board, there were multiple suggestions for what an all-new Bugatti might look like. Options included an SUV, a coupe-like crossover and a luxury four-door sedan. Then there was the choice of either a hybrid or all-electric power train. “The proposal to make it electric was the obvious choice. We had our [Rimac] Nevera, that we could easily transfer our technology and re-skin the body. But I felt it was wrong for Bugatti,” said Rimac. “I wanted a successor to the Veyron and Chiron, a true hypercar with a combustion engine. Our customers agreed.”

Comprising more than 600 components, the skeletonized instrument cluster is constructed from titanium and features sapphire-glass faces and detailing that incorporates rubies.
Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S

To create it, Rimac teamed with Cosworth, a renowned British engine builder, to help develop the naturally aspirated V16 mill. Designed to rev to 9,000 rpm, the engine offers a similar output as the original Veyron’s quad-turbocharged W16. To heighten the performance, Rimac and his team used their proven expertise in electric propulsion to pair the V16 with twin electric motors driving the front wheels, with a third at the rear. For battery power, a 25 kWh, oil-cooled 800-volt pack is integrated into the chassis and located behind the passengers. It’s powerful enough to give the Tourbillon a usable electric-only range of around 60 km.

As you would expect, the Tourbillon has been developed to be blisteringly fast. According to Emilio Scervo, Bugatti’s chief technical officer, early prototype tests suggest a rate of acceleration from zero to 100 km/h in 2.0 seconds, zero to 200 km/h in 5.0 seconds, and zero to 300 km/h in 10.0 seconds. Flat out, the max-speed target is 445 km/h, though with a speedometer that reads up to 550 km/h, we expect there’s more to come. “For us, it was important that the car retained the pure and raw analogue feel of a naturally aspirated combustion engine, while pairing it with the agility and ability provided by electric motors,” said Scervo.

The engine itself sits low in the Tourbillon’s new, super-stiff body structure, which is formed using next-generation T800 carbon composites. It features a forged-aluminium, multi-link suspension—front and rear—that replaces the previous double-wishbone steel setup used in the Chiron. The 3-D-printed aluminium suspension arms and uprights, and AI-developed, 3-D-printed hollow airfoil arm at the rear, are nothing less than pieces of art.

The center console features crystal glass that’s formed over 13 separate stages to ensure strength and clarity.
Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S

For the exterior lines, Frank Heyl, Bugatti’s director of design, explained that styling influences came from three landmark Bugattis of old: the Type 35 racer of the 1920s, the long Type 41 Royale built from 1927 through 1933, and the storied Type 57SC Atlantic from the 1930s. “The design focus was on Bugatti’s iconic horseshoe grille. It’s significantly wider and lower than in the Chiron, and it’s from which all lines of the car originate. It defines the car,” said Heyl, who added that another signature element is “the new central windshield wiper, which continues the line that starts on the hood and flows back along the roof. Just like on the Atlantic.” Set back from the grille are twin rows of wafer-thin LED lights. Between them is a narrow panel on the hood that raises up to reveal a “frunk” big enough for a set of custom-designed luggage.

In profile, the sweeping “Bugatti line” around the doors—a defining feature of both the Veyron and Chiron—looks even more striking with the car’s lowered roofline. At the rear, huge exhausts, a Le Mans–style carbon-fibre diffuser (twice the size of that on the Chiron), and a rolling wave of LED lights featuring illuminated “Bugatti” lettering, add to the visual drama. And to allow onlookers to gaze at that V16 power plant—and for cooling purposes—the engine sits open to the elements.

This prototype example of the Tourbillon, previewed by Robb Report, shows the styling influences that came from Bugatti’s Type 35, Type 41 Royale, and storied Type 57SC Atlantic from early last century.
Robb Rice

Upon opening the dihedral “scissor” doors and entering the cockpit, you’re presented with arguably the new Tourbillon’s most dramatic feature; a skeletonised instrument cluster inspired by the art of Swiss watchmaking. Made up of more than 600 components, it’s constructed from titanium with sapphire-glass faces and detailing that incorporates rubies.

The three-dial cluster is fixed in place, with the twin spokes of the flat-bottom steering wheel rotating around it. The unit is constructed, in-house, to remarkable horological tolerances of 50 microns—the average cross-section of a human hair. The entire cluster weighs just 709 g. Cascading down from the middle of the fascia is the centre console featuring crystal glass that’s formed over 13 separate stages to ensure strength and clarity. The aluminium elements are anodised and milled from a single block.


A close-up of the Bugatti Tourbillon’s 1,000 hp, 8.3-liter naturally aspirated V-16 engine.
The Tourbillon’s 1,000 hp, 8.3-liter naturally aspirated V-16 engine is paired with three electric motors.
Robb Rice

To add a little theatre to firing-up that big V16, there’s a prominent center-console aluminium knob that you pull to start, and push to turn off. It’s another nod to Bugatti models of yesteryear. What you won’t see, however, are any touchscreens. Heyl believes that the primary element that dates a car is an oversized screen. “What was state-of-the-art 10 years ago, is now ugly,” said Heyl. “The Tourbillon is designed to be timeless.”

In Bugatti tradition, the Tourbillon will also be highly exclusive. Only 250 examples are planned, each starting at around $6.3 million. The first customer cars are scheduled to be built at Bugatti’s atelier in Molsheim, France, starting in 2026.

Production is scheduled to begin in 2026.
Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S

“Yes, it is crazy to build a new V16 engine, to integrate it with a new battery pack and electric motors, and to have 3-D-printed suspension parts and a real Swiss watchmaker instrument cluster,” noted Rimac. “But it is what Ettore Bugatti would have done.”

Bugatti

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For Dubai, the Time Is Now 

The bustling Middle Eastern city is emerging as an important hub for serious watch collectors

By Paige Reddinger 30/10/2024

Tucked away in a corner of the Dubai International Financial Centre, near the Ritz-Carlton, is Perpétuel Gallery, an unassuming 1,200 m² boutique displaying some of the world’s most important independent watchmaking. During Dubai Watch Week—a biannual event run by the Seddiqi family, the most prominent watch retailers in the UAE—the shop, just a few minutes’ walk from the fair in the DIFC, held its own exhibition that was filled to the brim with the watchmakers themselves, from Roger W. Smith to Simon Brette to Rémi Maillat of Krayon. There, holding court, was Hamdan Bin Humaid Al Hudaidi, a distinguished collector who founded Perpétuel in 2021, in the middle of the Covid pandemic. 

“I never thought I would take my passion professionally, ever,” he tells Robb Report. “Everyone was against the idea because they were very certain this would fail.” How wrong they were. Instead, Perpétuel has become one of the most significant global players in connecting and brokering deals between collectors and their indie idols. As a serious client himself, Al Hudaidi has unique relationships that allow him to create limited editions exclusive to the gallery—quite a feat when you consider the waiting lists for some of the watchmakers in question are a decade or more long. A recent collaboration of 15 limited-edition Krayon Anywhere watches with desert-orange accents sold out to clients—not just in the Middle East, but also in Australia, the US and South Africa. 

The Perpétuel Gallery in Dubai
Courtesy of Perpétuel Gallery

It’s proof positive of the area’s booming and influential watch scene. Many credit Dubai Watch Week—and by extension the Seddiqi family—for the fervent local interest in watch collecting. When the event launched in 2015, it was small, hosting just 15 brands, mostly independents. “It was really a project to give back to the industry,” says Hind Abdul Hamied Seddiqi, director general of the event and CMO and communications officer for Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons, “but also to educate the general public that the watch industry is not as intimidating as you think.” It’s a strategy that has paid off. Last year’s edition ballooned to 60 brands, including big-name players such as Rolex, Audemars Piguet and Van Cleef & Arpels, along with nearly 24,000 attendees, the largest crowd to date. 

Despite the draw, the five-day-long public event has an easygoing appeal that other watch fairs often lack. One can spot Philippe Dufour perched outside a pavilion smoking a pipe, Kari Voutilainen enjoying an alfresco lunch, or Rexhep Rexhepi in line for an espresso. It’s an exceedingly rare chance for collectors to mingle with the masters in a relaxed space where everyone is in a jovial mood thanks to the casual atmosphere and balmy weather—and Seddiqi plans to keep it that way. “I worry if we go bigger, we’ll lose this feeling of intimacy,” she says. “I have a lot of people asking me to commercialise the show, but it’s just going to ruin the whole vibe.” 

A Roger W. Smith Series 5 Open Dial watch at Perpétuel Gallery
Courtesy of Perpétuel Gallery

The explosion of interest isn’t just for new timepieces: vintage is also having its moment. Historically, the Middle East hasn’t been receptive to “used” goods, but recent years have reflected a shift in perspective. Tariq Malik, cofounder and managing partner of Momentum, also located in the DIFC, just a three-minute walk from Perpétuel, was an early pioneer in the area when he opened shop in 2011. In the beginning, he says, it would be common for someone to look at his wares and ask if he was selling “used” watches. “I said, ‘It’s vintage,’ and they said, ‘Oh, wow.’ When I would say ‘vintage’ they would start pulling out their camera and taking photos. We brought vintage to Dubai, so it was a new thing.” He’s now sought-after by clients both in the UAE and internationally for his allotment of rare Rolexes, with a specialisation in Day-Dates and hard-to-find Stella and stone dials. 

Al Hudaidi also dabbles in vintage, predominantly ultra-rare Pateks—one might walk into Perpétuel and find him casually pulling a full-set Ref. 2499 third series from a coffee-table drawer. Naturally, that watch has sold along with two other full-set 2499s, but a unique Patek Philippe Ref. 1491J chronograph from the ’40s is still up for grabs (at press time, anyway). It was made by the Stern family for Jimmy Powers, an American boxing commentator during the era. 

Philippe Narbel Skel-1 in steel.

“I got goosebumps when I heard his voice on YouTube,” says Al Hudaidi. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God—that timepiece was his. And his name is engraved on the back!”

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6 Ways Technology Will Transform Your Private-Jet Experience in the Next Decade

Extreme leisure or full-throttle engagement? The private-jet cabin of the future will offer both.

By Daniel Cote 30/10/2024

Within a decade, private-jet cabins could make even today’s cutting-edge interiors seem ancient by comparison. From digital skylights and smart seats to eye-tracking functionality and immersive soundscapes, the array of innovative amenities could transform even the longest flights into time well spent. Here, six areas in which technology will take the onboard experience to new heights.

Screen Time

Within three to five years, some private jets may have select windows replaced with curved, high-definition 4K OLED displays connected to live video feeds from the aircraft’s exterior. Imagine a cabin ceiling that morphs into a conservatory with a spectacular view of the moon, or full-height windows that present the landscape below with incredible fidelity. Information overlays are easy additions, but consider that these built-in visual portals could also double as insane gaming screens.

Seat Change

E-textiles will transform the next generation of jet seats into intuitive in-flight spa recliners. Sensors within the fabric will note your size, weight, pressure distribution, and body temperature, then rely on their A.I.-driven processors to, say, heat the seat before you realise you’re chilly or massage that kink in your back without being asked. Powering themselves by converting body heat into electricity, the chairs might also know to widen and recline when you nod off.

Seeing the Light

Chronobiological lighting to mitigate jet lag will comprise organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels, capable of creating 16.3 million different light combinations, to reset a passenger’s internal clock as they traverse time zones. Eventually, such panels will migrate from light fixtures to smart fabric on the ceiling, resulting in more diffuse illumination that allows for near-infinite options across the colour spectrum.

And there are many other applications. For example, OLED displays, as wide as a piece of paper, can be used to digitally transform the entire wall of the cabin’s colour, texture or scene. It is called projection mapping, and it will make changing the wall color from hot pink to a textured crocodile leather as easy as changing your computer screen saver. As Ingo Wuggetzer, vice president of cabin marketing for Airbus, explains, light literally creates spaces, giving cabin designers a highly versatile and easily customisable digital canvas.

Higher Management

The ability to access basic audio or video from your smartphone is here, but imagine faster, streamlined connectivity that lets you manage video conferencing, heating, mood lighting, window shades, service requests, even a steriliser—from a single app. According to Airbus’s Wuggetzer, next-gen digital architecture will turn personal spaces into individual “ecosystems” controlled by each passenger. Tim O’Hara, director of completions research and development at Gulfstream, notes that eye-tracking technology could allow you to interact with the app via virtual screen, meaning you don’t even have to lift a finger.

Breaking the Sound Barrier

Rosen Aviation has developed a new onboard audio system with Laurence Dickie, designer of the famed Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus loudspeaker. According to Rosen’s Lee Clark, the goal is to go from today’s audio equivalent of “a 1970s eight-track” to what he refers to as “Elvis, six feet away, singing to you”—a soundscape that only you will hear, delivered by headrest speakers and haptic drivers in the seat. Meanwhile, Bongiovi Aviation intends to employ transducers embedded in the jet’s interior side panels, eliminating the need for traditional speakers altogether. The advantages are numerous, and it allows airframers to reduce cabin weight and fully utilise space while eliminating traditional speakers from the design.

Bringing movie-theater audio quality to aviation is already available. Dolby Atmos puts you inside the movie or song as it is playing. In collaboration with Dolby, SkyCinema Aviation was the first to create an Atmos-enabled processor built for business jets to compensate for cabin altitude and jet noise. The result? You will clearly hear the car approaching from a half mile away in that famous scene of the 1959 Hitchcock classic North by Northwest, just as the director intended.

Hands Free

With full showers, skylights, and large vanities gracing the lavatories of the most luxe business jets today, what could be next? The smart lavatory is evolving into a nearly completely hands-free space by incorporating sensors to activate everything from faucets to showers. Using an AI algorithm, Diehl Aviation has taken it a step farther to add more functionality with voice-controlled commands for opening and closing the door, turning on lights, and activating water. Hologram light switches will eventually keep the lavatory completely hands free, while smart mirrors can multitask by providing an interactive display of digital content.

 

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