Bowie, The Beatles and rallying: the future of Mini design sounds interesting

As part of a BMW reshuffle back in late 2024, Oliver Heilmer moved from Mini’s design department to take up a role in which he became responsible for the look of both BMW’s M division and its compact and mid-size models.

At the same time, Holger Hampf moved from BMW Group Designworks into the hotseat at Mini, so TG thought it best to check in to see what that meant for the future of the British brand. And, well, it sounds like it should be pretty fun.

“I really hope that Mini has cultural relevance and that it brings some positivity into people's lives, especially during these times,” Hampf told TG.

“To me, Mini is not about the wildest shapes and geometries. It's a product that needs to fit into different people's lifestyles. It is an extension of certain personal expressions. And I think we can do this with a certain design that comes across as very positive, as giving you some energy as a person.

“Mini needs to remain unique and positive. It should be a relationship brand and more than a car. As difficult or ambitious as that might sound, with a brand like Mini it can work.”

Hampf originally trained as an industrial designer but says he made his way into automotive design “more by coincidence” after moving to California to join Designworks in 1998. Between 2014 and 2017 he was ‘Head of Design User Experience’ for the whole BMW Group and actually worked on Mini’s current circular infotainment screen, before a return to Designworks as the big boss for seven years.

“The long run I had at Designworks is still influencing my work at Mini,” he tells TG. “I think it’s very easy for me to take a more holistic global perspective on automotive design. Don't take it as a criticism to automotive design, but I think the creatives sometimes have a bit of tunnel vision and they care about the object, the shapes and the geometry. At Designworks we worked in sustainability, we worked for Hewlett Packard, we worked on medical products, and I think when you work as an agency on different programmes you open up.

“To give you one example, I always use this argument that in order to design a better car interior, and a better user interface in the car, it's good to know what people do in their lives when they are not in the car. So, I brought the perspective from a digital lifestyle and said this has an influence on how our cars need to be designed.”

Having joined just after Heilmer had refreshed the entire Mini lineup and introduced the Aceman, Hampf is now working on facelifts and the next generation of Minis.

“I cannot say I'm bored,” he jokes. “Mini is a brand with such a strong history and legacy.  First of all, it took me some time to really familiarise myself with that, even though I had these touchpoints before from user interface and other smaller projects. This was a real deep dive into the history of the brand.

“It’s fun to work with this history. Some might say that it ties you down, but not me. I really enjoy working with what has come before. You see this in the Deus cars – I really enjoyed studying the Monte Carlo rallies and applying that to the collaboration.”

Yep, Hampf certainly sees the value in throwing back to Mini’s rallying past. ‘The Machine’ was the internal combustion concept car created in collaboration with clothing and lifestyle brand Deus Ex Machina, and that was fitted with spotlights, massive arches and a hefty rear wing. Sounds like we’ll also see more of those collabs in the future, too.

“I think it's very fitting to Mini as a brand,” says Hampf when we ask about these joint ventures. Worth remembering that the Paul Smith Edition Cooper is now on sale, and we also saw two concept Countrymans created with Austrian design studio Vagabund recently.

“We've done some editions in the past, which have been more in-house,” says Hampf. “But we have almost forgotten that we gave David Bowie a car and asked him to do something with it. We gave The Beatles cars, we gave Kate Moss a car, and something interesting always came out of it. I want to revive that a little bit.

“Working together and collaborating is very enriching. It's a win-win situation.

“I cannot tell you any secrets, but it's very interesting to me right now to study the different eras of Mini. In the 70s, 80s and 90s, photography in the UK, black and white photography, Twiggy, David Bowie, the Beatles, all of these stars had fun living with Mini.

“I'm very much studying this right now and I like all of these aspects that created this character that is still very much alive with Mini.”