A worker intently studies an aluminium
suitcase on the assembly line at the Rimowa
factory in Cologne. He opens and closes
it repeatedly, lays it flat, pounds a hinge
with his mallet, stands it on its wheels and
starts over again. Until this bag is perfectly
balanced, it will not leave the factory. Such
labour-intensive quality has been in Rimowa’s
DNA since Paul Morszeck founded it in
Cologne in 1898.
With its immediately recognisable
aluminium cases and grooved design, Rimowa
is a cult brand, the type that bonds owners
in a kind of unspoken club. The German
company turns 120 this year, but there will beno one special event, says Alexandre Arnault,
the new 25-year-old CEO, who finds the idea
of a party ‘outdated’. Rather, it will be a whole
year of celebration, of taking a fresh look at
the suitcase brand that pioneered aluminium
and polycarbonate, and finding ‘a cool way
to remind people who we are’.
Tall, poised and impeccably dressed, fluent
in French, English and German, Arnault
is the third child of LVMH CEO Bernard
Arnault and it was his idea that the luxury
goods conglomerate acquire Rimowa. He had
been using a matte black ‘Salsa’ model since
age 17 or 18, when he moved to New York for
an internship. ‘My family wasn’t too happywhen I travelled with it,’ he recalls. ‘But when
they looked at it carefully, they understood
the beauty of the product, the craft behind it.’
The family operation has high-profile luggage
brands of its own, of course, but when Louis
Vuitton started to modernise its suitcase line
with lighter and four-wheeled models,
Rimowa’s particular set of skills became clear.
LVMH bought Rimowa in January 2017,
after two years of negotiation, and Arnault
was appointed CEO alongside Dieter
Morszeck. He has been actively shepherding
the brand ever since, with collaborations,
new stores, a pop-up, and no sign of slowing
down. ‘What I’ve learned from growing up »High rolling
A savvy CEO and a slick reboot sees luggage brand Rimowa take flight
PORTRAIT: ALBRECHT FUCHS WRITER: AMY SERAFIN130 ∑