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Rimowathe iconic luggage brand famous for its grooved aluminum suitcasesis stepping into a new category: leather handbags. Today, the brand launches the Groove Collection, four leather bags that come in a range of silhouettes, including a shopper, a hobo, and two cross-body purses, priced between $1,200 and $2,150. Like everything Rimowa creates, these bags have an architectural aesthetic with handles and grooves reminiscent of the suitcases, and the pieces are all gender-neutral. It’s a big move for Rimowa, allowing it to compete for the first time with other luxury accessories brands like Louis Vuitton and Chanel. [Photo: Rimowa] Rimowa was founded in 1898 in Cologne, Germany, where it is still does the majority of its manufacturing. For most of the brand’s history, it has focused on crafting highly functional, durable, and well engineered suitcases that have a cult status among frequent travelers. But over the last decade, the brand has gone through a transformation. [Photo: Rimowa] In 2016, the brand was acquired by the French luxury conglomerate LVMH, which owns brands like Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, and Dior. Under Alexandre Arnault (son of LVMH founder Bernard Arnault) who served as CEO from 2016 to 2021, Rimowa began positioning itself as a luxury brand with strong fashion chops. Rimowa collaborated with everyone from Virgil Abloh to Supreme and Dior to Rick Owens. [Photo: Rimowa] It also began expanding beyond its expertise in rolling luggage and has expanded into other products, like travel bags and accessories. Last year, for instance, it launched an aluminum handbag called the Original Bag that looked like a micro version of the suitcase. “We’re still very much focused on the concept of travel,” says Hugues Bonnet-Masimbert, Rimowa’s CEO. “We’re thinking about the idea of mobility, and all the ways we can use our expertise to make products that can help people on their commutes, whether that’s across countries or through their day.” [Photo: Rimowa] As part of this exploration, the company has also considered new materials. In 2023, for instance, the company created a $3,450 suitcase that is wrapped in leather. Given the brand’s focus on craftsmanship, Bonnet-Masimbert says that it was no small thing for the company to go beyond its expertise in aluminum and polycarbonate. “The craftspeople in our factories spend years developing their craft, so it takes time for them to understand how to work with a new material, like leather.” While Rimowa makes the majority of its suitcases in factories in Germany, the Czech Republic, and Canada, it has begun working with factories in Italy with expertise in leatherwork in order to make these leather bags. “Even as CEO, I couldn’t tell the craftspeople when we would launch this collection,” says Bonnet-Masimbert. “They didn’t want to launch it until they felt they could create the most durable bags out of leather.” (All of these leather bags come with Rimowa’s lifetime guarantee.) [Photo: Rimowa] For the first time, Rimowa can now compete in the world of luxury handbags, including other brands within the LVMH umbrella, like Louis Vuitton. But in some ways, these bags are quite different from others on the market. Many luxury brands design bags for women, but these bags are much more gender-neutral, or even masculine, than others onthe market. Bonnet-Masimbert says that when Rimowa launched the Original Bag, he was surprised to find that more men than women bought and carried it. “Men don’t have as many options when it comes to bags,” says Bonnet-Masimbert. And ultimately, Bonnet-Masimbert doesn’t see Rimowa as a fashion label at heart. It is grounded in performance and engineering, rather than what’s on the runway. “We’re not interested in chasing trends,” he says. “We’ll release new products when we feel like they’re serving a purpose.”
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Oracle on Monday named insiders Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia as co-CEOs, replacing Safra Catz who was named vice chair of the board after 11 years at the helm. Catz steered Oracle through an industry-wide shift, helping win multi-billion-dollar contracts as companies spend aggressively to secure computing capacity for AI tech. Shares of the company were down over 1% in premarket trading. Sicilia oversees cloud-based industry-specific applications and AI solutions across vertical healthcare, financial services, and retail, while Magouyrk manages Oracle’s underlying cloud infrastructure platform that powers these applications. Magouyrk joined Oracle in 2014 from Amazon Web Services while Sicilia joined Oracle through the acquisition of Primavera Systems, the company said. Oracle also reaffirmed its financial guidance provided earlier this month, where it said it expects booked revenue at its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure business to exceed half a trillion dollars, pushing the stock to record highs. Arsheeya Bajwa, Reuters
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Neither a Jordan Peele-produced horror nor a Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell romantic drama were enough to continue the September hot streak at the movies. After back-to-back weekends that had films majorly overperforming, first “The Conjuring: Last Rights” followed by the anime “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle,” the North American box office slowed significantly.Overall ticket sales were down nearly 50% from last weekend, with the holdover champion “Demon Slayer” edging out the newcomer “Him” for first place, according to studio estimates Sunday. Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures’ “Demon Slayer” added $17.3 million over the weekend, bringing its total to $104.7 million, which makes it the highest grossing anime film ever in North America.The football horror “Him” opened in second place with an estimated $13.5 million in ticket sales. Universal Pictures opened “Him” in 3,168 North American theaters, where the audience was 52% male and 65% over the age of 25. Internationally, it earned $400,000.Produced by Peele’s Monkeypaw and directed by Justin Tipping, “Him” is about a promising young quarterback (Tyriq Withers) who is invited to train with a veteran (Marlon Wayans) at an isolated compound.“Him” scored with neither critics (it carries a 29% on Rotten Tomatoes) nor audiences, who gave the film a C- CinemaScore. In his review for The Associated Press, film writer Jake Coyle wrote that the film “was made with the potent premise of bringing the kind of dark, satirical perspective that characterizes a Monkeypaw production to our violent national pastime. But that promise gets fumbled in an allegorical chamber play that grows increasingly tedious.”“Him” was also nearly upstaged by another horror, “The Conjuring: Last Rights,” which made an estimated $13 million in its third weekend. With a global total of $400 million, it’s now the biggest film in the Conjuring universe.They are two of three horror movies in this weekend’s top 10, including “Weapons.” According to data firm Comscore, this year that genre alone has generated $1.1 billion in domestic box office receipts, just several million short of the 2017 record driven by “It” and “Get Out.”“Horror movies have been on a bit of a hot streak,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s head of marketplace trends. “It’s going to be a record-breaking year.”In addition to “Demon Slayer,” Sony had a new film this weekend as well: The original romance “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” starring Robbie and Farrell, but that fizzled with audiences, earning only $3.5 million from 3,300 locations. It also received largely negative reviews and currently has a 37% on Rotten Tomatoes.“Audiences are selective in what they want to see,” Dergarabedian said. “Negative reviews can create really strong headwinds for original films with no brand recognition.”In its second weekend, “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” added another $6.3 million, bringing its running total to $31.6 million. The Stephen King adaptation “The Long Walk” is also estimating $6.3 million in weekend two, down only 46% from its opening. Its domestic total of $22.7 million has already exceeded its production budget of $20 million (though that sum does not account for marketing and promotion).Ron Howard’s 1995 hit “Apollo 13” played in 200 theaters this weekend for its 30th anniversary as well. It made an estimated $600,000. The 30th anniversary re-release of “Toy Story,” now in its second weekend, added $1.4 million.Next weekend there is excitement surrounding the new Paul Thomas Anderson film “One Battle After Another,” although his biggest hit to date remains the 2007 film “There Will Be Blood,” which made just over $76 million worldwide, not accounting for inflation.And right on its heels is a very different kind of cinema experience: AMC Theaters is hosting a release party for Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album, ” The Life of a Showgirl.” The 90-minute show, aptly titled “The Official Release Party of a Showgirl,” will play at all 540 AMC theaters in the U.S. from Oct. 3 through Oct. 5. Top 10 movies by domestic box office With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore: “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” $17.3 million “Him,” $13.5 million. “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” $13 million. (tie) “The Long Walk,” $6.3 million. (tie) “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale,” $6.3 million. “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” $3.5 million. “The Senior,” $2.8 million. “Toy Story” (30th Anniversary re-release), $1.4 million. “Sight & Sound Presents: NOAH – Live!” $1.4 million. “Weapons,” $1.3 million. Lindsey Bahr, AP Film Writer
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