Apple Designer Marc Newson Creates Louis Vuitton Travel Bag

Apple VP of Design, Marc Newson, has helped launch a new travel bag for luxury brand Louis Vuitton, that’s not only lighter, but has increased capacity.

Newson’s design brings the extendable cane to the outside (unlike most rolling trunks) made out of anodized aluminum (of course!). This allows for more room on the inside, eliminating bumps and ridges.

The side trunk has a new transversal hinge built-in, along with a new three-digit combination zip-pull lock system utilizing a single zipper, to make for a lighter design.

The new rolling trunk was designed in three sizes, available in the classic LV Monogram canvas, Monogram Eclipse, Damier Graphite, Taiga leather and a seven colours of Epi leather, available in three sizes: mini (50 x 35 x 20 cm), cabin (55 x 39 x 21 cm) and maxi (68 x 46 x 26 cm).

The famed industrial designer was able to increase internal volume of the cabin trunk by 13% versus similar industry rolling trunks, while weighing in at 3 kilograms,  The mini size only weighs 2.7 kilograms.

According to Wallpaper, Newson said “I think it’s safe to say that we’re striving to break new ground in terms of developing a product which is one of the lightest in the market, and from a technical perspective is one of the most rigorously designed and engineered.”

The designer said development took roughly 18 months, but the frequent traveler said he “probably spent 20 years designing these things in my head, long before I knew that I was going to be doing this for Louis Vuitton.”

Newson described, “I’m obsessive about packing everything into a bag of a certain size, which is why it was so important for me to design a product that could tick all of those boxes and be the perfect piece of luggage for a person like me, [who] won’t travel with anything more than is absolutely necessary.”

Speaking more about his relationship with Louis Vuitton, News explained to Fast Co Design the two reasons why he jumped on this collaboration opportunity. First, as an avid traveller who is on the road every single week of the year, he is “a total expert on knowing what to hope for in a piece of luggage. I really knew from the outset [what] I wanted to solve in this project.” Newson previously worked with Louis Vuitton in designing a backpack.

Secondly, he has “huge” respect for Louis Vuitton, as the luxury brand is “is synonymous with luggage—it is their DNA.”

The launch of the new trunk today will offer shoppers a 48 hour after-sales warranty repair service in 14 cities worldwide, integrated into the Louis Vuitton travel app.

The new Rolling Luggage line for 2016 starts at only $2,660 USD/$3,050 CAD. You can check out a video of Newson explaining his design here.