Few people know that Hajime Sorayama once dreamed of becoming a pilot in his youth. The Japanese artist, internationally renowned for his "Sexy Robot" series, created a 12-meter mirrored robot sculpture for Dior's 2019 Pre-Fall menswear show and designed a custom helmet for F1 driver Lewis Hamilton. This time, what awaited him wasn't a runway, but an entire Airbus A350-1000 flagship widebody aircraft. STARLUX Airlines' gold-and-silver "STARLUX AIRSORAYAMA" jets officially took flight on July 12, piloted by Chairman K.W. Chang himself on a route to Tokyo. Sorayama personally inspected the finished work in Tokyo—what he called the largest-scale project of his career.
"It's not as simple as just painting the plane gold and silver—an enormous amount of effort went into this behind the scenes," said Chang. The project brought together four parties: STARLUX Airlines from Taiwan, Airbus from France, artist Hajime Sorayama from Japan, and Pantone, the American color institute. That lineup alone signals this is far more than a simple livery collaboration.
How to Achieve a Metallic Look Without Metallic Paint
Gold and silver are the two colors Sorayama has prioritized most throughout his career, and this time he wanted an effect that was "100% radiant—almost too dazzling to look at directly." The challenge: aviation coatings can't use metallic pigments that might interfere with aircraft performance. So Pantone didn't just mix colors—they engineered light itself, developing two exclusive shades for the project: Airsorayama Gold and Airsorayama Silver. The key technology lies in mica-effect pigments, which coat the pigment surface with metal oxides to reflect light, creating a shifting, dimensional sheen across the fuselage depending on the viewing angle. The entire paint job took 16 professional painters 20 days to complete.
Kōki as Ambassador: Sexy Robot Dons the Flight Attendant Uniform
STARLUX invited Kōki to star in the campaign film, lending the collaboration a layer of international flair and fashion sensibility through her global perspective. Equally noteworthy is the in-flight safety video—helmed by Spanish visual production studio SAUVAGE.TV—which dresses Sorayama's iconic Sexy Robot in a STARLUX flight attendant uniform, reimagining the safety demonstration through 3D CGI and motion capture technology. Cabin elements like seats and electronic devices have also been redesigned to exclusive AIRSORAYAMA specifications.
The two jets will be deployed on routes to Tokyo, Phoenix, and Prague. Exclusive in-flight amenities will launch on October 1, including boarding passes, name tags, paper cups, and napkins—all personally overseen by Sorayama to carry through the gold-and-silver design language. Long-haul economy and premium economy passengers will also receive exclusive overnight kits. For travelers seeking a more immersive experience, there's an in-flight-only signature cocktail called "Sorayama Special—Mirror Sky," made with gin and sweet white wine as a base, blended with pear, lychee, and lemon, resulting in a pale golden hue.
"Flying isn't just for the wealthy anymore, like it used to be," said Chang. "Today, air travel has become a basic mode of transportation that everyone can enjoy. What STARLUX wants to do is make the flying experience different—not just getting passengers from point A to point B, but giving the journey itself more depth and value."
