Vredestein and Italdesign to celebrate collaboration at Milan Design Week

Apollo Tyres Ltd and Italdesign will celebrate more than 25 years of innovative tyre design at the forthcoming Milan Design Week (20 to 26 April). The two companies will showcase notable examples of their collaboration, including the Vredestein Ultrac Sessenta and the all-new Vredestein Quatrac Pro 2 all-season tyre, which goes on sale in the summer.  

This year marks 27 years of the renowned Italian design house working alongside the Vredestein brand; the two first worked together to design the Vredestein Sportrac, which debuted in 1999. Styled by Giorgetto Giugaro, one of the world’s most prolific automobile designers, the Sportrac pioneered an asymmetric look that enhanced its sporty visual character. Since then, the two organisations have collaborated on multiple projects, combining creative expertise with technical innovation to produce visually appealing, high-performance tyres. 

Launched in 2006, the Ultrac Sessenta was designed by Italdesign to mark sixty years of the Vredestein brand in Enschede, the Netherlands. A nod to the Italian designers, Sessenta is Italian for the number sixty. The ultra-high-performance summer tyre features a unique tread design with enhanced performance and handling characteristics.  

The most recent co-operation between the two companies has been for the Vredestein Quatrac Pro 2. The Ultra-high performance all-season tyre, on sale from June, incorporates a unique sidewall design which depicts the seasons as a ‘seamless interplay of solids and voids’, with fluid graphical elements evoking leaves, snow and rain. 

The overall ‘Passage’ theme of the Quatrac Pro 2 reflects the cyclical nature of the seasons and the concept of journey and transition – from hot, dry landscapes to snow-covered surfaces. Visual elements such as ripples on water and cues of wind and movement reference the advanced all-season capabilities of the new tyre. 

“The partnership with Italdesign has endured because we share the same ethos regarding the union of performance and aesthetics in modern product design,” said Udyan Ghai, Head of Marking at Apollo Tyres Ltd. “Both the Ultrac Sessenta and Quatrac Pro 2 demonstrate how tyre design can enhance not only function, but also visual identity.”