German luggage brand Rimowa has played an integral role in defining what it means to travel with a purpose since inception – both in their tried and true hardware and those that help bring their product to life.
Best known for their perennially hyped fashion collaborations with brands like Dior, Off-White, Supreme, and more, the suitcase company is now exploring personal travel perspectives through the lens of four global icons: LeBron James, Rihanna, Roger Federer and Patti Smith.
In this intimate and cinematic brand campaign, Rimowa intentionally selected talents that literally never sit still – both out of necessity for their respective professions but also in their personal lives – and tasked them with reflecting on what travel means to them after the entire world had to take a long pause.
Each star is captured wheeling their iconic suitcases as companions on their unique journeys.
“For the first time in my career, the constant travel stopped,” the Lakers superstar reflected in his hometown. “That allowed me to have very rare, uninterrupted time with my wife, my kids, and those closest to me. It gave me a chance to recalibrate and refocus on what’s most important in life, and for me, that’s family.”
Pop megastar-turned-billionaire business mogul Rihanna has enjoyed moments of stillness and solitude through road trips to nearby deserts in her own Airstream caravan with close friends. Rihanna creative-directed her own portion of the campaign to offer a glimpse into how she’s managed to recharge.
“When everything is minimized, you see what’s important,” Ri Ri muses aloud in an unscripted moment of reflection. While hard to believe that a larger-than-life luminary would find fulfillment in introspective escapes, she admits this new form of travel has shown her new elements of discovery.
For record-breaking tennis champion, Roger Federer, taking a break from a relentless pace allowed him to explore sights closer to home, creating a deeper connection to his Swiss locale.
Federer’s film shows his return to the snow-capped mountains of Switzerland, revealing the unexpected power found in slowing down, simplifying, and taking stock of wherever you call home.
The beating heart of the campaign is a poem by rocker and Just Kids author Patti Smith, who penned “Never Still” as an ode to the inherent human quest for travel.
Over the course of the week, individual lines from the poem will be revealed in eight key cities – Berlin, Hong Kong, London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Shanghai.