SOMETHING BLUE: Instead of teasing its latest collaboration on social media, Rimowa has hidden it like an Easter egg – in a telltale shade – in a New York exhibition that opens Friday.
The traveling showcase, dubbed “Seit 1898,” debuted in Tokyo last June and will occupy Chelsea Factory until Sept. 17.
Hype beasts are sure to make a beeline for a display case that’s empty save for a metal Tiffany & Co. – Rimowa brand plate, suspended in a blue box. The collaboration is to be unveiled later this month.
A display case at Rimowa’s “Seit 1898” exhibition in New York City.
John Daniel Powers
The “Seit 1898” exhibit, “since 1898” in English, features a variety of Rimowa cases, advertisements, catalogs and other items that tell the story of the German brand’s heritage, technologies and aesthetic identity in a series of diorama displays.
Since LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton acquired the premium luggage maker in 2017, it has unfurled buzzy collaborations with Dior, Off-White, Supreme, Fendi and Moncler.
Some will be displayed along with cultural artifacts, like the suitcase from “Mission Impossible 4,” and luggage owned by the likes of Billie Eilish, LeBron James, Spike Lee, Martha Stewart, Takashi Murakami, Lewis Hamilton and Patti Smith.
The upcoming Tiffany tie-up probably took one phone call – if that. Alexandre Arnault, executive vice president, product and communications at Tiffany & Co. since 2021, was previously chief executive officer at Rimowa after initiating and leading LVMH’s acquisition of the company.
The New York retrospective, marking Rimowa’s 125th anniversary, is open to the public daily, and is slated to travel to other locations in 2024.
Located at 547 West 26th Street, Chelsea Factor was originally built in 1914 as a garage for NYC taxis, which surely carried many Rimowa suitcases in the trunk over the years – except maybe blue ones.
A view of Rimowa’s “Seit 1898” exhibition in New York City.
John Daniel Powers
Source: WWD