LAT_56, the luxury luggage brand founded by a young Strathclyde University product design graduate, is set to launch its first range of carry-on suitcases aimed at business travellers.
Founded in Glasgow in 2010 and since relocated to Dundee, Unesco’s City of Design, LAT_56 is the brainchild of Scots designer Kevin Fox. The “edgy and innovative” bags he designed were immediately snapped up by a buyer from Selfridges at a travel goods shows in Las Vegas.
The fashionable Oxford Street store helped launch the company although Fox has since taken the business decision to reposition LAT_56 as an online-only brand, relying largely on word of mouth and online marketing.
With distribution outposts in London, California and Hong Kong, and a partnership deal with Dubai-based airline Emirates, the double-digit growth firm’s turnover is currently around £750,000, with expectations of breaking through the £1 million mark next year.
Its new line of Road Warrior rolling luggage includes a two-wheel and eight-wheel suitcase whose “strong but lightweight build features precision engineering, hig-quality craftsmanship and hi-spec components”.
“We focused not only on the exterior, durability, material selection and performance,” he said.
Fox, 30, said that LAT_56, whose larger items retail at around £300, was intending to compete with the global market leaders in luxury luggage, such as Germany’s Rimowa and the US brand Tumi. He said: “We get a lot of feedback from customers who have been approached at airports and asked where they got their luggage. The rarity is a bonus, it taps into something in people’s psyche to buy something that almost no-one else has.
“What marks us out is the amount of design work and thought that have gone into every product, combined with one-to-one customer service.”
Fox said that LAT_56 plans to expand its ranges, introducing new sizes and accessories. “We want to have the best backpack, the best briefcase, the best garment bag,” he said. “We don’t want to have a massive collection.
“I want to launch a Scottish-inspired collection, using the great fabrics we have here.”
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