Last week, leading luxury lifestyle brand TUMI unveiled the newly renovated flagship store in Dubai Mall.
To mark the special occasion, McLaren F1 driver and TUMI Global Brand Ambassador Lando Norris had a special appearance. The exclusive event kicked off with a meet-and-greet where the four-time F1 Grand Prix winner delighted his fans with an autograph signing and then followed with a special preview of the TUMI | McLaren capsule collection, which is set to officially launch in Spring 2025.
The event further exemplifies TUMI’s long-standing partnership with the automotive brand and solidifies presence in the Middle East. The newly expanded store boasts of 1,646 square feet of retail space showcasing TUMI’s iconic state-of-the-art designs such as 19 Degree, Alpha Bravo, Voyageur as well as exclusive monogramming services.
During the brand’s visit, Emirates Man sat down with the creative mastermind behind TUMI, Victor Sanz, to pick his brain and discuss his career trajectory, how he’s continuing to push the boundaries within the travel and lifestyle landscape, and more.
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Tell us about your career journey. How has it grown since you’ve started and where would you like it to go in the future?
So I joined the brand in 2003 as a designer. Prior to that, I was an Industrial Designer. I always had a passion for art, but really product design was my calling. When I joined the brand, the brand was really focused on that business traveler persona. They brought me in to start bringing in a little bit more of a younger perspective. And at the time, I was just a designer, you know, and really absorbing everything that the brand was built on – the foundation of it. It was always about durability, quality, innovation, timelessness in design, functionality, and focused on understanding the customer, how they live their lifestyle, what the needs are. Luckily enough, I was able to be tapped as the Creative Director in 2016. The brand said, “Victor, we’d like you to lead the brand from a creative direction perspective, beyond just product store design”, and it was kind of setting a vision pace for the brand, and for me, it was taking all those years of learning and understanding our customers and understanding the importance and what they value, and then also saying, “Okay, what are we not offering our customers? How can we bring more to their life?” And that’s when you started seeing this larger expansion into lifestyle categories like fragrance, eyewear, belts, electronics, outerwear, even things like outerwear.
At the core, it continues to be true to its foundation, delivering what our customers need to perform at their very best. We use a term called performance luxury – and for us, it’s that balancing act of saying our products need to be at a level of quality build, with a luxury aspect and at the same time, it needs to allow our customers to perform at their very best. We think about intelligent design across categories, so this has been kind of that driving force that keeps us there. We’re able to design a beautiful store in Dubai to really say, hey, where does the future of TUMI look like? How do we continue to drive everything forward?
What is your design philosophy and how do you keep your work fresh?
Even from the very beginning, everything revolves around understanding the customer: how they’re living their lives and what the narrative is. We’re constantly doing this, and also being hypercritical of ourselves to say, is it good enough? What are the things that’s tactical for them? How do we bring this into something as simple as a handle, but then from a functional aspect? It’s that constant studying and being obsessive, which we really love.
The latest FW24 collection is influenced by Seoul, South Korea. Talk us through behind this inspiration.
Every season, we go and we pick a destination around the world. We’re a global company, and we’re inspired by these travel stories, but we’re also inspired by destinations. With Seoul, we saw this massive uptick, and we also want to want it to be culturally relevant. So we really started digging deep into the culture and we said, how do we create some of those elements and bring it into the collection? We try to encapsulate the energy through the inspiration of these regions. And every season, it’s another destination, another place.
What role do you see the brand playing in the future of travel – how do you hope to innovate in the industry?
We’re constantly bringing new collections to the market and constantly listening to the customer, whether it’s reducing weight, increasing functionality, never deviating from durability practices, because we know that people rely on us when they travel. The continued refinement of existing collections is something we do and then even beyond that, all those accessory moments that help that journey become the very best.
Do you see buying patterns in terms of globally or within the Middle East, and which pieces drive sales season after season?
They always think about Alpha, which is that black ballistic piece. It’s our iconic design language. It’s about durability, timelessness, all details. There is the 19 Degree, which is a true expression of those crossroads of art, design, refinement, elegance. From a women’s standpoint, our Voyageur nylon collection continues to be a triumphant display of what we do best. It’s a combination of simplicity of the hardware treatments of how everything works and it has its place. And then on top of that, utilising sustainable materials. Within the region, our premium collections really seem to accelerate here because they’re always looking for the best of the best, they’re always looking for those pieces that are at the pinnacle of any brand.
What to look for when investing in a proper suitcase?
Well, how do you travel? Are you an overpacker? Are you a minimalist Packer? I think when you’re making the decision to buy a piece of luggage, make sure it fits your travel persona. The key is really understanding how you travel and what it’s going to be like coming back, you know, and why you’re on the road.
When time is of the essence, how do you approach packing with hand luggage only?
My tried and true tip when you’re in a hurry? I lay everything out and then I say, you can only take 50% of this and when you start from that moment you realize what you don’t really need. It’s hard to do, trust me. The other thing is I always travel with a carry-on and my backpack. There’s also the simple tricks, like I’ll wear the heaviest items on so I don’t have to pack them.
Scroll through for a peek inside the TUMI flagship store in Dubai Mall:
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Images: Supplied
