| One case represented a special first: a
Samsonite debut in a James Bond film. In 1999, Erik Sijmons, Samsonite
Europe’s Travel Design Director, was asked by Karlheinz Tretter, then
Samsonite’s European president, to design a hardside aluminium case.
The sleek, sharp-looking result, the Xylem, caught the eye of the
producers of The World Is Not Enough, the 20th film in the Bond
franchise. Sijmons and his team were asked to produce a special version,
a ‘money case’ in which Pierce Brosnan, playing Bond, could carry a
load of cash. In the film, Brosnan abseils down a rope from an 8th-floor
apartment, carrying the case in his hand. “I went to the premiere, but
I almost had to cover my eyes in that scene, because I was scared the
handle was going to break when he jumped,” says Sijmons. “Of course
it didn’t, and it was a great honour to see this prototype I helped
construct, up there on a massive screen.” James Bond wasn’t the only
one making a break for it; in 1995, after more than two decades as a
subsidiary of various consumer goods conglomerates, Samsonite
Corporation merged with its former holding company, Astrum International
Corporation, which had spun off its last non-Samsonite operating
business earlier that year. The merged entity was named Samsonite
Corporation, and, for the first time since 1973, Samsonite was once
again a stand-alone business. The figures boded well for Samsonite’s
new phase; European sales had been 172 million Euros in 1990, but by
2000 the figure was 339 million Euros. A new, independent Samsonite
could, it seemed, face the future with confidence, and it began the new
millennium with a suitably forward-looking project; a collaboration with
renowned designer Philippe Starck, the first time an outsider had been
brought in to design a Samsonite luggage range. The minimalist and
lightweight collection of expandable backpacks, business bags and
shoulder bags under the “Samsonite by Starck” umbrella, with their
clean detailing and functional features, such as transparent internal
compartments, went on to win several international design awards –
including the Red Dot “Best of the Best” – and started to subtly
shift Samsonite in the public mind from a luggage brand to a lifestyle
brand.
One
case represented a special
first:
a Samsonite
debut in
a. James
Bond film.
In 1999, Erik
Sijmons, Samsonite
Europe's Travel. Design
Director,
was asked by ...
|
Contact:
007museum@telia.com
Mediainfo
Buy/info 
