All Rise

ALEXANDRE ARNAULT WAS JUST 24 WHEN HE WAS APPOINTED AS THE CEO OF MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR LUGGAGE MANUFACTURER RIMOWA. BUT HIS AGE IS DISPROPORTIONATE TO WHAT HE’S ACHIEVED PROFESSIONALLY SINCE THEN – AND WHAT HE’S SET OUT TO DO NEXT

- Varun Godinho

IF THERE’S ONE THING THAT DEFINES Alexandre Arnault’s approach to business, it is this: Controlled risk-taking.

Shortly after taking over as CEO of the luxury luggage manufacturer Rimowa at the age of 24 in January 2017, he decided that legacy wasn’t going to be the guiding principle of his management of a brand that was almost 120-years-old at the time, and was only ever managed by the founding family in all those decades.

Never mind that the then chief executive of Rimowa, Dieter Morszeck – the grandson of the founder – was leading the company for more than two decades before Arnault was even born.

“We used to have 16 different suitcase sizes for one line – from a small cabin to large check-in luggage. In those 16 sizes, six-seven were selling, the others weren’t. It was an operational nightmare, so we decided to rationalize the number of suitcase sizes from 16 to seven.

“That was a big risk to take because we were giving our clients less freedom but more advice into what they needed to buy and so they were left less confused. That was a big risk, but was very controlled,” Arnault explains to Gulf Business.

Need another example of his bold-faced decisionmaking? Consider that much-hyped Rimowa x Supreme collaboration last year. While Supreme was a cool millennial-focused streetwear brand, Arnault – himself a millennial – risked significant blowback by attempting to very quickly recast a youthful image for a brand that was considered slightly old-school back then.