#MostWanted — the Luggage Every ‘It’ Girl Will Carry This Winter

Leeann Duggan
·Senior Editor
The Mark Cross Travel Collection debuts this week.
The Mark Cross Travel Collection debuts this week. (Photo: Courtesy of Mark Cross)

It’s now the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, and I can safely say I learned some things from my trip home for the holidays. Of course, the basic facts that all weekends should have four days, and all pies should be sweet potato — and baked by my sister, who inherited a cooking gene heretofore undiscovered in my family. But the biggest lesson is that traveling is a lot easier when you have the right equipment. Just ask my shoulders, which are still stooped and sore from repeatedly hoisting an overstuffed duffle bag as I made my way home for the holidays.

So it’s not a moment too soon that luxury bag brand Mark Cross announces the newest addition to its family: the Mark Cross Travel Collection. Launched Monday, it’s the brand’s first official luggage collection, offering four styles in a range of classic and trendy colors. All of the pieces are handmade in Italy with Italian leather and the highest-quality materials (18 karat gold-plated hardware, anyone?). Several of the styles feature handy roller wheels, so if you, like me, are the current not-so-proud owner of a basic black nylon roller suitcase, consider this the ultimate upgrade.

Grace Trunk
Mark Cross Grace Trunk. (Photo: Courtesy of Mark Cross)

First up is the sophisticated Grace Trunk, a classic, flat-sided valise inspired by Mark Cross’s Grace Box bag, a favorite of “it” girls from Alexa Chung to Taylor Swift. The Grace Trunk comes in three sizes and multiple colors, from basic black with a rich red satin interior, to a pretty blue-sky print. Fun fact: Flat-sided luggage was invented during the days of steamship travel so that baggage could be stackable. So this case’s boxy shape is just the thing for vintage-loving jet setters.

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Mark Cross Grace Trolley. (Photo: Courtesy of Mark Cross)

There’s also a Grace Trolley, which is basically a Grace Trunk on wheels, and probably the fanciest roller case on earth.

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Mark Cross Pilota. (Photo: Courtesy of Mark Cross)

The third style is the Pilota, Mark Cross’s take on the classic pilot’s roller bag. It’s available in pebble grain or smooth calf leather, has an extendable handle, fits in any overhead compartment, and is probably small enough to scoot right under the seat in front of you. Keep your laptop and plane reads in the main compartment and your travel documents in its multiple exterior pockets, and breeze right through security and onboard in style.

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Mark Cross 22 inch Trolley. (Photo: Courtesy of Mark Cross)

Finally, there’s the 22 inch Trolley. The roomiest style in the luggage line, it fits a week’s worth of travel essentials (if you’re a smart packer), and it fits in any overhead compartment. It comes in gorgeous black calf leather and a variety of colors in pebble grain leather, but this writer has a soft spot in her heart for the purple with palladium hardware. Sore shoulders, begone!

Pieces from the Mark Cross luggage line range in cost from $5,500 to $9,950, and the collection is available exclusively on MatchesFashion.com and MarkCross.com.

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