Black Badge Cullinan Celebrated In Subculture Exhibition

“The things that connect us are always more powerful than the things that separate us, and this series is a wonderful demonstration of that. I selected each subculture  because it shares the philosophies that inform the creation of a Black Badge Rolls-Royce. From the obsessive attention to detail lavished on a lowrider and visceral power of a hot rod to the bold execution of tuned imports and deeply personal customisations applied to ‘brat’-style motorcycles.” Mark Riccioni, automotive culture photographer

Rolls-Royce’s Black Badge motor cars respond to a subset of clients who connect with the marque with wilfully disruptive intentions. They seek to subvert expected codes of luxury and create highly Bespoke and unapologetic symbols of their lifestyles. Cullinan Black Badge was created for this group of remarkable men and women, many of whom have come to describe the Black Badge aesthetic and philosophy as an automotive subculture in its own right: one defined by uncompromised luxury, unrelenting power and darkness.

To celebrate the arrival of this transformative motor car, automotive culture photographer, Mark Riccioni, was invited by Rolls-Royce to create a pictorial series of Black Badge Cullinan greeting fellow automotive subcultures in Greater Los Angeles, California. Following his assemblage of these exceptional vehicles, each of which acutely represents the subculture it belongs to, he captured each encounter under the cover of darkness.

To assist with this extraordinary project, the Bespoke Collective of designers, engineers and craftspeople at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex, created a unique Recreation Module for Riccioni’s endeavour. The unit, Internally codenamed ‘Urban Photography’, was conceived to incorporate equipment specific to his photography requirements. These include a DJI Mavic Mini drone, 12.9-inch Apple iPad Pro and 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro for image capture and editing on location.

In addition, items requested by Riccioni were included, such as Sennheiser PXC550 MkII noise cancelling headphones, Persol PO3225-S sunglasses, outerwear from streetwear brand Supreme and a water bottle. The automated Recreation Module was expertly trimmed in Forge Yellow leather to match the Black Badge Cullinan’s interior colourway.