Bag and Baggage

As travel finally picks up, it's time to make a fresh beginning with new luggage

- Magandeep Singh

I don't how to put this across in more unimaginative (yet hopefully 'woke') a manner but the time to 'catch flights, not feelings' is back again. The time has come to leave behind the memories of the last two years as a bad dream, and travel without inhibitions. It is time to bring down the luggage from the attic and dust it clean or, if you are anything like me, make a fresh beginning with new gear. As always, my purchases are made after extensive research, which includes store visits. It gives me a good idea about not just what is available, but also market trends. Here are the brands that stand out as far as my preference for luggage goes.

• Gucci: The latest from Gucci Valigeria has two salient selling points, "The Savoy" hotel (where founder Guccio Gucci worked as a porter in his youth) and "Ryan Gosling" (no explanation necessary). Their collection includes everything from hold-alls to suitcases and garment carriers, even trunks, although I am yet to see someone check one in- maybe such people only fly private. My personal favourite has to be the gear that came from their other recent collaborations (and in that order) Palace (skateboards), Adidas and North Face. The idea in each was to revisit their timeless designs with cross-branding appeal and I think, it mostly came out well even if, from a creative point of view, these weren't the most avant-garde of silhouettes.