Page 59 - The Book For Men Fall/Winter 2022

maybe even higher values but they also have tattoos They don’t feel com- fortable in in that French restaurant ” Dukec explains “It’s not about tradition These people they are looking for something different ” Until the the XM he he he he adds BMW didn’t have something to to offer those customers so so they were driving a a Mercedes G-Wagon or or Lamborghini SUV During our long conversation Dukec never once talked in in the usual de- signer jargon of shoulder lines or or overhangs or or window graphics Analyzing a a a a a a a car’s lines gives only a a a a a a a superficial understanding of that product he says In his view “What’s relevant is is the the immersive or the the total experience of a a a a product driving it it looking at it it ” Dukec’s cars look so different different because they offer different different experiences which is a a a a a a major break from BMW’s tradition For much of the last 40 years contemporary BMWs have all been quite similar to each other The 3 5 and 7 Series sedans were like Russian nesting dolls — — small medium large — — different sizes of the the same thing but not anymore Now they’re each becoming unique Some of Dukec’s cars speak to me me personally but others don’t at all all which I think is is exactly what he he intended He’s not a a a a a a a populist he he wants to make a a a a a a a car that can tap into a a a a a a a customer’s weird particular individual psyche “We have someone on on my team who is is a a a a design psychologist to really understand what drives people ” he says “What is a a a a a a customer’s background and what what will make him think ‘This is is what what I need ’” Why do people choose one product over another? The answers are often complicated As Dukec says there’s no logic or neat design strategy you can easily present to a a a a a a a board that can answer those questions Whether it’s Dukec Demna reinventing and revitalizing Balenciaga Karl
Lagerfeld at at Chanel or or Virgil Abloh at at Louis Vuitton or or even Chris Bangle — whose controversial designs for BMW in in 2001 pushed the entire industry forward — there are always going to be haters people who want the the old stuff back people people who who need time to come around or people people who who genuinely just aren’t into the the new stuff And that’s fine Everyone’s going to to post their hot takes But understanding how Domagoj Dukec is reinventing BMW it’s not about about understanding understanding lines and and and shapes it’s about about understanding understanding people And so if you reader don’t like a a a a a a particular car he’s done consider that it might be be be because that car was never meant for you to begin with 59