VEHICULAR KWAN-TRAPTION

Michelle Kwan has won nine US titles, five World Championships and two Olympic medals. But now she’s also earned an honor unique to any skater, ever. Michelle Kwan is the inspiration for the interior of Ford’s new Mercury MetaOne SUV.

Anthony Prozzi, Senior Creative Designer for Ford, is a self-described huge figure-skating fan, with a particular fondness for Ms. Kwan.

“Michelle Kwan is an extraordinary role model,” Prozzi praised. “Her spirit, dedication, and commitment to her sport are inspirational. Through her career, she has carried herself with such poise, she stays grounded and level-headed and knows how to put everything into perspective. Her art and athleticism are beyond words. Here is this athlete who is powerful, fast and strong. Yet everything is done with kindness, softness and ease. Whenever the pressures of my world become unbearable, I watch her performances and all the problems just go away. Michelle embodies everything we look at in car design – a stance, a pose, a line, proportion, elegance, tension, and most importantly, she transcends a mood, an emotion. She evokes such passion through her skating. It's that passion that I look to capture every time I put pen to paper. With the design of the Mercury MetaOne, I wanted an interior that is bold, but at the same time it needed to have a soft edge and a feeling of serenity. And that's what brought me back to Michelle's skate to Lyra Angelica at the '98 Nationals. There's such an overwhelming inner peace and joy to that performance, she embraced everyone who watched and carried them through her emotions. It had all the answers I needed.”

Prozzi was able to personally thank Michelle for her inspiration through a bit of small-world coincidence.

“The director of Ford's car design's wife's best friend works for Michelle's PR,” Prozzi explained. “She read all the articles and watched the TV spots where I speak of Michelle's influence and showed it to Michelle. One thing led to another, and a dream came through. To meet Michelle left me speechless. I am constantly inspired and moved by her achievements. My goal is to design a (car) interior that could only move people the way she has moved so many. Who knows maybe one day Michelle will be driving one of my cars!”