Rimowa

Rimowa traces its origins to 1898, when Paul Morszeck set up a luggage business in Cologne, at first with Heinrich Görtz as the saddlery Görtz & Morszeck. From 1900 Morszeck ran a sample-case factory on his own, making trunks, hatboxes and cases for motor cars from plywood, card and leather; in 1908 he made it a limited company and bought a factory in Junkersdorf, the company's base until 1986.

In the 1920s his son Richard joined and began experimenting with aluminium, then increasingly used in aircraft. In 1931 Richard registered the Rimowa trademark, a contraction of RIchard MOrszeck WArenzeichen ("trademark"), and in 1937 he developed an aluminium steamer trunk. According to German Wikipedia, when the Junkersdorf factory was destroyed in the Second World War only the aluminium survived, and from then on the company made cases in light metal.

In 1950 it added parallel grooves to its aluminium shells, inspired by early all-metal aircraft such as the Junkers F 13, and the ribbed case became its signature.

Dieter Morszeck, the third generation, joined in 1972, developed a waterproof case for camera equipment and took over management in 1981. He moved the headquarters to Köln-Ossendorf in 1986 and introduced polycarbonate suitcases in 2000. By 2013 Rimowa was making about 5,800 cases a day in Cologne, the Czech Republic, Canada and Brazil.

LVMH bought 80% of Rimowa in October 2016 for €640 million, making it the group's first German company. Alexandre Arnault ran it from 2017, alongside Dieter Morszeck until May 2018, and reshaped its distribution and image, with a new visual identity for the 120th anniversary in 2018 and collaborations beginning with Supreme. Jacob Rochus has been chief designer since 2017.

Hugues Bonnet-Masimbert succeeded Arnault in 2021, when Rimowa launched its first soft bags, and since 2022 new suitcases carry a lifetime guarantee against functional damage. Beatrice Monguidi became chief executive in June 2026.