You’ve seen car interiors inspired by luxury lounges and high-end tech — but how about your favorite pair of sneakers?
That’s exactly the vibe Polestar went for in designing the cabin of its new Polestar 4 coupe SUV. The electric performance brand teamed up with the Swedish School of Textiles to create a sporty, modern interior that looks and feels like it belongs in a high-end sneaker store.
Seriously. The seats are wrapped in a custom 3D-knit material inspired by athletic footwear — the kind you’d find in Nike Flyknits or Adidas Ultraboosts. The texture, the structure, even the way it hugs the seat’s curves — all of it was designed to mimic the layered, breathable, precision-fit fabric we’ve come to expect from high-performance shoes.
“We loved the 3D knit appearance that originated from sneakers, and we wanted to see if we could translate it to an upholstery for our seats,” said Komal Singh, Color, Material & Finish Design Expert at Polestar, in an interview with TopSpeed.
It wasn’t easy. Automotive suppliers didn’t have the machines or experience to work with sneaker-style knits. So Polestar looked outside the usual suspects and found the expertise they needed in the world of fashion and athletic wear.
The result? Upholstery that’s not just cool to look at, but also sustainable and smart. Instead of cutting fabric from big rolls (which leads to waste), the new process knits the material into shape, reducing excess and creating a sleeker, more tailored look.
Of course, Polestar didn’t stop at the seats. The same vibe carries over to the door panels, where a “Tech Knit” speaker mesh adds texture and visual flair. It’s a material developed from scratch with help from textile engineers and takes design cues from premium headphones. Bonus: it also doubles as a diffuser for ambient lighting, casting a soft glow throughout the cabin.
“We ended up adding a special monofilament yarn with a certain translucency and thickness that perfectly delivered the refined look we desired,” said Singh.
This is the kind of forward-thinking design that blends performance, sustainability, and streetwear aesthetics into something you actually want to spend time in. It’s not just about saving the planet (though the use of recycled PET certainly helps). It’s about crafting an interior that feels fresh — like it was made for people who care just as much about style as performance.
So yeah, the Polestar 4 isn’t just electric under the hood. It’s rocking a pretty slick pair of kicks on the inside too.
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