Capacious travel bags for navigating airport departures in style

Face the travails of travel with capacious getaway bags that do the heavy lifting – whether navigating airport delays or lost hold luggage, these roomy, wear-forever weekend bags will carry much more than you’ll ever need.

Photographed by Rosie Harriet Ellis and styled by Wallpaper* fashion and creative director by Jason Hughes, we select the season’s best travel bags – from minimal briefcases and raffia totes to roomy carry-alls from the likes of Prada, Hermès, Ferragamo and more – as first seen in the June Travel Issue of Wallpaper* (on newsstands now).

Summer’s best weekend and travel bags

Air travel: Keep the air flowing with this top-handle tote by historic Brussels-based brand Delvaux – the luggage house was first founded in 1829 – which features a perforated exterior to keep your belongings cool. It takes its cue from Delvaux’s 1946 perforated Avia suitcase, made for then-burgeoning air travel, and comes in a smaller ‘Pin Airess’ iteration. 

The ‘Airess’ shopping bag is coming soon. The ‘Pin Airess’ is available now from delvaux.com.

Clean lines: An architectural sensibility informs this elongated riff on the shopping bag by Valentino Garavani, which in its minimal, no-fuss design makes for a chic travel companion which will pair with any airport attire (though we suggest teaming with classic blue denim). Meanwhile, a shoulder strap can be added for the inevitable dash to the gate. 

Valentino Garavani’s ‘Tagged’ shopping bag is available from valentino.com

The holy trinity: When it comes to travel, there are few occasions when just a single bag will do. This trio of a classic ridged-aluminium suitcase Rimowa (which doubles as a perching stool for crowded airport lounges), the roomy carry-all ‘Sea’ tote by Connelly (crafted from soft French nubuck leather) and Loro Piana’s Ghiera shoulder bag (for the most precious belongings) is our holy trinity. 

The Rimowa ’Original Carry On’ suitcase is available from rimowa.com. The Connelly ‘Sea’ bag is available from connollyengland.com. Loro Piano’s ‘Ghiera’ shoulder bag is available from loropiana.com.

Celine’s Plein Soleil: Each summer, Parisian house Celine embraces the lightness of summer with its ‘Plein Soleil’ collection, an eclectic gathering of clothing, accessories and objets (from beach ball bats to hammocks). These include a roomy raffia tote intricately woven with the house’s double-C motif, the perfect companion to Celine’s timeless monogrammed luggage.

Celine’s Plein Soleil and luggage collections are available at celine.com.

Sleep aid: Though it might usually be sacrilegious to rest your head on a Prada handbag, this duo of tote bags from the house are particularly appealing in their tactile nappa-leather construction and generous proportions. The ‘Buckle’ handbag – shown in foreground – is a particularly luxurious (and roomy) travel buddy, looping around the top with a belt-like fastening and stamped with the house’s logo in embossed gold leaf. 

Prada’s ‘Buckle’ handbag is available from prada.com.

Cooling power: Harness the cooling power of white this summer with this slouchy, oversized version of Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello’s ‘Le 5 à 7’ handbag, complete with a monogram clasp. A truly capacious style – the collapsible edges fold outwards to transform it from tote to trapezoid shopper – we recommend as a particularly sumptuous play on the beach bag. 

Saint Laurent’s ‘Le 5 à 7’ handbag is available from ysl.com.

Earn your stripes: Ferragamo has long been known for its work in leather – the Florentine house began as a shoemaker in 1927 – though recent seasons have seen British creative director Maximilian Davis breathe new life into the medium with enticing, oftentimes colourful accessories. Case in point, the squashy-sided white tote crafted from vegetable-dyed leather with a bold blue stripe, recalling the colour of glorious summer skies. 

Ferragamo’s blue-strip tote bag is available from ferragamo.com.

Arm architecture: Contemporary Italian leather goods brand Valextra is defined by its minimal, architectural approach to accessory design – one echoed by its design-minded stores, from the monumental marble interiors of its John Pawson-designed Milan flagship to a Kyoto outpost housed in a former machiya teahouse. The ‘Milano’ bag – in soft Millepunte calfskin with a suede lining – represents the very pinnacle of Valextra’s leather atelier, its elegant top-handle style inspired by its namesake city. 

Valextra’s ‘Milano’ bag is available from valextra.com.

Carry all: though we are largely proponents of a less-is-more approach when it comes to packing, long-haul departures require a panoply of objects to aid in arriving in your destination fresh. An open-top tote has always been our airport bag of choice – allowing you to access your belongings without fiddly zips and buttons – like this calfskin shopper by Brunello Cucinelli, whereby two internal ties allow the bag to shape-shift to your needs.

Brunello Cucinelli’s calfskin shopper is available from brunellocucinelli.com.

Models: Celine at Ikon Model Management, Hamaam Pelewura at Elite London, Tim V at D1Lon. Casting: Jonathan Johnson. Hair: Mike O’Gorman using Sam McKnight. Make-up: Nina Sagri using Ranavat. Manicure: Edyta Betka using Kure Bazaar. Set design: Kei Yoshino at Bryant Artists. Interiors: Olly Mason. Photography assistants: Garth McKee, Genoveva Arteaga-Rynn. Fashion assistant: Lucy Proctor. Set assistant: Ryosuke Hirano. Interiors assistants: Archie Thomson, Ady Huq. Digital and retouching: David Barreiro.

A version of this article appears in the June 2024 Travel Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.