Most luggage brands and travel accessories prioritise function over aesthetics—look at any airport carousel and stare in horror as dusted and busted, dirt-encrusted, often misshapen rectangles head your way. Unless it’s a piece from the haloed catalogue of famed British travel brand Globe-Trotter, which has just launched a must-have series that we’re unabashedly coveting.
A fabulous new line exclusively for those who love the city, the Hong Kong Limited-Edition collection just hit stores in popular colours of the vintage brand. It’s easily our pick of the season for stylish accessories. With black vulcanised fibreboard, brown vegetable-tanned leather trims, and gold accents, the dashing and elegant travel gear is durable, practical, and easy on the eye, but it’s the print inside that grabs you for a nostalgic trip—see the monochrome, classic iconography and silhouettes of the tram, the Peak Tram, the Star Ferry, and the Hong Kong junk, all interspersed with the Globe-Trotter North Star logo, paying obeisance to the rich history of transport in the city.
As we skim through the catalogue of cases, attachés, trunks, and carry-ons, the literature describes how the emblematic pattern was chosen to celebrate “the electric double-decker trams running non-stop across Hong Kong Island since 1904, the venerable Peak Tram being one of the oldest operating funicular railways in the world, the Star Ferry remaining the most popular way for locals and visitors alike to witness the allure of Victoria Harbour, and the Hong Kong Junk being one of the oldest remaining wooden boats in operation bearing classic red sails.”
Globe-Trotter itself has travelled the world many times over since its launch in 1897; no designer accessory lasts over a century if it isn’t seeped in artisanal craftsmanship, excellence, quality, and, quite frankly, adaptability with time. Of course, it helps to have a legion of celebrity fans—Globe-Trotter cases were favoured by Queen Elizabeth II and Winston Churchill, and are equally as popular with contemporary modern icons like film star Daniel Craig, the Beckhams, and other famed and fortuned younglings like Emma Watson.
You’ll find such variety and quality at Globe-Trotter’s signature store in The Peninsula Hong Kong (and speaking of icon, there’s also a James Bond 007 collection that’s impeccable). If travel in style is your mantra, chant away.
The Hong Kong Limited-Edition is available exclusively at Globe-Trotter at The Peninsula Hong Kong. Costs range from HK$10,980–HK$28,980.
All images courtesy of Globe-Trotter.
