Rolls-Royce has unveiled something you don’t see every day: five one-off Black Badge Cullinan commissions created with contemporary artist Cyril Kongo. Each SUV starts from the same brief, but no two are alike. Instead, each one is individually hand-finished with Kongo’s artwork, turning the interior into a moving canvas.
The project was developed through Rolls-Royce Private Offices in Goodwood, New York and Seoul, which increasingly act as global hubs for highly tailored commissions.
At the centre of it all is Kongo’s “Kongoverse” — a visual language built around imagined worlds, symbols and abstract references drawn from urban art culture.
Inside the Cullinan, that translates into a full interior treatment across surfaces such as the Starlight Headliner, fascia, picnic tables and the rear cabin “Waterfall” panel. The result is not a themed trim package, but five distinct artistic interpretations built on a shared design base.
What makes this collaboration stand out is how closely Kongo worked with Rolls-Royce. Rather than being an outside consultant, he was embedded directly into the Bespoke Collective at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, working alongside designers, engineers and craftspeople.
With his own dedicated studio space, he hand-painted each component while the Rolls-Royce team integrated his work into the car’s construction.
Inside each Cullinan, colour acts as a structural element rather than decoration. A black base is broken up by four defined zones: Phoenix Red for the driver, Turchese for the front passenger, and Forge Yellow and Mandarin across the rear.
These tones appear in the stitching, piping, seat inserts, monograms and carpets, and continue into exterior details such as brake callipers and coachlines, linking the design across the entire vehicle.
One of the focal points is the Starlight Headliner, where Kongo layered imagined constellations, planetary forms and mathematical references over a fibre-optic night sky. Each car contains 1,344 individual “stars”, which were mapped by Kongo before being hand-installed by artisans.
The ceiling also features multiple colour settings and includes a continuous shooting-star effect that runs the full length of the roof.
The artwork continues across the interior wood surfaces, forming a single connected composition. Furthermore, nineteen veneered panels were hand-painted using airbrush and brush techniques before being sealed with multiple layers of lacquer. This approach keeps the detail intact while giving the finish the durability expected in a Rolls-Royce cabin.
Outside, each car wears a Blue Crystal over Black finish that shifts tone depending on the light. A new Gradient Coachline debuts here, transitioning between colours along each side of the vehicle, while Kongo’s signature “tag” motif appears both on the exterior and in interior embroidery. Even the brake callipers are colour-matched, extending the design language into the wheels.
The project also reflects how Rolls-Royce is using its Private Office network. These invitation-only spaces act as regional design studios where client tastes and cultural influences feed directly into Bespoke commissions. In this case, they helped shape a project that sits at the intersection of contemporary art and ultra-luxury automotive design.
Kongo’s background in street art is key to understanding the appeal. Starting out in graffiti before moving into global art and design collaborations, his current work spans everything from luxury objects to large-scale installations. This Cullinan project reflects how street art aesthetics have moved further into the mainstream of high-end collecting.
It also arrives as Black Badge marks its 10th anniversary in 2026. First launched in 2016 as a more expressive, performance-led version of Rolls-Royce, the sub-brand has since evolved into a platform for more experimental design. These five commissions push that idea further, blending contemporary art with one of the brand’s most recognisable models.