Mercedes-AMG Teamed Up With a Viral Art Collective on Weird Car-Inspired Furniture

Miami Herald

17-05-2025

To many bona fide car enthusiasts around the world, Mercedes-Benz's high-performance division, AMG, is primarily known for powerful and fast versions of vehicles from the three-pointed star. However, its latest collaboration explores a creative junction that transcends its reputation for sheer speed.
As part of its efforts for the 2025 NYCxDesign Festival, AMG was recruited to work with the provocative and controversial artist collective MSCHF (pronounced as 'mischief) on a collection of conceptual avant-garde art pieces.
Titled "MSCHF x AMG: Not for Automotive Use," the Brooklyn-based artists collaborated with the high-performance brand on a collection of pieces that incorporate aesthetic elements and actual components from Mercedes-AMG cars into the design of some modern furniture pieces, including chairs, lamps, and even trash bins. But if you were thinking something akin to IKEA, Herman Miller, or even the home collections of Bentley or Bugatti, think again. These pieces are more akin to sculptures that belong in the Whitney or MoMA than any multi-million-dollar high-rise penthouse.
The "Not for Automotive Use" collection consists of nine individual items, including:
Seatbelt Shelf - an aluminum 5-tier shelf stabilized by five double-ended sets of seatbelts in AMG red and yellow, which can be independently clipped and unclipped to maintain even tension.Seatbelt Light - A lamp made out of an aluminum frame and an AMG seatbelt. Buckling the seatbelt turns on the lamp and unbuckling it and allowing the seatbelt to spool back turns the light off.Seatbelt Chair - A steel-framed chair where AMG seatbelts are the back and bottom cushions. A single solid red seatbelt wraps around the chair frame and is clipped at the bottom of the chair.
Seatbelt Rack - Similar to the Seatbelt Shelf, this aluminum clothes rack is stabilized by five double-ended sets of AMG red and yellow seatbelts. These pair with hangers made from the seatbacks of AMG Performance seats.Grille Grill - A charcoal grille with a grilling surface shaped like a Mercedes-AMG GT radiator grille.Seatbelt Table - A dining table with an aluminum tabletop on a tubular steel base, which is detailed with a double-ended AMG seatbelt.
Headlight Couch - A 70s-styled microfiber loungeback couch designed to mimic the shape of the front end of a Mercedes-AMG GT. For the extra touch, it incorporates functional AMG GT headlights with working turn signals.Wheel Fan - A floor fan built into an actual AMG Interlagos wheel. It is also styled with yellow AMG seatbelts, which help it stick onto its milled anodized aluminum base.Headrest Chair - A task chair that incorporates three actual AMG headrests slotted onto a tubular steel frame. Inspired by a roll cage, Mercedes and MSCHF say that this piece is supportive of the thighs and lower back for a comfortable posture.
MSCHF and Mercedes-AMG claim that the pieces in the collection pay tribute to the Italian Radical Design counterculture movement of the 1960s. In this collection, Mercedes-AMG's cars are reimagined as everyday objects, and some of the pieces are inspired by the late Milanese designer Achille Castiglioni, who used tractor and bicycle seating in his designs.
The pieces in this collection will be on display at MSCHF's workshop in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, from May 15-17, marking the first time that the collective has opened its doors to the public. Accompanying this collection is a line of limited-edition apparel, including t-shirts, sweatshirts, and work pants printed with stylized high-res scans of AMG vehicle components and the AMG logo, which are available for purchase on the MSCHF website.
Buyers can purchase the furniture in "very limited quantities" on an exclusive, made-to-order basis. Prices are unknown, but according to MSCHF, all pieces will be available to order until 5/31/2025 and will take 18-36 weeks to make.
I was first made aware of this collection through a social media campaign starring storied YouTuber Casey Neistat, a filmmaker who has partnered with Mercedes-Benz and MSCHF in the past. Notably, in 2022, Neistat participated in an MSCHF experiment in which a thousand $20 keys gained access to one shared car.
MSCHF's provocative art pieces are designed for maximum virality and controversy. They were the brainchildren behind stunts like Lil Nas X's "Satan shoes," a perfume that smells like WD-40, the infamous Big Red Boots, as well as Tax Heaven 3000, an anime dating simulation video game that doubles as Turbotax-esque federal income tax return filing software.
Overall, I think the link between AMG and MSCHF is a very creative endeavour, especially given MSCHF's reputation for ruffling social, moral, and legal feathers in the past. However, given this, I think some fat-walleted AMG enthusiasts will jump at the opportunity to own one or a few of these pieces.
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