At the moment in check in Germany and Japan is Rimowa’s Re-Crafted program that, if deemed a hit, will come to the USA later this 12 months.
The pilot program works like this. The corporate encourages clients to herald any outdated, damaged or disused Rimowa instances they may personal to a chosen retail location. For the hassle, every buyer receives retailer credit score (in Germany, €250, or about $274.) In flip, Rimowa refurbishes the case.
“After which we promote it on our web site at actually wonderful costs,” De Vitis added. On common, a recrafted case runs $584—lower than half the value of a brand new, entry-level spinner.
Rimowa determined to check this system in Germany and Japan for the straightforward purpose that the model—based in Cologne in 1898—is sufficiently established in these international locations that clients are moderately more likely to have outdated Rimowa instances gathering mud within the attic. Rimowa’s been an esteemed model in Japan for the reason that Sixties. It enjoys explicit esteem in Germany: The instances’ signature grooved flanks took their inspiration from the German-built Junkers F13, the world’s first all-metal airplane.
Furthermore, since Rimowa builds its instances by hand, in its personal factories, and from standardized components that it retains in inventory going again many years, reconstruction is a comparatively simple proposition—an extension of the restore providers the model already gives.
Even so, a conglomerate like LVMH—which reported some $87 billion in income for 2022—most likely doesn’t want the nominal income stream generated by promoting used suitcases. For Rimowa, then, the advantages are within the branding, and there are a number of of them.
Reinforcing what luxurious means
Very like the instances pictured within the “A Lifetime of Reminiscences” marketing campaign, these offered as recrafted items on Rimowa’s web site are solely introduced again to usable standing: the corporate makes no try to cowl the battle scars.
“We’ve left the stickers. We’ve left the scratches and dents,” De Vitis stated. “However a suitcase that’s aged appears tremendous cool. And persons are keen to purchase them.”
De Vitis conceded that, for a lot of clients buying within the luxurious class, “aluminum scratches aren’t essentially one thing they might really feel snug with.” However Rimowa’s place is that age equates to character. And since solely a seasoned traveler will get a suitcase really banged up, the banged-up suitcase itself connotes an elevated social standing.
“Even in our shops, we’ll put an older suitcase—a suitcase that has lived—subsequent to the [new one],” De Vitis stated. “It’s like a passport stamp. [The case] turns into a really emotional object since you take it on some very particular moments in your life. These dents and scratches maintain a selected significance.”
