10 Questions With…Cadillac Design Lead Mara Kapsis

View of the 2025 Cadillac OPTIQ interior in Autumn Canyon, featuring the 33-inch-diagonal interface and display with 9K resolution.

When it comes to crafting the interiors of Cadillac’s latest electric vehicles, Mara Kapsis, a designer with more than 15 years of experience working with textiles, takes the lead. A key contributor to Cadillac’s interior materials strategy development, Kapsis is intentional about the textiles she uses in the brand’s vehicles, often sourcing with sustainability top of mind before any sketches begin. Materials aren’t applied at the end—they’re a big part of the design process. At the moment, she’s focused on softer materials and how to incorporate more unique textiles and colors into each build.

For Kapsis, the auto industry has always offered space to explore her craft. She graduated from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, with a bachelor’s degree in textile design and began her career with General Motors, Holden, in Australia in 2009 as an intern. Then she transitioned into a role as the color, materials, and finishes creative designer at GM Holden before joining the GM, North American team where she held roles as Chevrolet’s CMF creative designer and Cadillac’s CMF lead creative designer. In 2022, Kapsis was promoted to her current role as Cadillac’s color, materials, and finishes design manager for global exterior color. Her recent accomplishments include becoming the CMF design lead for the Cadillac Inner Space concept vehicle, 2024 Cadillac XT4 refresh, and the all-new Cadillac OPTIQ EV.

So how does a design lead for a major automotive brand stay ahead of the curve? Kapsis and her design team trend forecast four years out as they begin development and attend design events across industries to look for fresh inspiration. For instance, Kapsis made her way to Milan Design Week this year. Currently, her team is working on vehicles for 2028.

Here, Kapsis discusses her design process, the sustainable materials that go into each vehicle, how she creates innovative designs with an eye toward the future.

Portrait of Mara Kapsis.

Mara Kapsis Explains Her Foray Into Textiles + Automotive Design

Interior Design: What’s your background?

Mara Kapsis: I grew up in Australia and have always had a passion for design, but it wasn’t until university that I discovered that this passion could be channeled into automotive design. The traditional career path for someone with my degree would more likely have been fashion or homeware design, which I absolutely love, but it wasn’t my final calling. My career with General Motors (GM) began as part of an internship at Holden (formerly GM Holden) in 2009 and I’ve been with the company ever since. My first role was as a color, materials, and finishes creative designer at Holden until 2012 when I moved to the U.S. to take on the role of CMF Creative. I am so happy I landed at GM; it’s the most exciting time to be in the auto industry.

ID: How about educationally?

MK: Throughout high school, I was always interested in art and design—and especially textiles. After graduating, I first completed a diploma in Studio Textile at RMIT’s School of Fashion and Textiles in Melbourne. The course focused on hands-on technical skill development, and I majored in screen print and minored in weaving. It was a creative time where I was able to explore the textile discipline, from designing and printing yardage to weaving art works. Following this, received my Bachelor of Arts in Textile Design at RMIT where I was able to go deeper into the design process and open my world to new pathways, including automotive.

Head-on view of 2025 Cadillac OPTIQ in Monarch Orange, featuring Cadillac vertical lighting signature, sleek LED headlamps and the black crystal shield grille design.

ID: How did you get into textile design?

MK: My maternal and paternal grandmothers were both amazing craftspeople and my mum [still sews]—I was lucky enough to grow up surrounded by textiles through their work. I also have lots of memories of ruffling through tins of buttons and fabric remnants. My grandmothers both created beautiful embroideries, so textiles was a natural career path for me. In addition, I had a wonderful high school teacher in textiles who was instrumental in encouraging an artistic perspective. Naturally, I’ve always seen the value in textile design in storytelling when applied in interior design and fashion.

ID: How did you transition to automobile design?

MK: While studying for my bachelor’s degree, I took part in an industry project with GM that opened my eyes to automotive color, materials, and finish design. Before that, I didn’t even know it existed! I was selected for a yearlong student co-op program with GM Holden in Australia in 2009. Following this, I stayed on as a CMF Designer until 2012. After running a small business designing and printing homewares, I moved to Detroit to join the GM North American team in 2015, and started with the Chevrolet team. In some of my most recent roles, I have been CMF Lead Creative Designer at Cadillac—working on cars such as the all-electric Cadillac OPTIQ—and I am currently the CMF Design Manager for Advanced CMF and Global Exterior Color across various GM brands.

View of the 2025 Cadillac OPTIQ interior in Autumn Canyon, featuring the 33-inch-diagonal interface and display with 9K resolution.

ID: What does your work encompass? What’s an average day for you?

MK: There is no such thing as an average day I suppose! Our work can be anything from researching trends, meetings with suppliers, and working with our fabrication team to build properties and concepts, to designing colors and patterns. We’re so lucky to have our days filled with beautiful samples of color, materials, and finishes. Then, we have the practical side of getting those samples ready for production by partnering with the engineering, marketing, and purchasing teams.

ID: Who are your architecture and design influences, and why? And where else do you find inspiration?

MK: I take inspiration from many sources—from textile, interiors, architecture, and colors. I love interior design and spaces, and I am inspired by designers like Kelly Wearstler, who brings together materials and finishes in such a thoughtful and artistic way. As a textile person, I adore all things Marimekko— their prints are playful yet sophisticated and their use of color combinations is always beautiful. I also admire the mid-century icons who played such an important role in the history of design, including at GM, like Eero Saarinen, Florence Knoll, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Alexander Girard.

Our design team is always keeping in mind the Cadillac brand statements and our heritage cues. The team recently designed the Cadillac SOLLEI concept vehicle, pulling on Cadillac’s heritage bold colors “Manila Cream”, originally used in 1957 and 1958 Cadillacs, and staying true to today’s trends with this year’s butter yellow trend we saw across fashion, interiors, and beauty.

Birds eye view of Cadillac SOLLEI concept vehicle with bespoke Sola Yellow Iridescent interior.

ID: How do you see the nexus of sustainable interior design and automotive design developing with electric vehicles?

MK: Sustainable and authentic materials are being woven into Cadillac’s design language. Electrification has allowed us to reimagine how we approach designing vehicles. We’re always seeking to use authentic materials that are expressive, bold, and artfully designed for the luxury consumer. For example, in OPTIQ, we took a unique approach to our materials and colors. The interior features a patterned fabric along the top of the door, into the instrument panel upper corner, midsection, and console sides. Woven from 100% recycled yarn, this is an example of how we are integrating sustainable materials with an artful mindset. In color, we accented door map pockets, the glove box and bins with a bold and expressive Santorini blue accent color also in a material with recycled content—ensuring a common thread through color, material, and finish. We also focused our efforts on color pairing in the OPTIQ to evoke an emotional response from a driver. As an example, navy blue leather pairs with a blue version of the textile fabric.

ID: What are the upcoming sustainable textile and material trends you see as crucial in the evolution of automotive interior design?

MK: As a CMF Designer, we focus on innovative materials and materials that are more consciously and sustainably developed. This is an essential part of our design process, and we continue to discover new ways to integrate unique and thoughtful materials. The evolution of the automotive industry is well underway in vehicles. As an example, we incorporated a decoration we call PaperWood in the all-new Cadillac OPTIQ. This material is made out of tulipwood and recycled newspaper, and was used in areas such as the cupholder. If you look closely, you can read the newspaper print. In other interiors, you’ll find an encapsulated fabric woven from 100% recycled yarn.

View of driver’s seat in 2025 Cadillac OPTIQ with Sky Cool Gray interior.

ID: Where will the industry be 10 years from now? What will be the capabilities of the cars you’ll be designing and the materials you’ll be using?

MK: One of the biggest areas of opportunities is what does design look like when the driver’s primary responsibility is no longer actively driving the vehicle. This is a big question our team is looking to answer as hands-free driving technology improves and becomes more readily available. What this will look like exactly is still to be determined, but I predict that eco-conscious design will continue as well as the desire for quality and beautiful colors, materials, and finishes. As an example of how we’ve taken steps toward tech-forward design in the Cadillac LYRIQ and many other Cadillac models, we offer a variety of technologies and innovations pushing the boundaries in car tech. Features like Super Cruise, a hands-free driver assistance technology, as well as pillar to pillar infotainment screens play a role in how designers approach interiors and fit with the bigger picture of the car’s interior. As these technologies progress, there is an opportunity for our design teams to take things to the next level.

ID: What’s next for you professionally? Where do you go from here?

MK: Wow, that’s a big question. In short, my hope is to stay at GM and be a part of the incredible transformation the automotive industry is undergoing. Technological advancements in materials engineering are allowing us to explore materials and finishes that would not have been possible five years ago. It’s really exciting.

Mara Kapsis’ personal interior passion work.