RimowaCopied

Paul Morszeck founded Rimowa in Cologne in 1898, and its grooved aluminium cases made it a cult brand. LVMH bought it in January 2017, an acquisition pushed by Alexandre Arnault, son of LVMH chief Bernard Arnault, who became joint chief executive alongside the founder's grandson Dieter Morszeck before taking over day-to-day running. For the 120th anniversary in 2018, he rejected a single party as outdated and planned a year of taking a fresh look at the brand, Wallpaper reported, bringing in Hector Muelas as chief brand officer.

Early in 2018 Rimowa unveiled a new logo, monogram and packaging. It's Nice That reported that the rebrand was led internally by Arnault and Muelas, with Bureau Borsche designing the wordmark and Commission Studio developing the monogram, typeface, pattern, palette and packaging. The new wordmark replaced the former pill-shaped frame and rounded letters with a slim, utilitarian sans serif, WWD noted.

The monogram looks back to when the company was called Paul Morszeck & Co. Commission said its two vertices reflect the spires of Cologne Cathedral, wrapped in the soft radius of a Rimowa case, as a reminder of the brand's manufacturing history and ties to the city. Patterns echo the grooves on the cases. The packaging, from dust bags to owner manuals, was meant to match the quality of the luggage, and WWD reported a second phase applying the identity across all products, alongside a push into e-commerce and pop-ups.

Wallpaper's profile explains the conviction behind it. Arnault, then 25, had used a matte black Salsa case since moving to New York for an internship at 17 or 18, and recalled that his family was not happy when he travelled with it until they looked closely at the craft. When Louis Vuitton began modernising its own luggage with lighter, four-wheeled models, Rimowa's skills became clear, and the purchase followed two years of negotiation. The magazine opened in the Cologne factory, where a worker opens, closes and hammers a case until it is perfectly balanced. That is the real brand, and the quiet wordmark is wise enough to let it speak.

Arnault told WWD he expected Rimowa to reach a billion euros in sales in the medium term.

The new wordmark is close to anonymous, in line with the wider fashion trend for plain sans serifs, and it gave up some charm. The monogram and grooves carry the character instead. As a luxury reset it worked; for collaborations and hype, a blank wordmark is the point.