The Joy of Travel – and Stylish Luggage

(And other glamorous things from Paris and London)

Feb 10, 2024

Hello, and thank you to all those who have subscribed to this cheery little newsletter. It’s a joy to know you all. I’m so happy you’re here.

It’s February, my favourite month. The seasons are turning, which always makes me feel optimistic. The cooler nights herald the gilding of the autumn leaves in the south, and the first hints of warmth brings on the crocuses in the northern hemisphere. (I went for a muddy hike last week to find the wild crocus fields in the curiously named village of Inkpen, but it was still too early for them. I will return. They sound too enticing to miss.)

I’ve just returned from a wonderful work trip to London and Paris. I went to see my publisher about my forthcoming biography on old roses. (Published September 2024.) And I also wanted to see a long list of people - people I’ve been trying to meet for years – for my new business. I am designing a line of complicated carry-on bags, after years of being a travel writer in search of The Perfect Carry-On Case. The research for it has been intriguing.

In Paris, I visited Louis Vuitton exhibition in LVMH’s beautifully restored building on the Seine, and then a smaller exhibition, on trunks, at the Vuitton family house in Asnières (see above pix). I also waited 40 minutes to enter the Goyard boutique – apparently the most coveted luggage in the world, although I wasn’t convinced. (See pix below – I do love the line ‘Dresses Carefully Packed’, and the huge handbag above the yellow door.) Then I boarded the Eurostar to London to see a textile trade fair, and the next day caught a 5-hour train north to Carlisle, in the Lake District, to see a factory that used to design luggage for William and Catherine, the Prince and Princess of Wales. I then took another 5-hour train south to Berkshire to visit an old friend who is mentoring me, and then, fortunately, returned to London just before the nation-wide train strike. Which was handy, as I was a little weary. I used the no-train downtime to research textiles in London, including the glorious collections at the V&A, and then on Wednesday, I caught the 6AM Eurostar back to Paris for a meeting with a canvas supplier that creates exquisitely designed canvas in elegant shades – part Ralph Lauren, part Out of Africa, part The English Patient.

It was an adventure.

This project has taken ten years of R&D, flying around the world to visit specialist malletiers, ateliers, and textile experts, and then – rather nervously – creating samples and trialling them on my work trips. Sometimes they work. Sometimes they don’t.

At times I’m reminded of the explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, who embarked on his own ‘Mission Extraordinaire’, mapping the Congo with a specially designed Louis Vuitton copper travel trunk. Brazza commissioned a trunk with a secret drawer for sensitive papers – papers that could potentially denounce the actions of France on certain African civilisations, if they were discovered. But then he died, poisoned (some believe) on his voyage home in 1905. His valuable trunk was seized by the French government, but they could not find the secret drawer. Eventually George Vuitton was summoned to reveal the hidden compartment. The documents were duly retrieved (and presumably destroyed?). And the mysterious trunk was retired to Vuitton’s archives.

I love the story of The Secret Compartment. It reminds me that travel is thrilling, uplifting, energising and life-changing, and that anything can happen. And that there is still a glimmer of glamour in the dust and chaos of modern wanderings.

Here is some more glamour, from the world at large. In Part Two of my ‘Style Issue’.

I hope you find some quiet glamour – and grace – in your week this week. Just remember: the crocuses may not be out yet, but they will come. And autumn is only a few turn-of-the-leaves away.

It’s a new season. A new year. Grab your luggage. Make some plans.

Find somewhere remarkable to escape to.

HOTEL DE LA MARINE, PARIS

If you’re going to Paris this year, make a stylish bee-line for this beautiful museum, on the edge of the Tuileries. Rooms are swathed in silks and chinoiserie wallpapers, chairs are covered in intricate embroidery, and there are glorious views of Paris from the grand loggia. Set aside a few hours. You will be enthralled.

Link: HOTEL DE LE MARINE

FINDING INSPIRATION IN SMALL PLACES

I became inspired by so many curious things on this trip. By Monet’s beautifully nuanced, lilac and blue-hued ‘Waterlilies’ paintings at the Orangerie, by Lora Avedian’s wonderful textile workshops at Kew, by the new fetish for ribbons sweeping the fashion and textile world (I am now endeavouring to recreate my seaside garden in ribbon form on a favourite velvet coat, see above left pic), and by the abundance of embroidery and embellished beauty everywhere I went. In fact, this year, embroidery seems to be the dominant look in the worlds of fashion and design. There was embroidery in the new collections at Designers Guild, embroidery on the catwalks, embroidery on Dior’s ornate new handbags, and even the Financial Times ran a story on handbag designer Lulu Guinness and her new-found passion for the artform. (See below.) It is heartening to see this gentle pastime come to the fore. I hope we see more of it.

LINK TO FT STORY ON LULU GUINNESS – Life In Stitches

NEW FASHION EXHIBITIONS IN NEW YORK

There are two great fashion exhibitions coming to New York’s fabulous FIT (fashion) museum. The first is called ‘Statement Sleeves’ and is all about beautiful armholes, so to speak, whether puffed, ruffled, split, sculptural, flowing, or just plain pretty. It looks at sleeve styles, from gigot to raglan, and is a must if you’re a sewer. It’s on now until August 25.

The other exhibition at FIT is all about bows. It’s called ‘Untying The Bow’, and it take s a look at this trend sweeping the globe. It’s only on for the month of March, but if you’re in New York, it looks like it could be a lovely hour of ribbon whimsy.

DETAILS – The Museum at FIT

AERIAL EMBROIDERY

Have you heard of this? It’s a new style, practised by talented stitchers such as Victoria Rose Richards, who creates incredible landscapes that look like aerial embroidery from the air. Someone else who is skilled at this is Caroline Zoob, who designed a book about Virginia Woolf’s garden using embroidered garden plans of the potager and garden paths in the Woolfs’ Sussex garden. It’s a fabulous book. Do look for it. Victoria Rose Richards is on Instagram, under her name. She sells her work, too.

RECOMMENDED HOTELS

I stayed in a few beautiful boutique hotels, some of them new finds, others old favourites.

My favourites in London are still The Academy, in Bloomsbury (pictured above), and The Ampersand in South Kensington. Both have kind staff, great service, and gorgeous interiors. And the prices are reasonable, too. I’ve stopped checking into my old favourite, The Lime Tree in Belgravia, as the prices have gone up, and the area is changing. I want to try new places, new streets,

In Paris, I stayed at Bienvenue, and while it was cute, it had security issues. I also had lunch at Chateau Voltaire, a stylish little, all-white bolthole that design people love, and adored it all.

I will do an extensive post on a list of beautiful (and inexpensive) boutique hotels very soon.

Hopefully this week, if I can catch up on some sleep!