The Hottest Luggage Niche of the Decade Just Added an Elite Competitor

Over the last five years, the aluminum luggage market has quietly honed a competitive edge worthy of Squid Games.

For decades, brands like Rimowa and Zero Haliburton mainly duked it out for aluminum hard-sided suitcase supremacy, with Tumi joining the mix at the tail end.

Then in 2022, Away shook up the market with its more affordable aluminum suitcase. And since then, other luggage upstarts like Sterling Pacific and Monos have entered the market at vastly different price points.

Now, a brand with incredible clout and provenance in the making-luxurious-looking-things-out-of-metal-business is joining the pack: Porsche Design.

A Surprising Brand First

Porsche Design

It’s surprising, but the Roadster Aluminum Trolley is Porsche Design’s first aluminum suitcase. That feels especially weird, considering how long the brand has made other forms of luggage.

The line will be available in small, medium, and large sizes and includes all of the features you expect, including an infinitely adjustable multi-stop handle, TSA locks, Ball-bearing wheels, and internal compression and zipper organization panels.

Porsche Inspired Details

Porsche Design

Unsurprisingly, the Roadster Aluminum Trolley aims to stand out from other options via callbacks to Porsche’s iconic sports cars.

The Porsche 911 Targa, in particular, was the key muse for this piece, partly because of the direct tie to the car’s defining brushed aluminum roll bar.

Porsche Design

The nods to the car manifest in the luggage in obvious and subtle ways. Porsche Design states that the shape and cutouts of the front and back panels are a direct reference to the 911’s shape.

The wheels are also apparently a nod to the Porsche Carrera rims.

But the pièce de résistance, at least for true Porsche fans, is the sound of the clasps, which, when opened, resembles the closing sound of the Porsche 911 door.

Pricing and Availability

Porsche Design

The Roadster Aluminum Trolley is clearly priced to compete with the premium end of the aluminum suitcase market, falling in the range of Rimowa and under Sterling Pacific.

As of the time of publication, Porsche Design is listing the availability of the Roadster Aluminum Trolley as coming soon, but brand representatives have stated that the aluminum version will go on sale officially on May 15th, 2025. The black aluminum option will be available sometime in July.

Porsche Design

Porsche Design Roadster Aluminum Trolley

• $1,650 at Porsche (Small)
• $1,850 at Porsche (Medium)
• $1,950 at Porsche (Large)

Related Topics