FEATURE| Rimowa, 121st year of progress and its key players.
The It-Bags of Generation-Hype
Rimowa , 121st year of progress and its key players.
It is nonsense to talk about "mixing luxury and street fashion" now. It was a long time ago that the two were separated, and it has been quite some time since they became a close relationship. In this day and age, RIMOWA has been in the news a lot, from joining the LVMH group to collaborating with icons such as Supreme and Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh™. The mastermind behind this movement, which cannot be categorized as high or low, is a man named Hector Mullas, who is the CBO of Rimowa. Where will he lead the company synonymous with fine trunks?
Born in 1980 , in Barcelona. His father, a lawyer, retired in the 80's and opened the first skate and surf store in Spain, which became his childhood playground. He grew up witnessing the formation of communities and the birthplace of culture, and moved to Berlin at the age of 20. He is currently living in Paris with his German wife and two children.
We want to make it a brand that can properly exist in the culture.
Quickly, please tell us about Hector's history before he joined Rimowa as CBO (Chief Branding Officer).
Hector.First of all, my background is in journalism. I originally studied magazines, including lifestyle magazines, and worked in TV and music events, but then I had a chance to work as the editor-in-chief of "VICE MAGAZINE" in Germany.
. suddenly that's an unexpected career.
Hector.. I was young at the time, and it was fun. Then, through journalism, I had more opportunities to work with various brands, and I became more interested in brands than in writing articles. After that, I worked at an advertising agency called "Wieden + Kennedy" and then at "Nike" in the advertising field. I learned how to structure and create brands at Wieden+Kennedy. . After that, I worked at CAA, an entertainment industry agency in LA.
We have crossed the boundaries of industry quite a bit again (laughs).
Hector.Yes, that's right . It was an office that managed everyone from LeBron James to Steven Spielberg, Brad Pitt, etc. . There was a creative department in there. And after that....
What, it's still there!
Hector.Yes (laughs). After that, I went to work for " Apple. Anyway, it was a wonderful company. It was a company that had a great deal of expertise in product, communication, and many other areas. I was also the worldwide marketing director, and I worked on the launch of " Apple Watch. I was also the worldwide marketing director for the launch of the Apple Watch, so I was able to see the whole picture of marketing, including retail and advertising. The Apple Watch was positioned as a fashion item, so it opened my eyes to the fashion industry as well. I became very interested in LVMH because of the Apple Watch's connection to the luxury industry.
And that's how you finally ended up at LVMH?
Hector.Yes, that's right. I spent my first two years at LVMH working on creative and marketing projects for various brands. When I was young, my father gave me a Rimowa trunk as a gift, and I had always been a fan of the brand. So I sent a congratulatory e-mail to Alexandre Arnault, the president of Rimowa, and told him that if there was anything I could do to help, I would be happy to do so. I've always been in touch with luxury, lifestyle, and culture, so I thought I'd put all my experience into Rimowa.
Hector's enthusiasm for his work has led him to his current position.
Hector.Alexandre is the son of the chairman of the LVMH group, but he wanted to do something different with Rimowa, and I think he wanted to hire someone with a different profile and background. So they were more interested in someone like me who had worked at Apple and Nike than someone from Gucci or Louis Vuitton.
I see. What was your vision for Rimowa, Hector?
Hector.This is still true today, but I would like to create a brand that can exist within the culture. For example, Supreme has always been a part of the culture, not by adopting or stealing elements, but by being a part of it. . They support the creative community and coexist with it. I wanted Rimowa to establish itself as a timeless icon in the suitcase industry. . I wanted to make it an icon, both as a product and as a brand. For example, when you travel, you spend about 10% of your time carrying a trunk. But if the trunk is connected to the culture, it can be present throughout the entire trip, not just during the initial packing and carrying.
Conversely, is there anything you would have tried to protect without changing it?
Hector.Quality and craftsmanship. Rimowa's products have the craftsmanship that is typical of the German brand, in that the form and shape are created after the functionality of the product. The design has remained almost unchanged for 80 years, hasn't it? That is because the form of an object exists as the base of its functionality. I want to keep that in mind.
Some people just say, "I want to put a logo on it," but we don't do that.
I know this is a bit of a change of subject, but considering the timing, your collaborations with Supreme and Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh™ (hereinafter referred to as "Off-White") were done after you joined the company, right? Can you tell us about the episodes leading up to the realization of these collaborations?
Hector.I have a lot of interesting stories to tell. I've known James [Jebbia] of Supreme and Virgil [Abloh] of Off-White for a long time, so I knew they liked to use Rimowa. James only uses Rimowa trunks when he travels, and the Supreme team all traveled with Rimowa. Virgil even posted about Rimowa on Instagram a few years ago. Virgil also came up with his own design ideas for the Rimowa about 3 or 4 years after he started working at Off-White.
What? What happened to that idea?
Hector.At the time, they turned me down for various reasons. . But I had known them for many years, so the collaboration came naturally. （We started collaborating through casual exchanges over WhatsApp. We sent each other pictures, talked, and kept the channel open. I even want to take a screencap of how it all went down and compile it into a book (laughs).
Both "Supreme" and "Off-White" were quite bold in their design arrangements.
Hector.The process for Supreme was particularly difficult. The Rimowa trunk is made up of about 90 parts, and the hardest part was getting all of them to be the same shade of red (laughs).
. Still, because we originally had a common language, it went smoothly.
Hector.I agree. Collaboration is not about business strategy . A suitcase is like a canvas, and we have to come up with ideas in the middle of both brands. To be honest, there are many people who just say, "I want to put a logo on it," but we don't do that.
The design of the Rimowa to fit perfectly in the trunk of the Porsche is another collaboration that brings out each other's individuality.
Hector.Yes, that's right. We have been working with "Porsche" for quite a long time now, and we have a good rapport with them. I am sure we will do something interesting again soon.
I look forward to it (laughs). Did you actually gain anything yourself from the aforementioned collaboration?
Hector.Good question. Both Supreme and Off-White have in common that the brand and the product are not separated, and the story and the product are created from the beginning. I learned a lot from their flexible way of thinking about how to create products.
Also, this is about Virgil, he came from New York to the Rimowa factory in Cologne. I guess he was first looking at the parts and putting up Stories on Instagram, trying to figure out what he was going to make. But then, an hour and a half later, about 50 young people came from all over Germany from different parts of the country to meet him (laughs). . in a small town in an industrial area. Virgil was signing shoes and T-shirts for them, as they asked him to.
You are indeed a star designer...!
Hector.Another time, before I went to bed at the hotel, Virgil and I were having a drink together in the lobby when a 14-year-old boy came in. And he said, "I drove 8 hours from the north of Germany to come see you. . and I spent all my money for it." Virgil signed his shoes for him and invited him to have a drink with him. Of course, the boy was nervous because Virgil was a hero to him, but for about an hour, I listened to the boy's story and gave him advice about his life career. The boy said, "This is the best day of my life so far.
That's a nice story. But I feel that a long time ago, luxury trunks like Rimowa's were out of touch with such youth culture and the street. What do you think is the reason for this change?
Hector.Hmmm, I believe there are two reasons. First, everyone's attitude toward travel has changed. Simply, more people are traveling more frequently than in the past. So, nowadays, when people do something, each individual creates his/her own story. So it has become important what kind of meaning you give to your trip and what kind of value it brings to you, and I think that the suitcase, which used to be mainly about practicality, has become a symbol of that story.
Another reason is that people's lifestyles have changed, and so has the way they think about suitcases. It-bags are playing an increasingly important role as accessories. That is why Rimowa has also changed its positioning from a luggage brand to a lifestyle brand.
. the distance between the high-end stuff and the street has shortened considerably.
Hector.Yes, I agree. I think it is a good thing that the concept of "luxury" is changing. Luxury is a personal value, not a monetary value. For example, a trunk from Hermes is luxury, but a 3,000 yen T-shirt made of high quality Japanese cotton is also luxury. Besides, I don't think there are many people who live in luxury 24 hours a day nowadays. . Rather, I think we live in an age where luxury is preferred in terms of functionality and other points of life.
Of course, people who smoke cigars on private jets have always had a "Rimowa," and we are still seriously working on products that will satisfy such customers. The essential things have not changed. But 20 years ago, I don't think skateboarders would have been interested in Rimowa, and I don't think they would have been interested in contemporary art. But now, they are. . I think it is important to bring new customers to the brand from a variety of interests like this.
In today's world of overflowing goods and information, the choice of something from among them strongly reflects the will of the individual, doesn't it?
Hector.After all, in the end, it's all about whether you like it or not. . Even in business, you can be successful if you bring what you love to the job. If you love black metal, you can keep doing it, or if you love Coca-Cola, you can pursue it. It is important to convey to others that you are passionate about what you do. That is why I have been doing what I love, and I am still doing it. I think creative people are self-centered people (laughs).
