RIMOWA x GEWA Trumpet Case

RIMOWA delivers again in this cooly-beautiful collaboration with historic German brand GEWA — first founded in 1925 in Adorf, and today a leading designer and manufacturer of world-class musical instruments.

The limited-edition piece represents more than just functional luxury — which is a given with these two globally-respected brands devoted to craftsmanship and innovation. The result is a masterfully-crafted case that protects not only the instruments it carries but also the artistry of its users.

Humanist Brand Values

AOC has long complimented RIMOWA for its embrace of cultural creatives values. We’re actually changing our vocabulary going forward, using a much less intellectual and perhaps restrictive word. In the last two years the business and philosophical vision of Brunello Cucinelli has been our frequent focus.

Today, we compliment RIMOWA as a humanist brand with humanist values.

Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively. It holds that humans are capable of using reason and science to understand the world and solve problems, promoting human welfare, dignity, and autonomy. Central to humanism is the belief in the inherent worth of every individual and a commitment to the principles of justice and equality.

Simply stated — and not for the first time — RIMOWA has great heart.

When AOC saw the campaign images by Pablo Di Prima [IG], we admired the juxtaposition between technical superiority and modernity with centuries of everyday human lives as evidenced by the steps and brick walls.

This impression was created with no humans present, but our collective existence expressed itself nevertheless through Di Prima’s photos. I note that his IG is much more populated with humanist collages and images AOC associates with Rimowa.

What one doesn’t understand about the campaign — unless you are all-in on the journey surrounding most Rimowa marketing — is that humanist values roar at a time when we REALLY NEED THEM.

Depending on how deeply you are invested in humanism, I can say one word and you get the picture:

Oaxaca

Rimowa could have chosen any trumpet players in the world — most of them men. There’s no trumpet players that would have disappointed me, because Rimowa and AOC are on the same wave length. That’s how brilliantly well this brand knows its customers and its message.

The Rimowa-sponsored short film ’MÚSICAS’ by Lila Avilés, premiered globally this week as part of MoMA’s annual Doc Fortnight festival. The event now in its 24th year presents adventurous new nonfiction and hybrid fiction cinema from around the world.

A Beautiful Premier for Mujeres del Viento Florido

"Misconceptions about Mexico abound, and in these challenging times, it's wonderful to highlight Mexico's music, traditions, and unity." This was Mexican filmmaker Lila Avilés' introduction to the discussion of her newest project, MÚSICAS, on February 23 at New York's Roxy Cinema.

Collaborating with RIMOWA, the film spotlights Mujeres del Viento Florido, an all-female Indigenous wind instrument ensemble in Oaxaca. This band from the Oaxaca region consists of 40 musicians hailing from the Sierra Norte and Valles Centrales, under the leadership of their director Leticia Gallardo, who accompanied Avilés to New York. It marked the first occasion the conductor heard the aspirations of the young women under her guidance. "I desire not just for this to be a dream, but a reality that transcends," Gallardo stated during the screening.

At MÚSICAS' core is, naturally, the music: there are numerous scenes featuring trumpeting against stunning landscapes and instances where the music takes center stage.

Oaxaca’s History of Strong, Powerful Women and Third-Gender People

On a much grander scale of humanity, Oaxaca is home to 570 municipalities, with 418 of them being primarily indigenous. The reason for so much diversity is due in large part to the rugged mountain terrain that left many of these groups to develop in relative isolation from one another.

The caves of nearby Mitla bear evidence of human habitation in the Oaxaca Valley that dates as far back as 11,000 B.C., while archaeologists have determined that agriculture and more sedentary groups began somewhere between 5,000 and 2,000 B.C., before even the Egyptian pyramids were a thought in the minds of the Ancient Egyptians.

In choosing to go to Oaxaca, Rimowa honors Mexico’s first woman president Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, serving as Mexico’s 66th president since October 1, 2024. [Note that Pardo is not from Oaxaca.]

The region is known for its historical roots with very strong women, carrying on the tradition of the pre-Columbian Zapotec empire. In 1995, the LA Times focused on the women of Juchitan, Mexico where a matriarchal culture remains among the 66,000 people in the lowlands of Oaxaca.

In addition — in a moment when the US military just issued orders banning trans people in the US military — the Zapotecs honor what are known as third-gender people called Muxes. They are respected and celebrated as an integral part of a culture, centered on femininity and fertility.

Always dealing with the potential for violence, rape and murder, the muxes were profiled in this January 2024 feature, again in the LA Times.

This unique heritage of a third gender is a global phenomenon. Most recently, we discuss this reality as part of Gender Fluidity and Goddess Worship Meet Up with Surrealism in Numéro Art #15 2024.

The fine-tuning of Rimowa’s marketing initiatives are always a marvel, and I admire them enormously for this gesture of humanism — one they did not have to make. These are the kinds of values-driven gestures that make one a customer for life when accompanied by expert craftsmanship and technology, respect for workers and a commitment to sustainability. Rimowa has long enjoyed all these attributes and especially after becoming 80% majority-owned by LVMH in 2016. ~ Anne