“Show me your luggage and I’ll tell you who you are,” reads the 1921 Louis Vuitton advertising slogan. Nearly 100 years on, this statement still rings true. As long as there has been travel, people have wanted to arrive in style, whether it be using the large, heavy wardrobe trunks that contained all their owner would need for a long sea voyage, or today’s light, cabin-sized case, perfect for a business trip or weekend getaway.
Of course, travel has changed immensely since the ‘Grand Tours’ of the eighteenth century, when young, aristocratic men would travel Europe by horse-drawn carriage hoping to broaden their minds and learn something of antiquity. Commercial air travel has revolutionised how we see the world, and how quickly we can get there. Gone are the several-week-long journeys by boat or by train and the large entourages to carry everything that you might need. Now, you’re lucky if you can find a porter at Dubai International Airport to take your suitcase to your onward chauffeur-driven Rolls. And if you do want to make a statement with your luggage, it’s not only the image you project that needs to be robust.
As you rack up the frequent flyer miles, your luggage can suffer at the hands of overworked, overzealous baggage handlers. Thankfully, there is a substantial niche market in today’s luxury luggage manufacturers that creates trunks and suitcases that not only look like they belong to the golden age of travel, but are built to last, too.
“The thing with luggage is evolution,” says Trevor Pickett, managing director of Pickett, a luxury leather goods company based in the UK. Speaking to many of today’s luxury luggage manufacturers, it’s a sentiment many of them share. “People used to travel by ship, or were chauffeured around,” adds Sato Enomoto from Globe-Trotter, who have been making luggage for world leaders and royalty since 1897. “Now airlines cannot care for luggage in the same way,” she adds ruefully.
The success of many of today’s luxury baggage manufacturers lies in how they are able to utilise the craftsmanship of yesteryear, and transform it into suitcases and trunks that not only hold up well to several journeys a year, or even per month, but also capture the romance of travel at the beginning of the last century. Louis Vuitton, a name synonymous with luxury travel, made his name during the mid-eighteenth century, supplying the Sultan of Egypt and Russian royal family. The method of manufacture of these popular trunks has remained largely unchanged since the company was founded in 1854. Highly trained craftsmen assemble frames made from poplar and aucoumea wood which are then covered in leather and/or canvas, embellished, of course, with the world-famous Louis Vuitton logo. These trunks are so well made that, even fifty or more years on, the quality of the workmanship is apparent and only the monograms are slightly faded, adding to the old style glamour of the pieces.
Tradition also still rules in the workshop of La Maison Goyard, whose pieces of sturdy luggage are still made from poplar and birch, leather and fabric in the old style. Personalisation of the cases is also still carried out by hand, and the company, like Louis Vuitton, also offers its clients custom-made creations.
In fact, the key to many a successful luggage manufacturer seems to be in catering to its clients’ ever-expanding tastes. Pickett offer suitcases with and without wheels – apparently there are some traditionalists out there who prefer to carry, not wheel their belongings around. Suitcases, bags and trunks can be made to any requested size and shape, particularly useful when you need to store precious items such as jewellery, which should of course be kept in the original box. And the company also offers luggage made from very soft leather. Ideal for clients who have yachts and don’t want any damage caused to the casing.
Globe-Trotter also relies on time-honoured techniques for its collections of today. Their hand-lacquered Orient collection would not have been out of place a century ago, nor would one of the company’s latest lines, the Faubourg Express, the result of a collaboration with Hermès. Well rigged to cope with being placed in aircraft holds, these suitcases combine classic Globe-Trotter design with an inside printed with the Champ de course scarf drawing. Globe-Trotter is unique amongst luggage manufacturers as its suitcase covers are made from Vulcan Fibre, a mysterious material invented in 1850s Britain which transforms paper into a fibre light as aluminium and hard-wearing as leather.
Of course, luggage manufacturers ensure that their suitcases are resilient – Italian company Valextra’s stylish white leather suitcases have reinforced corners and are resistant to many bumps and scrapes – and most firms offer a repair service, but there are some simple things that owners can do to ensure their baggage has a long journey-life. Keep the leather soft and supple, and although these bags and trunks are waterproof, keep them away from water and damp as much as possible.
Travel today may be ever more frenetic, and you may find yourself arriving in three continents in the space of a week. But with a suitcase inspired by the age of elegance, and built to last, you can imagine that the steamer is approaching, ready to take you on a long, relaxing voyage.
Contacts
Louis Vuitton
Riyadh, KSA
Tel +966 1 211 2700
www.louisvuitton.com
Goyard
Shamiya, Kuwait
Tel +965 4827 004
HYPERLINK "http://www.goyard.com" \o "http://www.goyard.com" www.goyard.com
Pickett
London, UK
Tel +44 20 7493 8939
HYPERLINK "http://www.pickett.co.uk" \o "http://www.pickett.co.uk" www.pickett.co.uk
Globe-Trotter
Dubai, UAE
Tel +9714 409 888
HYPERLINK "http://www.globe-trotterltd.com" \o "http://www.globe-trotterltd.com" www.globe-trotterltd.com
Valextra
Milan, Italy
Tel +39 02 9978 6000
HYPERLINK "http://www.valextra.it" \o "http://www.valextra.it" www.valextra.it
