The Hottest Trends in Carry-on Luggage

Luggage is a hot accessory and one to which change has traditionally come slowly.

In the last two decades, the traditional black canvas rollaboard carryon has been standard, but there are plenty of designers both new and old coming out with travel companions to fit the diverse and specialized needs of the modern traveler.

Here are some trends that are up-and-coming in the bags we've been seeing off the line lately.

No Zippers

Many travelers love zippers for easy access (need to slip a laptop or magazine in your bag?). Others find them bothersome for their high mortality, which explains the frequent exclusions on airline damage liability and manufacturer warranties.

The Tumi and Louis Vuitton alums that designed the utterly covetable Arlo Skye carryon ($550 direct from the website) knew this and dispensed with zippers. The bags, which come in three colors, are made of a lightweight alloy in a heritage design with leather handles, silent wheels and a removable charging device.

For wear testing, the bags were opened and closed 5,000 times.

Spinners

Although multi-directional "spinner" upright wheeled bags have been on the market for some years now, road warriors accustomed to suffering from tennis elbow-type inflammation-from constantly pulling weight with an arm twisted backward-have more designs than ever to choose from.

Longtime carryon manufacturer TravelPro's Crew 11 lines, which come in hard-side and soft-side varieties, offers a number of sizes and designs for lovers of classic design and spinner portability.

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Charging Stations

Where the Arlo Skye bag was conceived by bag experts, the two women who helm Away are from the Warby Parker school of straightforward direct-to-consumer pricing.

The bag they've designed is a scratch-resistant hard shell model with a built-in phone charger. It's similar in many ways to the Arlo Skye bag, but it's about half the price and is guaranteed for life.

If you've ever found yourself on a plane, train, or cruise terminal hunting for an outlet, which may or may not require having a seat on the floor, this Away bag will allay your worries when your device batteries reach critically low mass.

Vintage Touches

What's old is new again, and luggage that draws on a vintage sensibility is a hot new trend.

The centenarian British luggage manufacturer Globe-Trotter's Spring/Summer Collection 2017 is inspired by a vintage design from the company's archives, with a surprise lining drawn from the travel sticker collection of a BOAC Stewardess from the 1960s.

Although vintage in design, the bag is still a roll aboard to meet 21st-century requirements.

For retronauts who might find the thousand pound price tag a bit too beyond the pale, here's a journal entry by Hilary Farish, the BOAC stewardess behind the design.

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Tagless Tech

Although bag tags are more of a check-in sized problem, one of the newer innovations in design is the Electronic Tag now available on the distinctively designed bags from the German company Rimowa.

At select airlines, passengers can check in on their mobile device and download a bag tag directly to a built-in screen on their case. When it's time to go to the airport, they can skip the check-in lines and leave their bags directly at an automated or semi-automated drop-off point and be on their way.

Two global airlines in Europe and Asia currently support the functionality, while other European and North American carriers are in testing phases.

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