Rimowa Unveils Umber and Ultramarine in Seasonal Palette Drawn from Artistic Tradition
The German luggage maker reaches into Renaissance pigments and painters' palettes for two new colourways across its Essential and Groove collections.
The Artist's Palette, Translated
There is a particular warmth to umber, the kind that settles into the first layer of an oil painting before the brighter pigments arrive. The shade takes its name from the Latin umbra, shadow, and for centuries it has grounded the work of painters who understood that light needs darkness to make sense. Rimowa has borrowed that logic for one half of its latest seasonal release, pairing the earthy brown with ultramarine, a blue so saturated it once cost more than gold during the Renaissance.
The German luggage house, long associated with its signature grooved aluminium shells, has introduced Umber and Ultramarine across its Essential and Groove ranges. Both colours are applied not as accent details but as total statements, from zipper teeth to handle grips, from logo badges to the fabric linings inside. The result is luggage that reads less as neutral travel equipment and more as considered objects with a point of view.
Natural Pigment as Design Language
Rimowa's decision to frame these colours through the language of natural pigments is deliberate. Umber, derived from iron oxide and manganese oxide, has been used since prehistoric cave painting. Ultramarine, historically ground from lapis lazuli imported along the Silk Road, was reserved for the robes of the Virgin Mary and the skies in Titian's canvases. By invoking these origins, the brand positions its new releases not as fashion-forward experiments but as continuations of material culture, objects that carry historical weight even as they roll through airport terminals.
The warm, shadowy tone of Umber works across the Essential collection's polycarbonate shells, softening the utilitarian edge that hard-case luggage can sometimes project. Ultramarine, meanwhile, brings a velvety intensity that shifts depending on light, a quality that Renaissance masters exploited to suggest depth and divinity. Applied to contemporary travel goods, the same blue lends a sense of occasion without tipping into ostentation.
Groove Collection Expands with Compact Shopping Bag
The Groove range, which includes soft-sided bags and accessories, receives both colours as well. The Cross-Body Bag and Zipped Pouch now come in Umber and Ultramarine, alongside a new addition to the family: the Groove Mini Shopping Bag. This compact iteration of the original shopping tote maintains the collection's signature quilted texture whilst offering a smaller footprint for urban errands or short excursions where a full suitcase would be excessive.
The Mini Shopping Bag reflects a broader shift in how luxury luggage brands are thinking about their product ecosystems. Travel is no longer confined to the journey from departure lounge to hotel lobby; it bleeds into daily life, into the commute, the weekend market, the gallery visit. By scaling down one of its silhouettes, Rimowa acknowledges that its customers want continuity of design across contexts, not just across airport codes.
Campaign Frames Colour as Creative Catalyst
To introduce the new palette, Rimowa produced a short film featuring English actor Joe Alwyn. The narrative follows a young artist entering a new studio, unpacking his materials, and beginning to inhabit the space. The Umber and Ultramarine pieces appear not as products but as props within his creative process, objects that help him define the boundaries of his new world. The campaign avoids the typical airport montage in favour of a quieter, more introspective setting, one where colour itself becomes a character.
The choice to centre an artist rather than a traveller is telling. It suggests that Rimowa sees its audience less as people in transit and more as people in the act of making something, whether that is a painting, a career, or simply a life that requires movement. The studio, like the suitcase, is a container for possibility.
Contextualising the Seasonal Release
These two colours join Ink Blue, which Rimowa added to its Original aluminium collection earlier in the year. Taken together, the trio signals a willingness to expand the brand's chromatic vocabulary beyond the silver, black, and occasional red that have dominated its output for decades. The seasonal model also allows Rimowa to test new shades without committing to them as permanent fixtures, a strategy that balances brand consistency with the appetite for novelty that drives luxury goods consumption.
Pricing for the new Umber and Ultramarine pieces starts at 770 euros, according to Rimowa, with availability across global retail locations and the brand's online platform. The Essential suitcases are offered in Cabin, Check-In M, and Check-In L sizes, covering the standard range of travel needs from short-haul to extended trips.
The Semiotics of Luggage Colour
Luggage colour has always carried meaning, even when that meaning is unspoken. Black suggests anonymity, discretion, the desire to blend in. Silver aluminium signals a certain kind of traveller, one who values durability and is willing to accept the attention that a gleaming metal case attracts. Bright colours, reds and yellows and pinks, project confidence or whimsy, depending on the wearer. Umber and Ultramarine occupy a different register altogether. They are colours with provenance, colours that ask to be read not just as aesthetic choices but as cultural references.
Whether that resonates with Rimowa's customer base remains to be seen. The brand has built its reputation on engineering and longevity, qualities that do not always align with the ephemeral nature of seasonal releases. But by anchoring these new shades in the language of art history rather than trend forecasting, Rimowa gives itself room to argue that Umber and Ultramarine are not passing fancies but colours with staying power, shadows and skies that have been travelling with us all along.
