Yahoo Finance The 5 Best Luggage Brands to Shop Before Your Next Trip
When it comes to luggage, there is no such thing as one size fits all— literally and figuratively. Given that we all have different sensibilities, budgets, and varying purposes for travel, we each consider different parameters when choosing the best luggage brand. For some, a suitcase is a style statement, an opportunity to say something about one's design eye and ethos, while for others, durability may be the chief consideration in choosing. Or perhaps you are primarily concerned with having enough space to pack far more pairs of shoes than you'll ever have a chance to wear on that two-week trip. Whatever your poison, have your pick of the following five best luggage brands across a range of categories.
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Most Sustainable: Horizn Studios
Horizn Studios is a Berlin-based luggage and travel accessories company that produces sustainable design luggage. The brand is committed to internationalism, a sleek and minimalism design, but above all, the brand is deeply rooted in what the future of travel should look like, playing its part in the generational shift toward sustainability as a lifestyle. It has also launched capsules with the likes of the late Off-White founder Virgil Abloh, and Nigerian sound and installation artist Emeka Ogboh. Where fashion, tech, travel, and substantiality meet, there you'll find Horizn Studios.
The pieces are manufactured through a process that is almost entirely waste-free: The company donates carbon credits to offset its carbon emissions, and all its suitcases—which are completely vegan (the first luggage company to be so accredited by PETA)—are shipped in recycled packaging. The most popular piece may be the H7—its largest checked offering that is available in a multitude of colors and comes in standard and smart options—but the brand's most innovative collection is the Circle One line. The Circle One is 100-percent biodegradable polycarbonate luxury luggage that radically defines a new era of travel.
Best Budget Buy: Travelpro
What better stamp of endorsement could a luggage brand have than to be the go-to choice of the crews of over 90 airlines worldwide? This fact speaks to the quality of Travelpro luggage, and with most of its check-in size suitcases ringing up at under $200, we'd consider it the best bang there is for your luggage buck out there. This is dependable luggage that will not break the bank!
What's more, its patented PrecisionGlide system combines three innovations that come together to result in luggage mobility that would be enviable to some of the most expensive brands on the market. The popular 25-Inch Maxlite Expandable Spinner, for instance, retails for around $150 (while the hardside option in the same size is only $10 more), while featuring adjustable hold-down straps, a high-tensile-strength expandable zipper, a two-position adjustable handle, as well as high-performance ball bearing wheels for turbulence-free maneuvering and is backed by Travelpro's "Built for a Lifetime" limited warranty.
Best Looking: Globe-Trotter
Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, and while observers may vary in their taste, you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who would not agree that the heritage British luggage brand Globe-Trotter makes some of the most beautiful luggage around. Founded in 1897 in Saxony, Germany by a British entrepreneur, its pieces continue to carry, to this day, the signature look and feel of a bygone era of travel, where the case one carried was as good as their calling card.
Globe-Trotter luggage is made entirely by hand in England with methods that have changed very little since their Victorian inception. The suitcases are crafted from vulcanized fiberboard—a unique material comprising multiple layers of specially bonded paper, rendering it lightweight yet sturdy—adorned with their trademark molded leather corners. The leather comes from J&FJ Baker, a small, family-owned company in Colyton, Devon, which is the last remaining tannery of its kind in Britain. The brand carries selections from across a number of permanent collections as well as collaborative capsule collections (such as its No Time to Die range, made for the James Bond film), and even makes bespoke pieces to order as well.
Most Spacious: BRIC's
BRIC'S is certainly not the only brand that makes oversized luggage capable of supporting you on extended sojourns, but its Life 32-Inch Split Frame Spinner also bears the advantage of being gorgeous. Fashioned from Bric's suede-resembling flocked PVC, the case is a durable, weatherproof, and cleanable one that is elevated with vegetable-tanned Tuscan leather finishes. The piece features fully-lined double deck compartments (both of which can be closed by a zipper), allowing for maximal use of its 143-liter capacity. And, with its built-in TSA lock—a requirement when traveling in the U.S., as it allows airport security to inspect the luggage without damaging the bag by using a universal TSA-only key—your many, many precious belongings will be kept entirely safe.
Most Durable: Pelican
Perhaps you are looking for the best luggage brand that can withstand the harsh physical pressures of journeying and will last a lifetime. Then consider Pelican. A leading brand in the design and manufacture of high-performance protective cases, temperature-controlled packaging, and advanced portable lighting systems, Pelican was founded by a scuba diving enthusiast in his garage in Torrance, Calif. with the initial purpose of storing first-aid equipment for divers. The American brand has since grown to have a multinational footprint and to be trusted by sectors as diverse as law enforcement, military, medical, and aerospace for its crushproof, dust-proof, watertight hard cases that offer the best protection and dry box storage for camera equipment, dive gear, electronics, drones, and more. The PVC frame of the pieces often comes lined with foam for extra protection of contents. These cases are as hardy as they come.
