Trunk call

Inspired by pop colours which are in vogue this season,Rishika Dossa,owner of Pune brand Angoothachaap,decided to add the same cheer to her trunks. She is still working on designing her collection of pop-coloured trunks which will be available for sale by next month. “I have used neon colours to brighten up the concept of trunks and also made them in a variety of sizes,from small ones to store jewellery to bigger sizes to store bags and clothes,” says Dossa. She has also designed a shoe rack out of a trunk using bright colours. Dossa prefers to experiment with the trunk material as well. “Apart from metals like tin and aluminum,I have also made trunks of plastic,” she says.

As a child,Ritika Tickoo,owner of Either Or,a store in Pune,carried a little aluminum trunk to school. She also has memories of her mother stacking away winter clothes and beddings in trunks. She has come up with the idea of full-sized hand-painted trunks which make for classy decorative and high-utility furniture pieces. With beautiful vintage images carefully painted to perfection on the trunks,it can also be used to store anything—from bedding to books. She also stocks wooden trunks in her store. “Apart from the usual utilities of trunks being used to store your everyday duvets and covering the front of the bed,smaller versions of the same can also be used to store cds,magazines,coasters and other stuff,” says Tickoo.

Brands such as Louis Vuitton and Trunks Company Jaipur cater to a segment that look at trunks as a status symbol. Livio Delesgues,chief designer at the latter company,asserts that trunks are known to be premium accoutrements of the elite (including royalty) for their travel and sporting expeditions. “Today,we have rekindled the legacy of trunks for the contemporary world. Our trunks treasure all kinds of possessions from watches,shoes and jewellery to wines and cigars,” he says.

Customisation has also fed the trunk’s popularity since a monogrammed trunk holds more appeal. Louis Vuitton is famous for its personalisation services. Clients can pick a maximum of three initials to be painted on the trunk,available in eight font sizes,accompanied by stripes in a rich palette of colours. We could say,our trunks are packed and we’re ready to go.

(Inputs by Anjali Jhangiani KP)