NFTW: The New Geography of Home

Week 2: January 8-14, 2025

What’s good everyone? I trust we’re all doing well. I hope you've all settled into the new year's rhythm. I've been thinking a lot about identity and movement lately – how we define ourselves in an increasingly borderless world, and how the tools we use to traverse it shape our experience of place and belonging. For many of us who split our time between continents, the traditional boundaries between "home" and "away" are becoming increasingly fluid.

Beyond "Where are you from?" – Rethinking Local Identity

I was recently revisiting Taiye Selasi's illuminating TED Talk on identity and locality, which challenges the oversimplified question "Where are you from?" Instead, she proposes we ask "Where are you a local?" It's a profound shift in framing that resonates deeply in our hyper-mobile world, where identity is increasingly shaped by experiences rather than mere geography.

This reframing isn't just philosophical – it has real implications for how we understand modern community and belonging. When we define our locality through our rituals, relationships, and restrictions (the three R's Selasi proposes), we begin to see how someone can be simultaneously local to multiple places, each shaping different facets of their identity.

I've experienced this firsthand. Getting my haircut the exact way I like it without having to say a word to my barber in London makes me as local there as my morning coffee ritual in Dubai, where the barista knows my order before I even speak. These aren't just activities or transactions – they're the threads of locality that Selasi speaks about. In both places, I'm authentically home.

The power of Selasi's framework lies in its ability to capture the complexity of modern identity without reducing it to passport stamps or ancestry. It acknowledges that we can carry multiple localities within us, each one as valid as the next. A friend recently told me how she feels equally at home haggling in Accra's Makola Market and navigating New York's subway system. Both experiences, she says, are written into her muscle memory, both are equally authentic parts of who she is.

The New Nomads: Redefining Seasonal Living

What's fascinating is how technology and remote work are transforming this concept of multi-locality into a lived reality for many. I was speaking with a friend last week about how we've noticed our peers increasingly adopting what we might call "intentional seasonality" – spending summers in Europe or the United States and winters in Africa or Asia. This isn't the traditional expatriate model of our parents' generation; it's something more fluid, more intentional.

Social media and digital tools have transformed what were once distant connections into intimate, daily relationships. A developer in Lagos can be as present in their London team's Slack channel as someone sitting in Shoreditch. Instagram stories from friends' morning coffees in Accra feel as immediate as the view outside my own window in Dubai. We're not just visiting these places – we're living simultaneously across them, maintaining real-time connections that blur the lines between here and there.

The Business of Modern Mobility: Rimowa's Renaissance

This evolution in how we move and live globally is reflected in how luxury brands are adapting their offerings. Rimowa, the German luxury luggage maker, offers a fascinating case study in how heritage brands can evolve to serve contemporary needs while maintaining their core identity.

The numbers tell a compelling story of Rimowa's transformation under LVMH's ownership. Since the 2016 acquisition for €640 million, Rimowa has seen its revenue grow from €400 million to over €800 million in 2023. This dramatic growth stems largely from their successful pivot to target younger luxury consumers – particularly in Asia, where the brand has seen a 200% increase in sales between 2016 and 2023. Their profit margins have expanded from 13% in 2016 to approximately 20% in 2023, putting them in line with other luxury leather goods makers.

Founded in 1898, Rimowa has transformed from a traditional luggage manufacturer into a symbol of modern mobility. Their success hinges on three key elements:

1. Heritage as Innovation: While many luxury brands lean solely on heritage, Rimowa has consistently innovated. Their 1937 aluminum trunk wasn't just a product – it was a revolution in lightweight travel that still influences their design philosophy today.

2. Cultural Relevance: Under LVMH's ownership since 2016, Rimowa has masterfully connected with contemporary culture through collaborations with Supreme, Off-White, and Dior, making heritage feel relevant to younger consumers. These collaborations have driven significant value – limited edition releases typically sell out within hours, commanding premiums of 200-300% on the secondary market.

3. Experience-First Luxury: Rather than selling mere luggage, Rimowa positions itself as an enabler of meaningful travel experiences. This shift from product to experience aligns perfectly with modern luxury consumers' values. Their average customer age has dropped from 45 to 32 since 2016, reflecting successful engagement with younger luxury consumers.

The Intersection of Identity and Movement

What fascinates me about these threads – Selasi's concept of locality, our evolving patterns of seasonal living, and Rimowa's business evolution – is how they reflect our changing relationship with place and movement. In a world where we can be local to multiple places and present in multiple communities simultaneously, our understanding of home and away, work and leisure, holiday and daily life is fundamentally transforming.

The Rimowa advertisement below perfectly captures this evolution in how we think about travel and belonging. It's no longer about just getting from point A to point B – it's about the fluid movement between the multiple places we call home, the preservation of our experiences, and the tools that enable our modern rituals of movement.

Until next week. Peace.

"Rituals, relationships, restrictions – these are the three elements that define where you're a local." - Taiye Selasi