Every RIMOWA collabs

Over the past decade, Rimowa has worked in at least twenty-two different collaborations between major artists and international fashion brands. The brand, however, was not born recently. In fact, it is older than any other brand it has ever collaborated with. It was born in 1898, in Cologne, founded by Paul Morszeck and Heinrich Gotz. After two years, only Paul remained at the helm of the luggage factory and thirty years later his son Richard changed the name of the company, until then Gortz & Morszeck, in today's Rimowa, an acronym for Richard Morszeck Warenzeichen.

The brand is famous for its aluminum suitcases, but this distinctive mark was the result of chance. In the 1930s, a fire destroyed the factory, charring all the materials inside the warehouses. Only aluminum withstood the flames and the then owner, Richard, was forced to use it to craft the suitcases. In 1937 the first metal suitcases were marketed, while in the 1950s parallel grooves along the surface were introduced, originally created to make the structure more stable and inspired by the aircrafts of the time, finally becoming an integral part identity.

In 2017, 80% of Rimowa's shares were purchased by the LMVH group for 640 million euros, making the brand the first German "member" of the group. The co-CEOs were Dieter Morszeck and Alexandre Arnault, the 25-year-old son of Bernard Arnault, director of LMVH, Europe's richest man and third richest man in the world. Even before the acquisition, the brand had dedicated itself to a large number of collaborations with companies or selected artists. With the transition of power, this trend has strengthened and Rimowa has become the protagonist of a series of illustrious partnerships.

Here are all of Rimowa's partnerships.

United Arrows X RIMOWA (2008-2017)

Eleven years ago, Rimowa teamed up with Japanese brand United Arrows to create a set of five suitcases in the "Honey Gold" colorway. This will be only the first of many collaborations that will tie the two brands and go on for a whole decade. 

The following year the two brands returned to produce a new trolley, this time made of polycarbonate, lined inside by a fabric with an all-over print. Six years later, Rimowa returned to work with the BEAUTY&YOUTH branch of United Arrows with four trolleys in a new colorway and an interior lining decorated with the Sydenham Palace print, that was also on the fabric clothing case included in the collection. Then, the partnership was joined by the American company Briefing, which produced a new black aluminum trolley and a set of five military-style handbags with matching accessories. The collection was called "Classic Flight" and had a new iteration with the black colorway that came out at the end of 2017.

A BATHING APE X RIMOWA (2008-2010)

In the same year and again with a Japanese brand, the second notable collab sees Rimowa join forces with Bape. The classic Rimowa trolley is colored by an almost invisible camo print that completely covers it. The original price of this item was 168,000 yen, more than 1600 euros.

In 2010 a new set of two trolleys was released, in the Gold and Silver colorways, decorated with camo and with the Rimowa brand in blue and black.

Solebox x RIMOWA IATA Suitcase (2009)

In 2009, the German sneaker boutique Solebox collaborated with Rimowa on the creation of the IATA Suitcase in transparent polycarbonate, a new material used by the brand that made the suitcase almost indestructible. The capacity was 35 litres and was designed to carry shoes and "exhibit" them at the same time, thanks to the transparent shell of the suitcase. The collab had a limited reissue in twenty units in the same year, with the addition of the Pro Keds brand to the equation, which transformed the trolley into packaging by selling its new sneakers directly in it.

Moncler X RIMOWA (2012-2016)

In 2012 Rimowa began its dialogue with the big European brands starting with Moncler, which customized the Topas Stealth model. The classic aluminium trolley was colored black and decorated with Moncler branding, the inner lining was quilted and a special shoe and beauty bag were included in the package. 

The two brands returned to work together for Moncler's FW13 with two limited edition trolleys, each marked by a serial number. The model was repurposed in black colorway, with quilted nylon lining and a new set of accessories that this time included an additional utility bag. In 2016 it was released in a new grey colorway with a camouflage-print inner lining.

Porsche X RIMOWA (2013-2015)

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Porsche 911, the German automaker released a limited edition trolley. The historic aluminium model was joined by angular leather finishes (the same used in the car's interior) while the inner lining was decorated with a pied-de-poule print. 

In 2015 the two brands returned to work together for the "RS 2.7" PTS Lightweight Collection in the White and Viper Green colorways, inspired by the Porsche model that gave the collection its name. Also this limited edition was of only 1973 pieces, date that recalls the release year of the RS 2.7. The peculiarity of this collection was that it was created to fit perfectly inside the hood of the Porsche.

Neville Wakefield x  RIMOWA (2014)

The artistic director and curator of Desert X, Coachella's permanent art exhibition, collaborated with Rimowa to create a limited release of forty pieces in a chrome colorway obtained through electro-polishing and anodizing processes and finishing black along the edges.

Anti Social Social Club x RIMOWA (2017)

 

In 2017, RIMOWA announced its partnership with Anti Social Social Club. This was perhaps the first time the German brand had collaborated with a famous Western streetwear brand. For the occasion, a black trolley with the branding of Anti Social Social Club in glittery pink was made. Along with the trolley, a capsule collection was also created with the same colorway..

Fendi x RIMOWA (2017-2018)

Fendi was the first brand of the LMVH group to collaborate with Rimowa. The result of the partnership was a new iteration of the classic aluminium trolley entirely covered by Fendi's monogram, with Roman leather handles and an outer closing band in yellow tones decorated with Fendi's logo. Along with the trolley, dedicated stickers and personal tags were also marketed. The following year came the second part of the drop with two new colorways (red and blue) and a reissue of the first yellow one. This release also included leather interior elements for the belts and expressed Rimowa's new visual identity with new finishing and customizable options.

Supreme X RIMOWA (2018-2019)

Released on April 12th, 2018, the collab with Supreme is perhaps the one that has popularized the German suitcase brand among the younger segments of the audience. Four metal trolleys in two sizes, 45 and 82 liters, and two colorways: a red and a black one. In 2019 the two brands renewed their partnership and released a second drop in a new black colorway with a spider canvas print recovered from Supreme's FW16.

Off-White X RIMOWA (2018)

In 2018 RIMOWA, now under the leadership of Alexandre Arnault, collaborated with Virgil Abloh's brand on the collections "Rethought Product Line", "PERSONAL BELONGINGS" and a exclusive capsule for HYPEFEST. The first collab consists of the classic transparent polycarbonate trolley, with branded accessories and new sets of handles, wheels and inner linings. In November of the same year a new edition was released, this time in aluminum printed with the words "PERSONAL BELONGINGS", with a yellow outer safety band and the Off-White nametag. The "See-Through" was instead produced for a third limited edition for HYPEFEST, which was again transparent but in two separate colorways, black and white, decorated in the inside with the symbols of the arrows and the striped logo of Off-White and with the outer yellow band.

Aesop x RIMOWA (2018)

In October 2018, RIMOWA created a limited edition aluminum box to hold bottles of Aesop's facial, body and hair products. The name of the release was the Koln Travel Kit.

Olafur Eliasson x RIMOWA (2018)

Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson created a box of 46 stickers to apply to the RIMOWA trolley in an eco-friendly box. This collab was all about sustainability, with all proceeds going to the Little Sun Foundation, a charity that brings solar energy to disadvantaged communities around the world. You can still buy them on the RIMOWA website, although the stock is limited to only 500 pieces.

AMBUSH x RIMOWA (2019)

The Japanese brand AMBUSH created, in February 2019, a set of special varnished leather handles in a limited edition and co-signed with RIMOWA to be applied to the original ones of the trolley.

Alex Israel x RIMOWA (2019)

Almost coinciding with the collaboration with AMBUSH, Arnault announced the imminent release of a set of two trolleys decorated by American artist Alex Israel ahead of the Frieze Art Fair. Inspired by West Coast sunsets, Israel created a gradient of blue and pink colors, in two colorways in which one of the two colors was preeminent. The general release took place in the summer.

Dior x RIMOWA (2019)

For the SS20 collection directed by Kim Jones, RIMOWA created a three-size trolley set and Personal Case metal bags with leather straps for Dior. All the trolleys were decorated with the Dior Oblique motif and were featured in three colorways: chrome, black and with a gradient of blue. The Personal Case bags, on the other hand, did not feature all-over decoration and had two extra colorways: blue and pink.