LVMH’s luxury luggage brand Rimowa to expand beyond suitcases
LVMH’s luxury luggage-maker Rimowa wants to sell travellers more than just its ribbed aluminum suitcases – saying that it is missing out on all their fun.
“What I’d like for us to be in five years is obviously a culturally relevant brand in the space of travel, hopefully not only selling suitcases but other travel-related products and really own this journey for the customer,” Rimowa’s CEO Alexandre Arnault – one of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault’s five children – said on Wednesday at the Conde Nast International Luxury Conference in Lisbon.
While Rimowa’s luggage was with customers for the “non enjoyable” part of a trip, between home, airports and hotel, “in the actual enjoyable part of the travel, the brand isn’t linked to you”, Arnault said.
Arnault said Rimowa, which was founded in 1898 and taken over by LVMH in 2016, was going to try to “make more links” to travelling customers by offering different types of products and services, while continuing to provide products for the “dreadful part of travel”.
What I’d like for us to be in five years is obviously a culturally relevant brand in the space of travel, hopefully not only selling suitcases but other travel-related products and really own this journey for the customer
With more than 4,000 stores worldwide, LVMH has been boosted by a rising Chinese middle class that is travelling more than ever.
It is also gaining from a push into e-commerce and new products to entice young consumers such as luxury sneakers and iPhone cases styled like Louis Vuitton trunks.
“I don’t believe that the luxury good is disappearing from our life just due to the fact of millennials rising,” said Arnault, at 25, a member of that generation himself.
“In order to capture millennials’ attention, we need to work on intensity and better quality constantly. “If we’re able to manage this -– and it’s our constant quest – I’m certain that they will follow us in [the] millions.”
Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
The bag maker, acquired by French conglomerate in 2016, to offer different types of products and services, CEO Alexandre Arnault tells conference