Where Does A Continuous Line End?

Emelie De Vitis - RIMOWA's senior vice-president of products & marketing - gives a glimpse into the brand's true purpose with collaborations and how it evokes more opportunities to improve innovation and quality in a post-pandemic climate at the recent RIMOWA SEIT 1898 exhibition in Tokyo.

- Manfred Lu

Often, a luxury brand rockets to the top of fashion news with a new collaboration. It typically transpires as such: the partnerships commonly in the form of accessories made in tandem with a high-street brand - make their first appearance in a fashion show. Such announcements leave just enough imagination for the general public to contemplate before its actual release months later, where it will sell out in a guaranteed sweep. Today, collaborations are no more than gambits in luxury retailing; everyone appears to be in on it. Why not? The incentives outweigh the challenges. But at the heightened rate where such partnerships have become the "expected", the term collab (short for collaboration) might have become no more than an inflated buzzword. It begs the question: could all the possibilities have been exhausted now?

However, RIMOWA makes a strong case against this. Having worked on collaborations before they became commonplace for most brands, diversifying through partnerships was about something other than trends or survival. Instead, they have weaved the importance of collaborations by writing it in its codes - a move supported by their relationship with creatives who have helped pivot the brand to its cult-like status. With these associations, RIMOWA wields it to its power. By offering their products as canvases with an unrestricted brief to established figures and brands green-lit by the pop culture scene, RIMOWA has amplified their most famous product the aluminium & polycarbonate suitcases - to much widespread success. Some are high-profile, others gratifyingly disruptive - their most successful ventures include Supreme, Off-White, and most importantly, Dior.