Most Complete Review: Rimowa Off-White “YOUR BELONGINGS”

Updated on November 14th, 2022

Already the second release of the Rimowa Off-white transparent suitcase. Earlier this year Rimowa released the first transparent limited edition in collaboration with Off-White. Currently the hottest brand out there. The suitcases caught on with the public and were sold out in a very short time. Many of the purchased suitcases found their way to eBay and other marketplaces were resellers sold them to the unfortunate who weren’t able to purchase it directly from Rimowa or Off-White.

Because of the huge success of the first release, Rimowa decided to release them again in October of 2018. The collaboration consisted of three models: One black made from aluminum, a transparent polycarbonate one with white details and another transparent polycarbonate one with black details. Since the transparent one are the most popular I will cover them both in this article.

Another interesting fact is that the transparent ones were released in Europe through the Rimowa physical shops (only the ones in larger cities like London and Paris) and web shop. In the states they were only available through the physical shops. The retail price in Europe for the transparent one was €1200,- euro approximately $1375 dollar at time of writing. Further down I will write a short piece on how to purchase them safely and at a good price from resellers.

Rimowa Off-White Product Description

The above picture if from the label attached to the box. We can already derive some interesting information from the label. To me the most interesting is where it is manufactures. As you can see it is manufactured in the Czech Republic. Another interesting thing is that it contains an Amenity Kit.

Rimowa Off-White Product Experience

The Rimowa box is sealed with a thick tape. The tape has a grey line on it which indicates where to cut it. The polycarbonate suitcases don’t have the extra carton protection inside as the Original or Classic line has. The reason for that is that polycarbonate is much more resilient against bumps. A polycarbonate surface will always go back to its original form unless the surface cracks. A similar blow to an aluminum suitcase will leave a visible dent.

The suitcase reviewed is the white version. In the near future I will also posts some pictures of the black edition. Striking is off course the transparency and the Off-White symbols. Once side has the cross and the other side has the diagonal stripes. The symbols make the suitcase immediately recognizable as an Off-White product. However, the cross and stripes are only visible when the suitcase is empty. The cross and stripes are situated on the Flex Dividers. The Flex Dividers are meant to hold the contents of your suitcase in place. So they will be on the inside of the suitcase once it’s packed.

In and Out

The model which this suitcase is based on is the Rimowa Essential. The differences between the two is obviously that the Off-White is transparent. Other differences is the the Off-White one comes with much more accessories. Additional accessories which aren’t included with the Essential are: Off-White belt, Off-White pouches, Transparent Amenity Kit, four extra orange wheels, Off-White Sticker and Off-White cover.

The Off-White cover is very interesting because it contradicts the transparency of the suitcase. I can imagine a transparent suitcase isn’t really functional. Maybe if you packed your suitcase properly and you are on your way to your destination. But once you head back I don’t think anyone wants to see what is in your suitcase. If I look at my own situation, when I return from a four day business travel I just stuff my clothes in my suitcase with dirty socks in between them. For this situation a few pouches for your dirty laundry or a cover for the suitcase would be required.

On several parts of the suitcase it has the typical words in quotation marks. The reason behind the quotation marks is to make the phrases speech marks. By making the phrases speech marks we can question the seriousness. So putting “SECURITY” on the TSA-locks actually ridicules the safety of the locks. Now that I think of it, it’s a pretty bold and clever move against Rimowa.

So putting “SECURITY” on the TSA-locks actually ridicules the safety of the locks. It’s a pretty bold and clever move against Rimowa.

I was really curious how Rimowa would cover up the ‘nuts and bolts’ on the inside. Normally these are covered by the linnen on the inside. I was pretty surprised how well they managed to cover it up. The used white cap to cover up the screws and rivets. Only on the locks they are a bit off. The cap is way too big for the lock. See picture below.

Buying Rimowa Off-White From Resellers

If you desire to purchase one you can it through resellers, since the Rimowa x Off-White is a limited edition and already sold out everywhere. I would highly recommend purchasing one through eBay since that platform provides a lot of protection for buyers. The ratings and review of the sellers make it also very clear who you are dealing with. I usually make sure they have an overall good rating and have been active for a few years. There are two good options to get a decent discount. Before you purchase one, make sure you have a price in your mind what you would like to pay for the item. A listing on eBay can off three types. First one is an auction, the person with the highest bid wins the item. If you have predetermined a certain price you can put that in as your maximum bid and see where it takes you. The other type is a fixed price. The seller requests a fixed price for the item. You can get a discount on this type of listing by obtaining a discount code from eBay. A few times a year these coupons are available. Usually these are 10% to 15% discounts with a maximum discount of $100 dollar. This means that with the coupon you can get a $100 dollar discount on your luggage, which is pretty good. The third type of listing on eBay is a ‘Best Offer’ listing. You can make your best offer on the item and even discuss the price with the seller. If you can combine this with a coupon you can sometimes get more than $200 dollar of the listing price.

Conclusion

This is definitely one of the better collaborations. Off-White is the hottest brand out there now, so this certainly makes it a desirable object. But besides that the design and thought that went into the suitcase are just great. Everything Virgil Abloh touches seems to turn into gold. Making it transparent was a daring move, which to my knowledge has never been done before by any other luggage manufacturer. What I think is bold is that with a transparent suitcase you totally distance yourself from functionality. Something which Rimowa was known for. Rimowa is now stepping into the realm of high fashion and is starting a new chapter.