BERLIN, GERMANY — Since its establishment in Cologne in 1898, luxury luggage brand RIMOWA has moved discerning travellers forward through the resilience, lightness and stability of its mobility tools. For its latest campaign created by creative agency Anomaly‘s Berlin office, the brand celebrated what truly enables lifelong journeys everywhere: its German engineering.
The 360 campaign, titled “Ingenieurskunst,” a word that only exists in German and translates to “The Art of Engineering,” highlights the poetry in the brand’s finely-tuned engineering processes. It’s led by a sleek, futuristic film that features hand-built sets that echo the meticulous craftsmanship behind every RIMOWA piece.
In an ode to RIMOWA’s signature aluminium, the campaign features kinetic installations that showcase German engineering as the world has never seen it before: as art.
Made from 6000 rivets, 180 sheets of anodized aluminium, and shells of the Classic Cabin suitcase, the installations pay homage to the craftsmanship of the iconic luggage: from the harmony of the raw, chrome, and matte materials used to create the products, to the symphonic relationship between heavy machinery and the delicate handcrafting that has been mastered by RIMOWA engineers.
“The topic of German engineering might be considered dry or technical,” said Emelie De Vitis, the chief marketing officer at RIMOWA. “But as our head engineer describes, ‘it is more like a symphony.’ We wanted to show that German engineering, which is at the core of who we are, is truly considered art at RIMOWA.”
The sets in the film are also being redeployed as art installations during a series of events around the globe, a reflection of RIMOWA’s commitment to durability and sustainability. An immersive AR experience will also be incorporated as part of the campaign, inviting audiences to interact with the engineering steps of the Classic Cabin suitcase.
The campaign is directed and photographed by production company Iconoclast’s Maik Schuster of the Berlin director’s collective I AM HERE. To create the art installations, Anomaly and Maik collaborated with Acte, a cross-disciplinary art and design studio also based in Berlin. Daft Punk’s electro classic “Around the World” forms a sublime undercurrent to the subtly futuristic imagery, which is juxtaposed with the brand’s timeless design aesthetic and rich heritage.
In a nod to RIMOWA’s German heritage, the song is transformed into an orchestral cover by the Cologne-based Gürzenich-Orchester for the reveal of “The Hochzeit,” meaning “wedding” in English – what the engineers call the moment when two RIMOWA aluminium shells are joined for the first time.
“The true star of this campaign is the engineering of the iconic Classic Cabin. We wanted to subvert this notion that something more product-focused has to be technical or cold. This was about putting the functional excellence of RIMOWA on the artistic and cultural pedestal it truly deserves,” said Sebastian Lyman, the group creative director at Anomaly Berlin.
