Is it Better to Travel With a Hard or Soft Suitcase?

Kate Phillips puts two well-travelled Australian fashion designers on the case.

Soft

Rachel Gilbert, Fashion designer

“I tried a hard suitcase and it broke. It was a bad experience and I’ll never go back. Hard suitcases look fantastic but soft ones have several advantages. They are more reliable, particularly if you invest in a heavy-duty one with durable fabric. They have a lot more pockets, compartments and zippers so you can tuck different things into different sections – great if you need to grab something from your suitcase at the last minute. I travel with my collection three times a year so organisation is vital. And who can argue with the expanding feature? That extra five centimetres of space on the trip home is priceless.”

Hard

Johnny Schembri, Fashion designer

“I’ve travelled with a hard suitcase for as long as I can remember. The top half is a zipped compartment so it’s excellent for getting organised. I place my clothes in the bottom half and pack my shoes and toiletries in the zipped section. When I get to my hotel, I just flick it open and end up with two big, super-organised shelves that contain all my belongings – I don’t even have to unpack. Another advantage is that most hard suitcases have four wheels so you can go forwards, backwards and sideways with ease and it walks with you. There’s also less chance of fragile items being crushed.”

Top image: Rimowa's new range in collaboration with Fendi.