RIMOWA and Maison Margiela on a Limited-edition Collection. Wear, Tear and Patina.
November 12, 2026: RIMOWA and Maison Margiela are delighted to partner on a limited-edition collection, where RIMOWA’s Classic Cabin suitcase and Maison Margiela’s 5AC XL bag are reinterpreted with a fusion of the two brands’ distinct design languages, forming a singular travel set.
Maison Margiela and RIMOWA share a rigorous approach to design, born from a deep study of the garment as well as the materials and construction of a suitcase. Both Houses value objects that gain meaning through time and use. While the dents,scratches and patina on well-travelled RIMOWA suitcases become personal records of meaningful journeys, Maison Margiela’s design philosophy emulates the marks of time, rendering the signs of lived experience a design concept. Worn garments are reclaimed, preserved, or intentionally made to look aged so that time becomes visible in the piece. Uniting the two Maisons’ brand codes, RIMOWA’s emblematic grooves extend from the Classic Cabin to the 5AC XL, while Maison Margiela’s signature overpainting technique, Bianchetto, is hand-painted on all pieces, rendering them as unique records of lived experience, transforming with time.
RIMOWA’s grooves, first introduced in 1950 on an aluminium suitcase, were inspired by the aviation industry and remain today a key element of the German House’s identity. The Bianchetto technique has been with Maison Margiela since the beginning, when in 1988 Martin Margiela painted all the furniture of the first design studio in white. As the paint gradually cracks and flakes over time, a unique patina is formed that is in constant transformation. Rather than treating ageing as a detriment, it is elevated as a source of beauty and meaning. In this way, both pieces respond to individual use, rendering the set a lifelong record of experience and memory.
The RIMOWA x Maison Margiela Classic Cabin suitcase’s interior is reinterpreted as a white lining with leather details, echoing Maison Margiela’s design study of the garment-making process, where garments are created from internal linings or assembled in ways that reveal their fabrication. The suitcase’s lining has visible stitching and overlocked edges, making it appear inside-out. This mirrors how the 5AC itself is constructed with an internal lining that becomes external, extending beyond the leather body. The same philosophy extends to the suitcase’s aluminium logo badge, finished with four slanted white-thread stitches. Carefully crafted from anodised aluminium at RIMOWA’s historic factory in Cologne, Germany, the suitcase also features a stage-free telescopic handle, RIMOWA’s signature Multiwheel system, and TSA-approved locks.
Using a high-frequency technique to form a precise three-dimensional pattern, the grooves of the RIMOWA x Maison Margiela 5AC XL bag are sculpted directly into the leather without a single needle or thread. The bag features a cross-body leather strap for everyday wear, alongside removable leather loops that secure it atop the Classic Cabin during travel, aligning the grooves across both pieces for a seamless set. Completing the collection, both the suitcase and the bag are accompanied by a bespoke leather tag that combines RIMOWA’s travel-inspired address tag with Maison Margiela’s key bell.
The campaign, directed and photographed by Dexter Lander, imagines the application of Bianchetto as a paint-sprinkler spectacle. In a Haussmannian apartment, the Classic Cabin, the 5AC, and the entire room around become covered in white paint Bianchetto, leaving the signature silhouettes of both pieces as if stamped on the wall behind.
Starting November 19th, 2026, the RIMOWA x Maison Margiela Classic Cabin (RRP 3200€) and the RIMOWA x Maison Margiela 5AC XL Bag (RRP 3600€) will be available at select RIMOWA and Maison Margiela stores, as well as online at rimowa.com and maisonmargiela.com.
About Rimowa, Rimowa is a global leader in premium luggage. Since 1898, it has placed quality and innovation at its core to create functional tools for a lifetime of movement. In the 1920s, RIMOWA introduced aviation-inspired aluminium into the manufacture of its suitcases, an idea that revolutionised the industry and resulted in their iconic grooved aluminium design. In 2000, it pioneered again with the debut of the first polycarbonate suitcase. In 2017, RIMOWA joined LVMH; three years later, it launched Never Still, a collection of bags for daily use that heralded its evolution into a cult mobility brand. In 2023, RIMOWA introduced an unconditional lifetime guarantee covering all suitcases purchased from July 25, 2022. Designed and engineered in Germany, RIMOWA combines a legacy of craftsmanship with the rigours of modern technology.
About Maison Margiela, Maison Margiela is an unconventional luxury couture house founded in Paris in 1988 that re-examines definitions of beauty and approaches to garment-making. Treating the silhouette as a field of study, the House questions conventions. An emphasis on construction and technique shapes its distinctive approach and underscores its philosophy. Deeply connected to its history and original point of view, Maison Margiela continues to explore new ways of questioning traditional modes of creativity.
All images RIMOWA and Maison Margiela on a Limited-edition Collection by the brand.