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Travel and hospitality

Rimowa highlights eccentricities of escape in ‘New Horizons’ film series

January 20, 2023

New digital entries have arrived, shot in a style wholly emblematic of the brand. Image credit: Rimowa New digital entries have arrived, shot in a style wholly emblematic of the brand. Image credit: Rimowa

 

LVMH-owned German luggage brand Rimowa is speaking the language of travel.

New digital entries have arrived, shot in a style wholly emblematic of the brand. Weaving product subtly throughout, works titled “Sea Ranch” and “Deer Ocean River Run” showcase the spoils of simple adventures — road trips, nature walks and cabin stays included.

Enriching excursions
The most recent of Rimowa’s digital drops features a road trip to remember.

Just 41 seconds in duration, a couple’s journey to a Northern California seaside community is captured by Los Angeles-based director, editor and fashion photographer Dustin Tan.

Its contents position the brand’s distinctive aluminum suitcases as perfect companions to the video’s cast of wandering characters.

At its start, a woman emerges from her home, her Rimowa in hand.

Rimowa's “Sea Ranch” film

A subsequent scene features the pair’s drive over — viewers get an initial feel for the suitcase’s durability, as the luxury transporter appears stacked among additional items in a packed rear seat. Vignettes of a hazy mountainside frame the piece.

The clip progresses as the two arrive at their cozy dwelling. The man of the pair is seen carrying his lightweight portmanteau, the brand’s signature Cabin, which can run its owner $1,400 for an Original base model, $1,500 for a Cabin Plus suitcase to upward of $2,400 for a Trunk XL option.

The suitcase makes its way up a set of steps with ease as the young couple gets situated, and what is a nighttime arrival quickly flashes to the next day's happenings.

Suitcase-on-bed faux pas aside, a brief morning unpacking session allows audiences to observe how the product’s zippered and velcroed compartments work.

Height adjustable and made of cotton, the brand’s “Flex Dividers” claim to keep items in perfect order while the unit's owner travels freely.

The remainder of the film acts as an ode to the outdoors. The pair trek across cavernous coastal settings and beachy lands.

Rimowa even throws in a portable variety at one point — the Polycarbonate Cross-Body Bag and its adjustable leather body strap, both engineered in Germany, is worn in Black and retails for $1,275.

In a near-final shot, its main character closes the car trunk on his suitcase, signaling the getaway’s end.

Rimowa's “deer ocean river run” video

An October video, this one shot by filmmaker and photographer Kersti Jan Werdal, connects to its predecessor in theme and follows a similar format — a cast of young people set off to explore the Olympic Mountains, as well as the Olympic Peninsula’s waterfalls and Washington state’s dunes, located on the Oregon Pacific coastline.

A wider assortment of styles and colorways are shown this time around, amid a plot no less eventful, of course.

New frontier
Featured throughout are selections from the brand’s product range, which centers on innovation and high-tech functionality.

Rimowa is credited with creating the world’s first ever polycarbonate suitcase, its instantly-recognizable ridges rising to become a travel hit among the luxury crowd.

The brand's latest set of spots focus on more realistic product positioning.

Grainy footage suggests the spot is either shot on film or treated with a special vintage application in postproduction. Expensive studio slots are swapped for America’s natural landscapes.

Whereas previous campaigns — Rimowa’s global ‘new era” effort of 2021 included partnerships with Patti Smith, Rihanna, LeBron James and Roger Federer (see story), while previous luxury collaborators include the likes of Italian fashion label Fendi (see story) — have provided greater illusions of glamour, so to speak, the brand’s “Horizons Series” seems to embrace a more pared down approach.

In a slight departure from associations of grandeur, herein and simply put, leisure is the new luxury.