Celebrating its 50th anniversary, year-long celebrations are in motion for the icon of fashion and travel. From beginnings rooted in Munich to intercepting global culture – Global Chief Brand Officer Dirk Schönberger reflects on a journey flown in style.
Every heritage brand has to start somewhere. For MCM Worldwide, those origins found their setting in Munich, Germany, during the city’s 1970s Golden Age. The house’s Global Chief Brand Officer, Dirk Schönberger, remembers the decade fondly – from a blockbuster Olympic Games that had everyone flocking to the Bavarian capital in 1972, to the city’s transformation into a hub of the burgeoning disco movement, and Bayern Munich’s emergence as a titan of the beautiful game.
It was a fitting context for MCM to sprout from. In 1976, the brand began leaving an indelible imprint on the city’s early days as a nascent fashion centre, with its luxury travel goods rooted in German precision and craftsmanship. The Visetos Monogram would quickly find itself intersecting with culture globally – taking the brand’s jet-set philosophies and ethos of modern mobility to the likes of New York’s ’80s hip-hop scene and early ’00s K-Pop.
Its inimitable Cognac backpacks have continued to be championed by champions, themselves: from Cristiano Ronaldo to Diana Ross and Billie Eilish as her own course of global domination took flight. If anything, it’s become harder to pinpoint a sector of popular culture that doesn’t have MCM threaded through it.
It’s all been no accident, however, something Global Chief Brand Officer Schönberger, who returned to the House last year, can attest to. The designer unpacks the half-century milestone, the brand’s enduring reverence for craftsmanship, its ability to evolve ahead of the times, and the quintessential MCM number he relies on for his own travels.
Imagery courtesy of MCM Worldwide
Jotaro Joden: It’s MCM’s 50th anniversary this year, so I wanted to ask, what about the brand today feels most true to its original DNA?
Dirk Schönberger: Definitely the iconic all-over logo because that’s where it all started. When MCM was founded, the idea was to create a luxury travel brand that centres on material or functionality. It was the idea of travel goods and the Cognac all-over logo, but, if you think a little bit further, it was really the idea of travel and movement that is still extremely present for the brand today. It’s a pretty diverse set-up, so there are a few answers to that question.
JJ: Why did it feel important to emphasise craft and heritage, in particular, with this anniversary?
DS: The origin of our product was really about craftsmanship. It was produced in Germany, and it was made in ateliers. We are looking at the highest level of quality in the materials, and we have been moving a lot of our production to Italy over the past few years. It was a story that we may have neglected to share and communicate for too long. And, looking back, it was always a very important part of the brand for us, so we wish to emphasise this area of craftsmanship again.
JJ: When you set out to encapsulate five decades of legacy, where did you start? What was at the top of your list?
DS: Well, for me, it was culture. I’m German myself, and I have very vivid memories of Munich in the ’70s, where the brand was born in a time with a lot of societal changes happening, like the peace movement, women’s liberation and post-war Germany. In a way, it was about enjoying life, and Munich was at the core of it. I grew up in the west of Germany, where it was very industrial. Munich was about celebrating life. It was about glamour – it was very different to any other city in Germany. There was disco in Munich during that time, with a lot of international stars living and recording there. MCM continued to build on this idea of music and luxury travel in the ’80s, being embraced in New York like other luxury logo-driven brands by hip-hop and rap culture.
Through Sung-Joo Kim (Chairperson and Chief Visionary Officer) buying the brand in the early ’00s, the idea of K-pop and Asian culture came into it. So, for me, the legacy of the brand was a bit like a plane that started in Munich, had a little stop in New York, went to Asia and is basically travelling from continent to continent and loading on different aspects of culture on board. I think that this sets it apart from other luxury brands, which normally would be connected to one country like Italy or France. We’re a brand that [goes] between Europe, the West and the East. I like this idea because it creates a friction that other brands don’t embody as we do.
JJ: As you mentioned, craftsmanship is at the heart of the anniversary celebrations. What are the challenges of upholding MCM-level craft in a modern context?
DS: It’s not easy. Luxury brands have become a pop phenomenon. I believe in a much longer-term commitment, and when you look at younger generations, they start to embrace it. You see it at the second-hand vintage markets where the kids are buying designer clothes and combining them with their own. It has become much more about longevity rather than a short moment. I think that we, as a luxury brand, need to understand the importance of embracing a much more evolutionary approach rather than a seasonal approach. I want to create stuff that people want to wear five years later, maybe even ten years later and still say, “Oh, it’s still relevant to me, and it still looks cool.”
JJ: How will you translate the essence and importance of craftsmanship to the younger generation?
DS: We are a brand that has a strong heritage, so we are also looking at our archives and at relevant pieces that all of a sudden could become a trend off the back of a moment. We have a pretty rich archive, I have to say, from 1976 onwards.We are not a luxury brand that is price-positioned at the top level, which, for me, is also extremely important. We create cool, modern, high-quality products that are approachable for a younger customer. It’s not exclusive to the top one per cent, and I think that this is part of the story: we create this feeling of heritage, this feeling of nostalgia, but put it into a modern context.
Imagery courtesy of MCM Worldwide
JJ: MCM has stayed relevant throughout so many different periods since its inception – from athletes to K-pop stars, as you mentioned, and it’s transcended trends and styles. Why do you think the brand has resonated through each passing phase?
DS: It’s always been a part of a cultural movement. Especially from the early ’00s, it really connected to what was important for a younger customer. We had Billie Eilish in our campaign before her first album came out, and these are the moments where I feel like MCM has an eye for talents before they truly break out.
JJ: What do the next 50 years look like in terms of success for the brand?
DS: Very simply said, it would be breaking through further globally. But I think that success would just be to remain relevant for a younger customer because, if you’re relevant for a younger customer, you will always attract a more mature customer as well. After all, that is part of the forever young game that the luxury industry is playing so well. It’s about staying ahead of cultural movements and keeping the conversation open with youth culture. That’s what success would look like to me.
JJ: Are there any other pockets of culture that you would love to see the brand in, in the future?
DS: We’ve already conquered the pop and hip-hop world, but sport is definitely something extremely important – the well-being of people, which is part of the future. Sport would definitely be on top of the list, and all the other ones are more niche – to explore collaborations in the art world, for example. But I think that well-being – this idea of health being the new wealth – is part of a pretty strong luxury vision.
JJ: MCM has been worn by so many influential cultural figures over the years, but who stands out to you?
DS: It was amazing when Billie Eilish was our campaign model. There was an amazing moment for the brand long before I joined with Rain, the K-pop star. When you look back at Diana Ross carrying the bags, these are really important moments for the brand that stand out. I’m also still impressed when I see a cool young kid in Berlin on the street with a cool look wearing an MCM bag.
JJ: Who would you personally like to see wearing MCM in the future?
DS: Someone like Charli XCX, to me, is super interesting, how she went from Brat to Wuthering Heights. People like that who are taking risks and evolving are the people I want to be friends of the brand. They’re often almost as fearless as the brand is.
JJ: And finally, for you, what is the quintessential MCM bag?
DS: I have to think about it because it always changes, but right now, because I’m travelling so much, it’s a medium-sized Ella Boston Bag because it looks extremely stylish. It fits everything I need to go on a plane. We also have new shapes of bags coming out, so if you ask me a year from now, one of them might become my next quintessential MCM.
