The Invictus 370 GT took the yachting world by storm when it was presented at the 2016 Cannes Yachting Festival. With its sculpted hull, distinctive reverse bow, elegant interior and choice of layout, the award-winning yacht offered a level of innovation and sophistication, comfort and performance, completely new in its size category.
Now Invictus Yacht has taken this philosophy a step further. The new 370 GT Special Edition takes all these distinguishing features, but adds another layer of exclusivity with interior decor and furnishings revisited by the famous fashion stylist Anna Fendi.
The project started during a chance meeting between Anna Fendi and Christian Grande, the principle designer of the Invictus range. They discovered they shared the same creative sensibilities and the ideas started to flow. From this aesthetic alchemy, a new project was born that took the 370 GT as its starting point. Conceived as a deluxe daybout for overnight cruising, the series model can just as well serve as a superyacht tender or chase boat. The challenge was how to bring something extra to the original design that would appeal to clients with even more discerning tastes.
“The Special Edition emerged from an exchange of creative ideas between myself and Anna Fendi,” says Christian Grande. “The resulting alchemy combined both our styles in perfect harmony and the end product is a truly beautiful yacht that responds to a specific niche in the market.”
Among the four layout options available, the arrangement with a forward dinette and a full-beam owner’s cabin was selected as the most suitable for the 370 GT Special Edition. But the already distinctive style of the series has been transformed by introducing a subtle colour palette of contrasting black and white tones for the furnishings and fabrics.
A wide variety of opaque and polished finishes add warmth and texture to the monochrome tones. The black surfaces, for example, are metallic chromed using a special Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) process that deposits a nickel film onto the substrate. A velvety ivory finish, on the other hand, has been applied to the furniture pieces of pale Tanganyika White frisé that highlights the softness of the wood. This black and white theme continues in the soft furnishings and fabrics, from the day sofa in warm, ivory white chenille, to the linen drapes bordered in dark leather.
Other Anna Fendi hallmarks include the design motifs borrowed from leather goods and travel cases. The wardrobe in the owner’s cabin is styled to resemble a classic travel case and finished in a combination of nappa and glossy black leather with metallic detailing. The dinette furniture is styled in similar fashion with storage for wine bottles, glassware and bespoke tableware, typical of the Anna Fendi Collection, under its lifting top. A final touch is the mirrored forward bulkhead with a metal framework of black nickel that pays tribute to the Villa Laetitia boutique hotel refurbished by Anna Fendi.
The same style and attention to detail extends to the exterior cockpit where the teak decking with ivory caulking is laid out in a herring-bone pattern, and the sofas are decorated with black leather belts and buckles embossed with the Anna Fendi signature. Last but not least guaranteed to turn heads, is the ivory white livery of the hull with its strip windows and topsides bordered in black.
“This delicate marriage of tones and textures, materials and finishes, exudes the Anna Fendi style,” says Christian Grande. “It really is a Special Edition.”
“In decorating this yacht I started thinking of travel as a concept, and I was inspired by old steamer trunks in parchment and Bulgarian leather”, said Anna Fendi. “Following a precise color scheme and using materials not usually found in the yachting world, I tried to decorate this little sea-borne jewel in a very special way and with a strong personality. I’ve always adored yachts of this size, they have an intrinsic sense of proportion, with an intimate and adventurous feel. With Christian we tried to study every single detail and create something beautiful and very functional.”