Milan Design Week 2025: Cupra finds an unusual way to show it’s serious about design

Cupra is extending its design thinking to other products… and it makes me wonder, why aren’t other car brands doing the same?

Walking past Cupra’s installations in central Milan, I had to double-check I was in the right place. No cars prominently displayed? A chair made of parametric materials? 3D-printed shoes? This wasn’t your typical automotive brand presence… and that was precisely the point.

But first things first: who exactly are Cupra? Created in 2018, this Spanish automotive brand was spun off as a standalone performance brand from SEAT, which itself is part of the Volkswagen Group. Over the last seven years, they’ve been developing a distinctive range of vehicles, blending performance with contemporary design, and with a strong focus on electrification.

This month, they’ve pushed things forward by unveiling the Cupra Design House; a completely new division that takes the company’s design philosophy beyond cars and into lifestyle products, collaborations and conceptual pieces. It’s a bold move that positions Cupra not just as a car maker but as a design-led brand, with a distinctive aesthetic that can translate across categories.

The timing isn’t accidental: the launch took place as part of Milan Design Week, where Creative Boom is out in force. I got an invite, and found it the perfect occasion to talk about Cupra’s design philosophy and how they’re putting it into practice.

“At Cupra we use design to dare to challenge,” said Ignasi Prieto, chief brand officer, at the event. “The Cupra Design House is a testament to our obsession with design—an obsession that extends beyond the world of automotive into the realms of creativity, innovation and human connection.”

That’s quite a statement of intent, but the brand is backing it up with actual products and prototypes. The Design House sits on three pillars: Cupra Collection (lifestyle products), Cupra Collabs (partnerships) and Cupra Beyond (experimental design pieces).

From car seats to actual seats

Perhaps the most striking exhibit was a sculptural lounge chair that clearly draws inspiration from Cupra’s automotive DNA. The seat reinterprets the brand’s design language with what they call an “under skin parametric evolution”—essentially creating the effect of skin stretched over bones, with the entire colour palette drawn directly from Cupra’s distinctive bronze and copper tones.

Jorge Diez, chief design officer of the Cupra Design House, explained that this chair embodies their design principles while pushing into new territory. It’s a conceptual piece for now, but it demonstrates how automotive design thinking can cross into different types of objects entirely.

More immediately tangible were several collaborative pieces that you’ll actually be able to buy. Cupra has partnered with 3D printing pioneers Zellerfeld to create trainers that showcase the parametric design language that’s become part of Cupra’s identity. These shoes were made available immediately after the Milan reveal; a sign that this isn’t just conceptual posturing but a genuine retail strategy.

Another collaboration with Barcelona-based brand MAM has produced a multi-functional vest with what they describe as a “Neo Pen touch and feel”: the headline is that it blends a hoodie vest with an integrated backpack. These products will come to market in September as part of a larger collection. Meanwhile the adaptive knitting pieces on display, designed to function as a “second skin”, will inspire a forthcoming activewear collection set to launch at the end of 2025.

Fishing nets to suitcases

At the launch, we also heard about a collaboration that hadn’t been previously trailed: a partnership with Harper Collective to create a range of sustainable luxury luggage pieces. They’re made from fishing nets recovered from Italian coastlines, and the Century Bronze finish changes colour depending on the light; mimicking leather while actually being made from recycled plastics. Co-founder Sebastian Manes explained how their approach perfectly aligns with Cupra’s. “Our philosophy is all about taking trash and turning it into something beautiful and functional,” he said. “We see the future of how you can forage trash and turn it into something that you have no idea was trash in the first place.”

Beyond the products, Cupra also showcased what they call a “sensorial capsule”; essentially a vision of future car interiors where the vehicle is “considered not so much like a machine, but more like an alive entity with its own soul,” as Francesca Sangalli, creative head of the CUPRA Design House, put it.

This capsule aims to highlight the emotional connection between driver and car: a binomial relationship where the materials and features are orchestrated to enhance functionality while maximising emotional response through all five senses.

What’s the point?

The obvious question is why a relatively young automotive brand would invest in creating lifestyle products, rather than focusing solely on cars.

There’s precedent, of course. Porsche Design has been expanding that iconic brand’s design philosophy beyond cars since 1972. BMW Designworks has created everything from subway trains to gaming computers. But those brands had decades of heritage before branching out.

For Cupra, this expansion seems like a brave strategic move to rapidly establish a design identity that transcends vehicles. The brand has already sold over 800,000 cars in its seven-year existence—not an insignificant achievement—but clearly sees design as a way to build recognition and desirability beyond traditional automotive channels.

As Cecilia Taïeb, chief operating officer of the Cupra Design House, explained: “The Cupra Design House is where we will come together with creatives and brands who share our vision to use design to challenge conventions and embrace the unknown.”

What’s particularly interesting is how Cupra is focusing on collaborations with smaller, independent brands rather than just creating branded merchandise. By partnering with companies like MAM, Zellerfeld and Harper Collective, they’re connecting with established design communities who already have credibility in their respective fields.

This approach allows Cupra to extend its reach while learning from specialists—a smart move for a brand still establishing its own design credentials outside automotive.

Leading with design, not engineering

While other car brands tend to lead with engineering prowess or performance metrics, Cupra is taking a decidedly different approach. By establishing design as its primary value, it’s positioning itself in a space where visual and emotional connections matter more than technical specs.

It’s a risky strategy, but one that could pay off as car brands increasingly need to differentiate themselves beyond traditional selling points. As vehicles become more similar in their technical capabilities, particularly with electrification, design and brand identity are likely to become more crucial differentiators.

The question remains, of course, whether consumers will embrace Cupra as a lifestyle brand rather than just a car manufacturer. But by making actual, purchasable products rather than just concepts, the company is putting real commitment behind its design ambitions.

Their rivals should take note—this might be exactly the kind of diversification strategy needed in an industry facing massive disruption. Cupra may be showing us that the future of automotive brands lies in becoming design houses first, and car companies second.