Carry it off
Beautiful luggage says as much about a person's style as their clothes do, writes Juliet Nicolson The most beautiful piece of luggage I have ever owned remains my least favourite. The navyblue school trunk with its shiny golden clasps and my name painted on the top in white letters stayed in the attic out of sight during the holidays. But the time inevitably came when it was hauled down, the open lid releasing the unmistakeable tear-prompting smell of a new term.
That trunk nearly turned me off an interest in luggage for life, even though I have often prayed that the zip and handle on my old Kipling bag will not collapse with exhaustion before arrival. Suitcases have an annoying habit of giving way mid-journey, and never while stored beneath one's bed.
But a visit to the brand-new, dazzling chrome-and-black baggage hall on the second floor of Harrods has transformed my thinking. Here nostalgia for the heady glamour days of travel merges with 21st-century technology and packaging. A mocked-up carousel induces the itch to leave for the airport at once while 18 plasma screens display the enticing destinations to which these suitcases beg to be transported.
With the new regulations that generally permit only one suitcase per person, the allocated bag should be something lovely, a show-off, in-your-face piece of luggage. Among a huge choice of over 30 brands, many of them exclusive to Harrods, you will find nostalgic names from the glory days of the steamships, Noel Coward-era luggage from Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Asprey as well as Bric's classic Italian cases, carried by Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt and Nigella. The indestructible Zero Halliburton, seen in movies in the hands of spies carrying money, drugs and worse since the 1930s, is as tough as a stealth bomber. The Dutch-made Henk at £17,500 costs, as a rather grand and much travelled farmer observed, more than a thoroughbred cow, although it is constructed from titanium, magnesium and aluminium and, unlike a cow, it lasts for life. The Henk has 500 separate parts and a lightness and ease of movement that qualifies the case for a place in the finals of Strictly Come Dancing or an invitation to take the floor with Fred and Ginger. Only 200 Henks are made every year, each one coming complete with an aftercare and follow-up service just like a top-of-the-range car.
American luggage, including the 130year-old Hartmann with its embossed fullgrain leather cases, makes the perfect gift. Tumi, a highly elegant and deeply covetable American brand, is made of hardy flak-jacket material and has expandable insides, ideal for Christmas shopping trips to New York. The beautifully constructed Tumi has hidden wheels, discreet and different-length handles and a special key so that immigration officials do not rip it apart. Warren Beatty, Russell Crowe, Madonna and all their friends are Tumi devotees, while the cool fashionista journalists and artsy crowd would not carry anything other than a Mandarina Duck. If you are after the original thing, Henry Gregory Antiques has briefcases and suitcases dating from 1800 to 1950, vintage Aspreys attaché cases, into which a 2007 laptop will slip with ease, and 1920 Louis Vuitton trunks in perfect condition for £6,000 — a snip at the price.
Even if you join the chic luggage club, there is still a chance your case will go astray.
My daughter once arrived at the beach from the airport to find her case contained a drum kit and a moth-eaten Rastafarian wig. Her own itsy bitsy swimsuit must have found an equally unappreciative reception.
The Unclaimed Baggage Center in Alabama is the city-block-sized depot where all bags lost in the US airline networks end up. A 19th-century suit of armour and a set of bagpipes are among the bargain-priced treasures that attract a million visitors a year in the hope that they will find a lost fortune tucked into the lining of a $5 case. Individual luggage labels such as those sold at Smythson could well put the UBC out of business. In bright colours with your name and address stamped boldly on both sides, they are a wonderful present, costing about £2 each for 100 or £1.20 if you order 250.
But even Harrods cannot satisfy every exclusive luggage whim An ex-member of the Royal Household still keeps the distinctive red-and-yellow regal label firmly tied on to his battered suitcase, having discovered that genuine label recognition ensures its first-off place on any international carousel.
www.hemygregoyantiques.com www.hanods.com www.smythson.com
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