Luxury luggage label TUMI expands the brand with two new men’s scents, AWAKEN [08:00 GMT] TUMI and UNWIND [20:00 GMT] TUMI. Designed for different stages of a journey and with a lock cap to avoid suitcase spills, the scents keep the traveling man in mind—whether he’s literally on the go or working from home. Creative Director Victor Sanz explains how these products came to be.
AWAKEN [08:00 GMT] TUMI, based in olibanum, patchouli and cedarwood, and UNWIND [20:00 GMT] TUMI, with base notes of vetiver, oud and sandalwood, are available through TUMI and Bloomingdale's.
TUMI is so well-defined in the luggage sphere. Why the decision to move into fragrance?
We view ourselves as a lifestyle brand, not just the singular travel brand. It hasn't just been about the travel side and that kind of long-haul journey. It's about everything that happens in between. Now, people are spending time working from home, and their normal cadence has changed. That journey is continuing to evolve. And as we started exploring what those needs were for our customers and how they were living those lives, we realized that having a scent was really important to them. It gave them confidence. It kind of reinvigorated them as they were going throughout their day.
Why two scents then?
Well, it would have been very easy for us just to launch one fragrance. But we really said, ‘Look, there are two sides of this journey.’ As I start my day, even when I'm working from home, I'll have AWAKEN [08:00 GMT] TUMI on. It's light; it's got the citrus smell to it. It really helps me start my day and gets me in that energetic mood. And it lasts me throughout the day, which was really important for us because we know that our clients are really on the go. So then for the end of the day, we created UNWIND [20:00 GMT] TUMI. That one has got much more of that kind of smoke, that sandalwood that really allows you to relax. So I think that even though we're not on the go as much as we used to be, or not in the office at least, the context of that smell is still very relevant.
TUMI Creative Director Victor Sanz
Where did the conception come from?
For my own personal journey, I was landing in Hong Kong, went straight to an event, and from the event, I had to do press right afterward. That was kind of the beginning of this idea of awakening, where it's like, ‘OK, I'm jumping off the plane. I'm applying this on, I'm ready to go.’ And then at the end of the event, of course, I'm throwing on the UNWIND [20:00 GMT] TUMI to be ready for the lounge, maybe a cocktail, and to meet up with a couple friends.
Do you have any other launches in the works that we should keep an eye out for?
Always. Obviously, sustainability is a huge part of what we're doing now. It's always been a part of the DNA, and we're continuing to push that forward. There's a ton of stuff I'd love to tell you about, but I can't. As the world has evolved, we're evolving with it. As our customers have evolved, we're evolving with our customers. And we're bringing the right products to them so that they can continue to perfect their journeys.
Photography by: Courtesy of TUMI
