ON THE MOVE: Rimowa is the latest luxury brand to launch a design prize, with the inaugural competition challenging university students at German schools to address the topic of mobility.
Prized for its grooved aluminium roller suitcases, the Cologne-based company said students are “encouraged to freely interpret the theme by creating designs that both consider mobility’s global impact and acknowledge Rimowa’s tenets of resilience, excellence and quality.”
The winners will be selected by an expert jury, and revealed in April, with the grand-prize recipient pocketing 20,000 euros, the runner-up 10,000 euros and three others offered 5,000 euros. Finalists will also benefit from a mentorship program spearheaded by one of the jurors.
The jury consists of Rimowa chairman Alexandre Arnault and chief executive officer Hugues Bonnet-Masimber; Manuel Goller, founder and creative director of New Tendency; interior and furniture designer Gesa Hansen; Mateo Kries, director of the Vitra Design Museum; industrial designer Julia Läufer of Läufer & Keichel; creative director Mike Meiré, and Julius Wiedemann, chief curator at online platform Domestika.
Rimowa noted that the annual prize will also offer participants various networking opportunities, working spaces and other support to bring projects to life.
“It’s increasingly important for us to support and nurture the next generation who will be shaping the future legacy of German design,” commented Bonnet-Masimbert, noting that the students would also tackle “global issues that will affect the way the world navigates design in the future.”
Among the 15 participating universities are the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Muthesius Academy of Art in Kiel and Deggendorf Institute of Technology.
Rimowa is controlled by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, sponsor of an annual prize for young fashion designers. Loewe, also part of the French luxury group, spearheads an annual craft prize.
