Rosé, Rowoon And Rimowa Take Over New York City To Celebrate a Milestone Anniversary

This year marks the 125th that Rimowa has been in existence. From its very beginning, the German brand—founded in Cologne, 1898—has been enmeshed with the history of travel, both profoundly shaped by technical innovation and cultural changes. To celebrate this milestone year, the brand has staged SEIT 1898—a travelling exhibition featuring over a hundred cases from its archives, and from the personal collections of the culturati that are the brand’s friends. With Rimowa luggages as its starting point, the show traces how the industry and the art of travel have evolved over the past century. The exhibition debuted in Tokyo earlier this year, and has now made its way to Chelsea Factory in downtown New York, where it will remain open to the public till 17 September.

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Rowoon attends the Rimowa SEIT 1898 celebration in New York City. Photo: Courtesy of Rimowa

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Hayley Williams attends the Rimowa SEIT 1898 celebration in New York City. Photo: Courtesy of Rimowa

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Japanese Breakfast attends the Rimowa SEIT 1898 celebration in New York City. Photo: Courtesy of Rimowa

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Eric Nam attends the Rimowa SEIT 1898 celebration in New York City. Photo: Courtesy of Rimowa

Right before New York Fashion Week was about to kick off, Rimowa threw a massive block party to celebrate the opening of the exhibition. The whole of Chelsea thrummed with even more energy than usual, as guests like Rosé (the brand’s newly-revealed ambassador for the 4th edition of its 'Never Still' campaign), Rowoon, Justin Theroux, Eric Nam, Hayley Williams, Adwoa Aboah and Moses Sumney showed up to party. It was a huge event that, had it happened on the official NYFW schedule, would have dwarfed the smaller brands that were showing around the same time. It feels nice for the city’s industry as a whole to have LVMH showing NYFW some love. Last year, it was Fendi’s big Baguette bash. This year, it is Rimowa’s celebration of a century and then some. Both got an assist from the most New York of brands, Tiffany & Co., the newest jewel in the LVMH crown—more on that below. 

Related article: RIMOWA’s Rich 125 Year-History Is Unpacked In The ‘SEIT 1898’ Exhibition

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Rimowa's traveling exhibition celebrating the 125th anniversary of the brand has now arrived in New York's Chelsea Factory. Photo: Courtesy of Rimowa

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Inside Rimowa's traveling SEIT 1898 exhibition at Chelsea Factory. Photo: Courtesy of Rimowa

Inside the exhibition, there are multiple rooms, each with dioramas and installations that depict how the brand’s constant pursuit of innovation in both design and technology has led to its luggage being some kind of evolving documentation of the history of travel. There are sets that show how the grooved aluminium came to be, an installation that blew up (in both the scale and the explosive meanings of the word) the Cabin to illustrate the amount of work and parts that go into it, even tableaus dedicated to those special Rimowa cases made for the purpose of housing musical instruments, no matter how unwieldy their shapes may be. 

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A personal Rimowa case belonging to American singer Patti Smith. Photo: Courtesy of Rimowa

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South Korean DJ Peggy Gou's personal Rimowa case. Photo: Courtesy of Rimowa

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Singer-songwriter Billie Eilish's personal Rimowa case. Photo: Courtesy of Rimowa

The centrepiece in the final room is an installation featuring the personal cases of the very public figures that are the brand’s ambassadors and friends. Suitcases by the likes of Takashi Murakami, Roger Federer, LeBron James, Patti Smith, Billie Eilish and Martha Stewart were amongst those on show. There is also a nook showcasing the pieces that the Maison has produced in collaboration with other visionaries and heavy-hitters. These include suitcases by Virgil Abloh, Fendi, Dior, Supreme, Palace, Moncler, and then, finally, one last niche: painted in Tiffany blue and empty but for a silver plaque bearing the names “Tiffany & Co” and “Rimowa”—a hint of what’s to come later this month.