RIMOWA - “Ingenieurskunst” / “The Art of Engineering” / Daft Punk around the world

If you've ever been hypnotized by Daft Punk’s ‘Around the World’ music video, you know this ad has a lot of quirky to live up to. The Cologne-based Gürzenich-Orchester plays Daft Punk’s electro classic ‘Around the World’, with a twist, for this ads soundtrack. 

Since its establishment in Cologne in 1898, RIMOWA has moved discerning travelers forward through the resilience, lightness, and stability of its mobility tools. For its latest campaign created by Anomaly's Berlin office, the brand is celebrating what truly enables lifelong journeys everywhere: it is German engineering. Or rather  “Ingenieurskunst”, which literally translates to “The Art of Engineering”.

In order to show the “kunst” here, our director set out to do a stylish abstract build of what in the end becomes a Rimova suitcase. There's an aluminum tunnel, and kinetic installations, all set to the song. Though I honestly wished to see the dancing skeletons from the original video at some point.

Made from 6000 rivets, 180 sheets of anodized aluminum, and shells of the Classic Cabin suitcase, the installations pay homage to the craftsmanship of the iconic luggage: from the harmony of the raw, chrome, and matte materials used to create the products, to the symphonic relationship between heavy machinery and the delicate handcrafting that has been mastered by RIMOWA engineers.

“The topic of German engineering might be considered dry or technical,” says Emelie De Vitis, Chief Marketing Officer at RIMOWA. “But as our head engineer describes, ‘it is more like a symphony’. We wanted to show that German engineering – which is at the core of who we are - is truly considered art at RIMOWA.”

The sets in the film are also being redeployed as art installations during a series of events around the globe - a reflection of RIMOWA’s commitment to durability and sustainability. An immersive AR experience will also be incorporated as part of the campaign, inviting audiences to interact with the engineering steps of the Classic Cabin suitcase.

The campaign is directed and photographed by production company Iconoclast’s Maik Schuster of the Berlin director’s collective I AM HERE. To create the art installations, Anomaly and Schuster collaborated with Acte ™, a cross-disciplinary art and design studio also based in Berlin. Daft Punk’s electro classic ‘Around the World’ forms a sublime undercurrent to the subtly futuristic imagery, which is juxtaposed with the brand’s timeless design aesthetic and rich heritage.

In a nod to RIMOWA’s German heritage, the song is transformed into an orchestral cover by the Cologne-based Gürzenich-Orchester for the reveal of “The Hochzeit”, meaning ‘wedding’ in English – what the engineers call the moment when two RIMOWA aluminium shells are joined for the first time.

“The true star of this campaign is the engineering of the iconic Classic Cabin. We wanted to subvert this notion that something more product focused has to be technical or cold. This was about putting the functional excellence of RIMOWA on the artistic and cultural pedestal it truly deserves.” says Sebastian Lyman, Group Creative Director at Anomaly Berlin.

RIMOWA

CEO: Hugues Bonnet-Masimbert

CMO: Emelie De Vitis

Head of Marketing: Tania Delamotte

Global Marketing Coordinator: Balkis Abd Rabbo

Creative and Content Manager: Lorenzo Garizio

Head of Global Communications: Samantha Garrett

Senior Digital and Media Marketing Manager: Kristen Hansen

Digital Marketing and Media Manager: Julia Serafin

ANOMALY

CEO / Partner: Simon Owen

Executive Creative Director: Azsa West

Group Creative Director: Sebastian Lyman

Creative Director: Justin Fly

Senior Art Director: Marc Garreta

Copywriter: Omar Khairy

Creative Director: Lukas Rohde

Head of Production: Michael Macmillan

Senior Producer: Michelle Prinsloo

Producer: Eric Kim

Senior Account Director: Elizabeth Asselin

Senior Account Manager: Sonja Draskovic

Project Director: Stephanie Kolb

Project Manager: Lucy Shaw

Junior Project Manager: Vilma Lingslunde

Group Strategy Director: Anneliese Rapp

Communications Strategy Director: Matt Bunting

BTS Motion graphic: Niclas Moos

ICONOCLAST

Director / Photographer: I AM HERE / Maik Schuster

Director of Photography: Maximilian Pittner

BTS Photographer / Videographer: Arthur Couvat

Executive Producer: Swantje Rummel

Producer: Beate Ehlert

Producer Stills and BTS: Veronika Fürthauer

Post-Producer: Leonidas Befeldt

Production Coordinator: Paulina Deutmeyer

Installation / Sculptural Conception: ACTE TM @ Sascha Huth, Antonia Herting, Jakob Krause, I AM HERE / Maik Schuster

VFX Supervisor: Jorge Montiel Meurer

Editor: Carlos Font Clos

BAS PRODUCTION D.O.O. I SERVICE PRODUCTION COMPANY

Service Producer - Andrej Caruso

Line Producer - Anja Opasic

ACTE TM

Art Direction: Sascha Huth

Art Direction: Jakob Krause

Art Direction: Antonia Hertig

THE MILL

VFX

Creative Director: Dave Hempstead

Head of Production: Imogen Pai

Senior Producer: Dave Moore

Producer: Sacha Aurik

Shoot Supervisor: Jorge Montiel

2D Lead Artist: Tom Freeman

2D Artist: Lucas Carracedo, Pete Attack, Anthony Jarvis

Finish Artist: Jeanette Eiternes

COLOR:

Color: The Mill

Colourist: Kristopher Smale

Color Producer: Nubia Lima

Color Assist: Rory Leighton, Catilin Donaldson

UNR

Editors: Ben Harvie and Dalma Pinter

One Hundred Berlin

Stills post production

Kraatz studio

CEO + Sound Engineer: Stefan Kraatz

Senior Producer: Maurice Kämer