How Suitcases Became Hype
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How Suitcases Became Hype
RIMOWA, TUMI, and Globe-Trotter on Gen Z Brand Strategy
Following an increased appetite to travel after waves of lockdowns in the COVID era, the luggage market is starting to heat up with stronger collaborations and heavy-hitting celebrity endorsements. A $177 Billion industry, the luggage market is poised to grow at a CAGR of 7.86% till 2027. Market dynamics tell us that when direct-to-consumer brands like AWAY start gaining market share, luxury brands respond by increasing the differentiation in their products through collaborations. Luxury brands like RIMOWA and TUMI have a strong customer base of business travelers. With collaborations with brands like Supreme and athletes like Russell Westbrook, these traditional brands are starting to tap into the Gen Z and Millennial market. The best collaborating partners are known for an iconic silhouette or model (think the Levis 501 or the classic G-Shock) and luggage companies have some of the clearest visual brand identities given their product lines, making them a perfect collaborating partner.
In 2016, LVMH acquired an 80% majority stake in RIMOWA for $716 Million. Since then, we’ve seen RIMOWA collaborate with streetwear legends like Supreme, Anti-Social Social Club, and Off-White to name a few. Given the simplistic design of most suitcases, it’s easy for brands to put a logo or an identifying design on the outer. The iconic RIMOWA suitcase got the Supreme treatment in 2018 when the streetwear brand put their characteristic typeface logo on the suitcase. Other brands have followed similar design cues, dating back as far as 2010 when BAPE subtly draped their camo print on the luggage. As with many brands, Virgil Abloh’s collaboration with RIMOWA was a turning point for the entire industry. Coinciding with Virgil Abloh’s hallmark collaboration with Nike where he redesigned ten Nike classic silhouettes in 2018, Virgil Abloh brought the same design language to RIMOWA by incorporating readymade elements as well as deconstructing the designs down to their core function. The result was a transparent suitcase with different colored wheels and the Off-White arrow logo. Seemingly a less practical edit, making the outer shell transparent turned the suitcase into a piece of performance art that pushed the boundaries of function just enough. Since then, RIMOWA shows no signs of slowing down, but further entrenching themselves into the many subcultures in streetwear. Most recently, the Jordan-signed BMX rider Nigel Sylvester teased a RIMOWA collaboration which is likely to have a domino effect with similar creatives like JoeFreshGoods and Salehe Bembury.
“It’s not just putting your initials on it, but allowing another layer to come in play. There’s an emotional component to owning [the suitcase] and you become a performance art piece just by using the thing. It’s like putting your items on display and rethinking the premise of a product.”
- Virgil Abloh to BoF regarding the RIMOWA collaboration
Seldom talked about, the TUMI x KITH collaboration in 2018 fit in very naturally with the rest of the KITH catalogue. Released as part of KITH’s Element Exploration Agency series where they collaborated with other utilitarian brands like G-Shock & Oakley, the entire series told a cohesive story. Certain luggage collaborations can seem incongruous with luxury brands’ identities, but the key to a successful launch is having an element of storytelling. TUMI is no stranger to collaborations. Very purposeful and in true collaborative fashion, TUMI has collaborated with brands far and wide, including the cult Japanese label UNITED ARROWS. TUMI still has its finger on the cultural pulse by tapping on new talent as ambassadors for the brand. Reneé Rapp, 23 year old actress in Mindy Kaling’s HBO show ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’ has an impactful campaign with TUMI. Often playing style conscious roles, Rapp likes the subtleness of TUMI’s designs as they complement almost anything in her wardrobe while also being highly luxurious (topical to this new wave of ‘quiet luxury’). Similarly, since athletes are always on the move and need dependable luggage, their partnership with NBA athletes like Russell Westbrook were also a cohesive narrative. With the rise of ‘tunnel fit’ accounts, NBA athletes are the new tastemakers for luxury fashion and a partnership like this signals sophistication and a penchant for quality.
Predating most luxury brands, Globe-Trotter is a luxury British heritage brand from 1897. Dubbed the ‘world’s most famous suitcase,’ Globe-Trotter is a celebrity favorite. How can a brand almost 150 years old be continuously cool? By honoring their iconic heritage and not compromising on design despite having stellar collaborations. Each one of their pieces is still instantly recognizable with the occasional fun design tweak. The brand has gone on to collaborate with franchises like 007, artists like David Shrigley, and luxury brands like Casablanca. Most notably, the brand collaborated with Tyler the Creator on a luggage line for his luxury label, Golf Le Fleur. Golf Le Fleur is known for its pastel colors with modern sensibility, in line with Tyler the Creator’s wardrobe color palette. As Tyler tries to position Golf Le Fleur as a higher-end luxury brand in contrast to his more streetwear-oriented GOLF brand, working with a heritage brand like Globe-Trotter brings them one step closer to becoming a top luxury brand. On this collaboration, Tyler did what Tyler does best. First, expanding the range of color profiles by making pastels seamlessly work with earth tones. Secondly, Tyler is the authoritative source for what is cool and has the power to re-contextualize more classic pieces. Through his innovative marketing campaigns brilliantly tied to the narrative for his album ‘Call Me if You Get Lost,’ the suitcase becomes a piece of art that is meant more to complement your esoteric and design-forward outfits rather than a standout piece in its own right.
