Traveling (In Style): Here Are The Bags We're Picking

Packing is either something people love or hate doing. We're team the latter, but thankfully we're finding ways to make it better. We try to imagine ourselves gliding through the airport with one perfectly organised suitcase, a beautifully oversized bag on your shoulder and absolutely no chance of sitting on your luggage to make it close three days later. Reality may have other plans.

With Fashion Month underway and autumn travel officially back on the agenda, we've been thinking about the bags that actually make travelling better. The suitcase that survives multiple airports while still looking good at check-in. The enormous shoulder bag capable of swallowing everything you thought you needed for the flight. And the tote that somehow has to work at the airport, in a meeting and at dinner.

Right now, RIMOWA, TUMI and Polène have us covered.

RIMOWA Hybrid Stone: For the Person Who Wants Their Suitcase to Match Everything

RIMOWA's latest colour might be one of its nicest neutrals yet. The Maison has introduced Stone to its Hybrid collection, taking inspiration from the warm, mineral tones of natural travertine. The result is a soft greige that works particularly well against the Hybrid's signature silver details and feels refreshingly removed from the sea of black suitcases circling baggage claim.

Pretty, yes. But this is still RIMOWA, so the important bits are underneath.

The Hybrid construction combines a lightweight polycarbonate shell with aluminium corners and frame, while the new Stone colour arrives across Cabin, Check-In L and Trunk Plus sizes. The latter is particularly tempting for longer trips, with a taller vertical shape and generous capacity designed for journeys of two weeks or more.

Inside, Flex Dividers help compress and organise everything you've inevitably overpacked, while the exterior comes with RIMOWA's Multi-wheel System, stage-free telescopic handle and TSA-approved locks.

Our verdict? The one we'd take when we want our luggage to feel like part of the outfit.

More on Rimowa.com

TUMI 19 Degree: For Fashion Month

If you're going to spend an unreasonable amount of September dragging a suitcase between airports, trains, taxis and hotel rooms, it might as well be a good-looking one.

For Fall/Winter 2026, TUMI's 19 Degree Collection takes its colour cues from alpine landscapes, introducing Deep Pine and Salt across selected silhouettes.

We're particularly into Deep Pine. It's distinctive enough to spot immediately without entering novelty-luggage territory, and the colour works beautifully with the collection's already recognisable sculptural shell.

The seasonal shades appear across the Expandable Carry-On, Large Carry-On, Large Expandable Checked, Large Trunk and Front Access styles, giving you options whether you're disappearing for a weekend or attempting Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks with half your wardrobe.

And we're very much interested in the word expandable. Fashion Month has a funny habit of producing more luggage on the way home than you arrived with.

...And the TUMI Voyageur Q Tote: For Everything You Refuse to Check In

Laptop. Passport. Chargers. Sunglasses. Makeup. Headphones. Notebook. Water. An emergency outfit. Approximately seventeen receipts.

The airport tote has a difficult job.

TUMI's Voyageur Q Tote has been reimagined in supple leather with refined hardware, giving it enough polish to move beyond the departure lounge. Practical organisation is built into the design, but it still looks like a proper handbag, which makes it especially useful when you're travelling for work.

This is the one we'd carry onto the plane, take straight into an appointment after landing and continue using throughout the trip.

More on Tumi.com

Polène Shuldo: For the Chronic Overpacker

Then we get to Shuldo, Polène's new 2026 silhouette, and things become considerably more fashion.

Its name comes from the English word “shoulder”, which makes sense the minute you see it. Shuldo has been designed to sit closely against the body, with a huge curved opening and soft, sculptural shape that almost wraps around its wearer.

In other words, exactly the sort of bag we want for a train journey through Europe. The apparently simple shape actually took more than a year of prototyping. Its folds combine three different assembly techniques, while the edges are hand-painted after the bag has been assembled. Each Shuldo requires 33 leather panels, with eight hand-sewn stitching points reinforcing its handle.

We particularly like that Polène hasn't tried to make an oversized bag feel overly structured. Shuldo is intentionally soft and moves with the body, which gives it that slightly nonchalant I threw everything in here and left quality. The campaign imagery captures exactly that feeling too. Photographed by Rebekka Deubner, the bag appears in motion rather than sitting perfectly posed, emphasising how its folds and proportions change when carried.

And then there are the colours: Black, Ebony, Black Cherry, Brown, Mist, Desert and Linden.

Black Cherry with an all-black airport outfit? Yes. Actually we already know we won't be able to decide between all these perfect shades...

More on Polene.com

So, What Are We Taking?

If we're checking luggage, RIMOWA Hybrid Stone wins for the beautifully quiet neutral, while TUMI 19 Degree in Deep Pine is the one we'd choose when we actually want to recognise our suitcase from twenty metres away.

For the cabin, the Voyageur Q Tote makes sense when we're travelling for work and need organisation, while Polène's Shuldo is for those of us whose definition of an “essential” somehow expands every time we approach an airport.

We've finally accepted something about ourselves: we're probably never becoming carry-on-only people. We can, however, look very good while overpacking.