The Soft-Sided Luggage Renaissance Is Here
After nearly a decade of hard-sided luggage dominating the travel scene, a stylish new crop of soft-sided suitcase is making its way to the market.
For as long as humans have been roaming the Earth, our baggage has been relatively rudimentary—at its core, simply sacks or boxes to hold our stuff. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the rolling suitcase became more mainstream. Before then, a wheeled design was considered exclusive to women’s luggage—and its invention only dates back to 1928, when artist Anita Willets-Burnham decided to put wheels on her trunk.
In 2000, Rimowa became the first luggage brand to make a suitcase with a polycarbonate shell. The hard shell was a major departure from the nylon or polyester bags offered by popular brands like Samsonite and TravelPro. But still, it would be a decade or so before hard-sided luggage became truly popular; the mark of luggage’s next major change would come in 2016, when Away launched its sleek, minimalist hard-sided suitcases.
“When Away launched in 2016, we were the first to create a suitcase that goes beyond its utilitarian purposes, one that serves as a way to express personal style in addition to making a traveler’s journey more seamless,” Luigi Auricchio, Vice President of Design at Away, told Thrillist in an interview.
Over the last eight years, the hard-sided suitcase has become a bit of an airport (and Instagram) status symbol. Trendy brands like Beís, Monos, and Calpak entered the market with colorful options and celebrity endorsements. Pricey brands like Tumi and Rimowa enlisted the help of TikTok influencers in order to become relevant and desirable to a young audience. Before long, hard-sided luggage had become king—now widely considered the more durable, stylish, and even functional option.
And while the baggage claim has—by 2024—long been filled with hardshell luggage in colors like rose quartz and blue haze, one notable group of travelers has yet to swap their luggage selection to hardshell: the flight crew. Instead of cherry red or granite gray Away suitcases, flight attendants and pilots can still be seen using sturdy soft-sided bags, often industry favorite TravelPro, which focuses less on the trends and more on serving the type of person who is in the air as often as they're on the ground.
"Crews consistently favor our soft-sided luggage for its convenience, dependability, and ease of use—it's lighter, more flexible, and expands when packing, offering comparable protection to hardshell alternatives," Valerie Batrice, Vice President of Consumer Marketing at Travelpro, told Thrillist. "For over 30 years, we've been the brand of choice among pilots and flight attendants, providing them with professional-grade, ultra-durable soft-sided luggage designed to endure hundreds of trips and thousands of miles."
And while TikTok might indicate otherwise, flight attendants aren't the only ones who have stayed true to soft-sided bags. Auricchio says that over 50% of luggage sales in the US are soft-sided luggage, and that over 90 million travelers use soft-sided luggage exclusively. There's a reason for that. The bags are durable to wear and tear, easy to cram into overhead bins, less likely to bust open when they are overpacked, and don't scuff or mark as easily as hard-sided bags. Case in point: On my very first flight with my pricey hard-sided checked bag, it came down the conveyor belt looking like it had been on the losing side of a long fight with the pavement.
But as popular as soft-sided bags are, no one has really been offering customers an alternative to the classic, tried-and-true soft-sided suitcases—incredibly reliable, but not terribly exciting. “In the nearly 10 years since Away launched, there have been a ton of competitors and imitators who’ve emerged in the market with their version of a hard-sided suitcase, but the soft-sided market remains relatively untouched by innovation,” Auricchio explains. “That’s a massive portion of the market that’s been patiently waiting for an upgrade.”
So, seeing an untapped market, Away went about creating its very own line of soft-sided luggage. The new line launched on July 8, and features carry-on and checked soft-sided luggage options with mid-range price points between $225 and $325. The launch got a bit of buzz: The luggage brand that made hard-sided luggage a style statement for the average consumer was quite literally going soft.
But while the Away soft-sided bag is a game changer, Away isn't the first brand to drop a trendy soft suitcase this summer. Dagne Dover, a women-founded brand that launched in 2013, has never released a suitcase before. The brand has long been known for neoprene bags with an intense focus on functionality; its first NYC subway ads showed a tantalizing organized work bag that could fit a laptop, sneakers, water bottle, notebooks, and a lunch. When Dagne Dover dropped its own luggage line in June 2024, it was a departure from the first luggage releases by other trendy brands: It skipped over the polycarbonate shell and went directly to something a bit more pliable.
“Polycarbonate exteriors are not very durable due to the rigidity of the design, although they are really beautiful,” Jessy Dover, Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder at Dagne Dover, told Thrillist. “We picked our recycled 900D Poly material not only because it’s recycled and durable, but because it also has a beautiful sheen to it similar to what you see in hard shell luggage, and because it’s semi-soft, you can really squeeze this suitcase into tight spaces.”
That’s something important to point out about both of these new soft-sided suitcases from Away and Dagne: They are very, very pretty. I am not knocking a Samsonite, because those suitcases could probably withstand the Armageddon, but when I see one, my first thought is never “Ooh, stunning.” I know I could throw some of these traditional soft-sided bags down five flights of stairs and they’d be totally fine, but I wouldn’t be as inclined to post it on Instagram or in a TikTok packing video.
This new wave of soft-sided luggage is meant for those with an eye for aesthetics. “It is designed for the person who is organizationally-minded and who wants to carry a high-quality, beautiful piece of luggage,” Dover says of the brand’s suitcases.
Away designed its new line for a similar customer. “We expect to see interest from those ready to upgrade their tired, hand-me-down soft-side suitcase,” Auricchio from Away says.
And while it seems like soft-sided luggage is suddenly everywhere, this resurgence has been years in the making. Away has been trialing designs and testing products for two years. Dagne Dover has been doing it for three. Of course, these aren’t the only two brands that offer a soft-sided product—they aren’t even the only brands that make trendy soft suitcases. French brand Lipault makes a beautiful soft suitcase in a few colorways, as does Calpak. And as we’ve already noted, TravelPro, Swiss, and Samsonite are trusted providers of soft-sided luggage, albeit a more traditional (read: less pretty) variety.
But for two trendy bag brands to launch their own soft luggage within a month of each other could signal that today's “cool” luggage doesn't have to be hard-shelled. You can now have the soft suitcase that meets all of your functional requirements and is stylish enough to become a photographable accessory.
For someone looking to make a purchase, each of the trendy new drops has something ultra-appealing. The Away bag ($225 to $245 for a carry-on and $295 to $325 for a checked bag) sits at a lower price point than the Dagne Dover bag, which sells for between $595 to $625 for a carry-on and $675 to $725 for a checked bag. The Away bag has a water resistant exterior, which is styled with a similar aesthetic to the brand's hard sided luggage, and feels more like a traditional soft sided suitcase to the touch. The Dagne suitcase has a slew of very clever pocket designs made for easy packing and access, and its soft shell is, well, harder, with each corner reinforced with hard plastic. Both bags have 360-degree spinning wheels and held up nicely (without scuffs or opening zippers) when I tried tossing them down the stairs—I wouldn’t pack unwrapped glass in either suitcase, but I’d feel comfortable traveling home with delicate souvenirs wrapped up in a few T-shirts.
If you are looking to join the Soft Side, Thrillist has assembled five picks with an eye towards smart design: The Classic, The Industry Pro, The Newcomer, The Celebrity, and The Stylish.
Dagne Dover might be new to luggage, but its first attempt certainly has the specs to make the brand seem like an old pro. The smaller checked bag still has ton of space, with cleverly placed zippers, 360-degree spinning wheels, and a shell made from durable recycled material.
You've heard about the arduous two-year design process that went into making this soft-sided bag. With celebrity endorsements from Succession star Alan Ruck and Hacks star Megan Stalter, it's already established itself as an "it" bag—and its roomy interior and classic Away brand features make it the perfect choice for someone switching over to the soft side.
TravelPro makes its very own line of luggage specifically for flight crews—but it also has luggage for the regular consumer looking for something very sturdy and reliable. The Travelpro Maxlite 5 is lightweight and comes in multiple pretty colors like violet, orchid pink, azure blue, and slate green. Reviewers on Amazon say it is a well-built suitcase with strong handles, and we've found Travelpro luggage to hold up over the years during our own testing as well.
Samsonite is a classic for long-time travelers. It's the suitcase you borrowed from your aunt or grandmother for your first trip, and that has been in use for 15 years. This suitcase is the Samsonite Ascella 3.0 Softside Expandable Luggage, and is ultra-lightweight. Reviewers on Amazon say it is very sturdy and a good value.
Paris-based brand Lipault makes colorful soft-sided suitcases with a nylon and polyester shell. The brand says its bags are intended for the "fashion concious" traveler, and with the sleek design and color options like Magnetic Blue and Guava Juice, customers will definitely have the most colorful luggage at baggage claim.
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