When brands like Patagonia or Eileen Fisher sell pre-owned products, they highlight how the pieces are in very good condition. That is not Rimowa’s strategy.
Tomorrow, the German luxury brand is dropping a collection of vintage suitcases on its U.S. website that are covered in dents and scratches, old stickers, and luggage tags. And the wild thing is there is enormous demand for these beat-up suitcases, which cost between $600 and $1,000, generally around half the price of a brand-new Rimowa case. When the brand did similar limited-edition vintage drops in Germany, South Korea, and Japan, they sold out within minutes or hours.
Over the last five years, as the fashion industry has tried to become more sustainable, many brands have started buying back old products and re-selling them to their customers. Rimowa is now following suit with a program called Re-Crafted.
[Photo: Rimowa]
Emilie De Vitis, Rimowa’s VP of product and marketing, says the company launched the program quietly, since it wasn’t sure how customers would react. In stores, the brand said it would buy back any authentic Rimowa suitcase for $300, no matter what condition it was in. It would then send them to one of its repair shops to be refurbished to ensure that they are as functional and reliable as a new one. Some of them were so interesting that we saved them for our own archive, says De Vitis. But we also had dozens of suitcases that were in excellent condition. Rimowa then sold these vintage suitcases online in various markets. And to the surprise of De Vitis, they often sold out within minutes.
[Photo: Rimowa]
Rimowa is very deliberately choosing to not spruce up the exterior of the suitcase or make cosmetic fixes to make the suitcase more attractive. For years, the brand has made the argument that the wear and tear on this luggage should be treated as a badge of honor, a sign of a well-traveled life. Two years ago, it launched a brand campaign called A Lifetime of Memories, which celebrated the dents, scratches, and stickers that customers acquire on their suitcases as they see the world. At it’s retrospective museum exhibit to celebrate its 125th anniversary, it displayed the well-worn suitcases of celebrities like Patti Smith to Roger Federer to Spike Lee.
[Photo: Rimowa]
The message seems to have sunk in. There’s a whole community of Rimowa fans who are looking for vintage suitcases. Some are specifically looking for older models that aren’t manufactured anymore, such as those that have only two wheels rather than four. Some love to see a unique assortment of stickers from the previous owners’ extensive travels. It’s like buying a piece of history. “Some people like to buy these vintage pieces because they come across as connoisseurs, who have known the brand for a long time,” De Vitis says.
[Photo: Rimowa]
Rimowa’s approach flies in the face of the modern fashion industry, which is obsessed with newness. Fast fashion brands creates cheap, disposable clothes so that customers can buy the latest looks and throw them away before a new trend pops up. This overconsumption is driving the planet to the brink of collapse. But Rimowa is trying to encourage consumers to see their suitcase as an object meant to last a lifetime. And it is rebranding everyday wear and tear as something to embrace.
Tomorrow’s drop is likely to sell out quickly. But Rimowa plans to do several Re-Crafted drops throughout the year, as it slowly collects and refurbishes products that customers bring in. De Vitis says that, in the future, the brand might start collecting stories as they buy back pieces, because their owners might want to know what their suitcase has experienced in the past. If you’re a romantic, you might imagine all the things this suitcase has seen, De Vitis says. Did it get its first scratch on a wild trip through a safari?
