It begins with pause. Tranquil blue waters; the soft tinge of blush that streaks a sunset sky; zesty, nuanced flavours wafting through the air, encapsulating a slow life. For Tumi’s spring 2026 collection, the luxury lifestyle brand is painting a pretty portrait for the ultimate getaway: of an idyllic summer escape to the Amalfi Coast. In Tumi’s own words, a Mediterranean Escape.
Taking its cues from the sun-drenched destination, the brand gathered a flock of esteemed guests, beloved celebrity names and press at the stunning grounds of Centara Reserve in Koh Samui, for the regional reveal of its beautiful new offerings. The overarching mood however, was one that inspired pause. Pause for a breath. Pause for appreciating the finer things in life. Pause for a true escape, away from the endless pursuits of life in the city.
Anchoring every moment of the Mediterranean Escape launch event were the vibrant hues of the collection—each one inspired by a moment in time. The Washed Yellow colour way, for one, was conjured up after the subtle, tangy aroma of lemon groves in Positano came wafting down from its terraced scape. “It was a memory of a smell, not from the lemons per se, but from the lemon trees, and the wind blowing it up the coastline. That is why the colour is slightly faded, because it’s a little more toned down, a little more subtle,” describes creative director Victor Sanz, who has been working with Tumi for over two decades, before taking up the mantle in 2016. With this considered shift and curious energy, Tumi is slowly redefining its image and changing how the brand is often seen: of more practical designs that are often rendered in a darker, more masculine palette.
In some sense, infusing these jovial hues may feel like a natural next step, especially in this new era of travel. Where shorter trips, sun-kissed hours and moments of escape feel almost like a necessity. In today’s approach to travel, trips are booked overnight, flights are boarded in mere hours, and destinations—like the breathtaking island of Koh Samui—can transform into your weekend home in an instant. Colour has the power to inject joy immediately, but what the modern traveller also requires, is ease of access. That’s where Tumi’s design-forward sensibilities come in, with the introduction of the 19 Degree Front Access luggage.
In its name, its purpose is clear. A cleverly-designed front lid with a zip closure that gives you immediate access to your main compartment. So you can throw in your things as you go—easily, swiftly, effortlessly. “We told ourselves: the idea behind (the Front Access) is that this is for the person who really just wants to get everything in and go. And just travel leisurely, and enjoy the moment,” Sanz explains.
Explored in a lush thyme green and dusty swash of terracotta pink attuned to the allure of the Mediterranean, these transform into the perfect companions for all your getaway plans. There’s plenty more where that came from too, with the lovely hues worked into Voyageur totes, backpacks, and smaller packing cubes. The season’s vocabulary of colour also extends into a metallic blue wash for the 19 Degree Aluminium carry-on, as well as a unique print design, that utilises a shot that feels exactly right for the cues of the collection.
To embark on a journey with its newest creations, Tumi invited its myriad guests to take a breather from their own daily lives, and soak in the energy of the sun-drenched locale at the launch event. In between Mediterranean-themed fare and lovely photo spots for making magic happen, guests engaged in craft sessions like a mosaic tiling coaster workshop and flower pressing, sipped on refreshing lemonade mixes whipped up by the bar, and brushed shoulders with a slate of Thai celebrities like Blue Pongtiwat, Jan Ployshompoo, Mile Phakphum, Dunk Natachai, Pond Naravit and Vogue Singapore’s April cover star Becky Armstrong.
So what might we make of Sanz’s and Tumi’s current approach to design? In a single word: evocative. Of a mood; of a moment; of a long drawn hour. So should the much-adored Mediterranean be your utter desire, read on for the full conversation with Sanz, where he discusses his wondrous inspirations behind the collection’s colours and designs, as well as how Koh Samui serves as the perfect backdrop to it all.
Tell me more about the Spring 26 collection.
I think more than ever, everyone around the world, including myself, have been feeling this pressure that’s been building. Day to day, working, and really going through the motions of life, what we realised is the world just needs a moment of pause, right? So we talked about this breath. And as we were developing this collection, we thought about how even when it’s time to move forward, sometimes you need to stop to be able to take a breath to be able to reflect, and then you’re able to move forward again.
When we were building this season, we were attracted to the Mediterranean. It’s a place you can go, and really disconnect. You go to the Amalfi Coast, you’re just sitting by the shore, you’re having an aperol spritz. You’re just completely unwinding, right? Very quickly, you can be transported there. And we wanted to do that with this collection. We wanted to create something that was inspired by the colours of the region. We wanted to create things that were unique and unexpected and fun, and that could express the personality of our travellers. So we created the Mediterranean Escape. Even with this event, we want you to celebrate with us. We want you to sit, relax, enjoy. Even if it’s just for a couple hours or a day, we want you to take that moment.
What about Koh Samui makes it the perfect backdrop for the launch of the collection?
At the core of the collection, the Mediterranean was the kind of spark. But then the bigger conversation that we were having was about taking a breath and taking a pause. And you can find those sorts of locations all over the world. For us, Koh Samui is like paradise. It’s this beautiful shoreline and location where you can sit on the beach, listen to the wind, listen to the water, and just take that breath. Again, the colours you can find are the same; the way the sun is kind of interacting with nature; it’s exquisite, and it still has that same sensibility that you could find in the Mediterranean. So we felt that there was a deep connection with this location and the season. So even though the inspiration may be in a completely different continent, the feeling still translates.
Let’s talk about the newest addition to the 19 Degree family: the Front Access. From a design perspective, what were you thinking about when you wanted to introduce this particular design element?
The 19 Degree franchise was our first endeavour into aluminium, when we wanted to create a new iconography for the brand. We wanted to create something that was technical and sculptural all at the same time. A piece that was unique in the industry and also was inherently Tumi. So throughout the years, we would bring new collections in or new parts of the franchise. We brought in polycarbonate, we brought in the 19 Degree Lite. So as we started developing this season, we asked ourselves: “If you’re on this trip and you’re going to the Mediterranean, how are you packing? How are you travelling? What is it that our customers are looking for that we don’t offer in our other collections?”.
One of the ideas surfaced was this front lid opening. The idea being that this person really wants to get everything in and go. To just travel, and enjoy the moment. There’s also an inherent truth that plenty of the hotels in Europe aren’t that large. In some parts of Asia too, the rooms can be smaller—and it’s just something our customers have been reacting to and hence, wanting. So now, whatever type of traveller you are, if you’re someone that’s hyper organised especially, we have a piece for you. If you’re someone that just needs to get everything in and go, we have it for you. We’re going to take care of getting you there, and then after that, you go enjoy the rest.
We’re here to bask in the beautiful colours of the collection, like the Thyme and Pink Clay. Tell us more and share your favourites.
It’s interesting because when people think about the brand, there is one colour that comes to mind, and it’s typically black. For us, we love the fact that we have these sort of cherished elements where people think of us in certain ways. But we also know that colour is just as important to our customers. We all have that colour that resonates with us. So as we started to bring more colour into the collection, we really wanted to create a palette that did multiple things. One, the palette, needed to sit together as a whole. So you can mix and match all the pieces, and it has a harmony to it. Then, each colour should work independently. It can all sit and look beautiful together. Then lastly, creating colours that can go beyond just one season and refining the colours to make sure they can invoke excitement even years into the future.
As for my personal favourites? For me, one of the ones that I really love is Thyme. There’s just something about it that feels natural, but there’s a coolness to the green that we wanted to bring to life. Even just the way it starts to wear with the leather, you start getting a little burnishing on it with the Thyme, and it’s quite cool about it.
My personal bag that I’ve been travelling with is the one with the print of a photograph that really encapsulates the destination. It’s a shot of these people just pausing, sitting, and enjoying life. And then we added a collage effect on top, because it is about this idea of layering and texture, and this idea of playfulness and fun. We had a photographer that we’re quite friendly with, and we knew he was going on this trip. We wanted it to feel very authentic, so we asked him to just snap these moments where it would feel like they were taken in real time. And it just feels very unique.
When it comes to Tumi’s design ethos, what have you always prioritised first? Where do you typically begin your design process?
The creative process is never linear, you know? When our design team, who are all fantastic, start on something, we sit down and start looking at the world. We start trying to understand what’s happening in the world culturally, the temperament of the world, and that starts guiding us into these destinations. For this one, we just saw the world under a lot of pressure. Everyone feels like they need an escape, and so we started thinking about destinations from there.
It’s often about what’s the energy of the space, what’s the vibe of the space, what is the culture of that space. The spirit of the people there. You’ll see a lot of the inspiration coming from colour, material, texture, architecture. We also get inspired by food, like the yellow. It was a memory of a smell, not from the lemons per se, but from the lemon trees, and the wind blowing it up the coastline. That is why the colour is slightly faded, because it’s a little more toned down, a little more subtle.
Other times, our process is guided by a material. We’ll look at the texture, and we try to understand how to fit it into our collection. Like the material for the 19 Degree Lite, it was developed for a military application. This was used to make bulletproof vehicles and to make race cars, so to us, if it was strong enough for this, it can protect all of your gear. So a lot of times it depends on what the world is presenting to us. And then from there, of course, we’re looking at trends in fashion, which is super important.
Like this beautiful raffia tote. You can see yourself on the beach with this tote. It has the functionality, the magnetic closure on it, all the details. Then we created this small little logo charm here, and it’s an acetate shaped as a piece of ceramic that may have fallen off a ship in the Mediterranean. Like a piece of China that had tumbled into the water and got washed up. It’s just a small detail on a bag, but these stories make a difference to people. There’s a life to the product.
In Victor Sanz’s words, who is the Tumi woman?
It’s someone that’s confident, ambitious, not single-noted. It’s not someone who’s just this one thing, they’re multiple things. They’re an entrepreneur, they’re a business person, they’re a mother, they’re a sister, they’re a traveller, and they’re doing this all at the same time. And when we start looking at our female customers, we need to really understand and start providing options that are more in depth.
Whether she’s meeting her friends for cocktails, whether she’s going on a long haul trip, or whether she’s the CEO of her company, she’s showing up. So our products are able to meet all of those needs. We have a Voyageur backpack, which is your work bag, but it is also your weekend bag, and get around bag. It’s something we really take seriously, and so we’re really trying to continue to build this offering.
Every brand needs to evolve and adapt with the times. In what ways have Tumi stuck to its house codes whilst still looking forward to the future?
We have four or five core principles that we go back to. Design excellence, superior quality, design innovation, customer service, and durability. Everything goes back to that. If that’s our foundation, everything else is just us adding on to it. The customer is always our muse, we’re not designing for ourselves. We’re designing for you. We’re designing for your life, whether it’s for today, tomorrow and beyond.
So at Tumi, we’re not abandoning who we are, but we’re adding on to it. In the past, it was always about durability and functionality, and we’ve always led with that charge. But now, people know us. So we want to add beauty, the personality, the colour. All of these are just as important as the functional side. And we’re not going to trade one off for the other. You shouldn’t have to.
So our approach is always providing the very best for our customers, for them to perfect their journey, and that’s what you’re going to continue to see from us. We can work with a Formula 1 team, and then make beautiful bags in Italy with beautiful Italian leathers. Those are two different worlds, but the values are the same. There’s always going to be something for everyone.
