Complete your luggage collection with the Chapman Cargo Range
Forever wondering which bag to take on your staycation, or wishing you had a few more bags to hold all your gear? Chapman has the answers...
Words: Izzie Price
Photography: Barney Curran
In association with:
How much thought do you give to your packing, when you’re jetting off for a city break or clearing your email inbox ahead of your long-awaited staycation? However much thought it is, gents; it should always, always be more. Because packing — or, rather, effective packing — is something of an art form.
It won’t necessarily win the Turner prize; but efficient packing will win you a weekend of supreme organisation — during which you’ll be able to instantly source your book, fishing rod, suit or boots mere seconds after having the thought — and it’ll ensure everything you own is kept in pristine condition, surviving potholes, turbulence and any manner of stormy, bumpy journeys.
"Luxurious, practical luggage..."
And if you’re looking to perfect the art form that is efficient, effective, streamlined packing: you need look no further than the Chapman Cargo Range. The idea of Chapman springing to the forefront of the line when it comes to luxurious, practical luggage will come as a surprise to nobody — the British brand has been crafting exemplary luggage from its Carlisle workshop since 1984 — but the Cargo Range will top even the loftiest expectations of what Chapman has to offer.
You’ll know, of course, that tradition plays a leading role in every impeccably-stitched creation that passes through the skilled hands of the brand’s craftsmen. They’ve honed their talents largely through paying homage to the long tradition of leather work seen at the workshop’s Tannery Road home, and it’s a tradition that shines forth in every one of the brand’s luggage pieces — the Chapman Weekender, for one.
But when it comes to the Cargo Range, your luggage is guaranteed to see a slick, sleek transformation that’ll ensure your weekend staycations — or any number of longer trips away — are transformed in turn into pinnacles of supreme organisation (gone are the days of rifling through endless piles of luggage to find that one shirt you actually need), lasting durability (while your friends’ luggage gets soaked through from those notorious Scottish thunderstorms, all your belongings will remain smugly, snugly dry) and chic, sophisticated luxury: because Chapman excels in bringing classical, debonair style to every one of its products, and the Cargo Range is a shining example of just such excellence.
So what exactly is the Cargo Range? Well, gents, it’s all your luggage needs spruced and stitched into one all-encompassing set of load carriers: including a Kit Bag, Utility Holdall and Boot Bag, among others. It currently appears in two colourways: Olive Green (which may well be the colour you tend to associate with Chapman) and Navy Blue, both with stylish splashes of red neatly juxtaposed against the darker primary colours. Both are equally befitting to a modern man with style, standards and sophistication: but if you already own the Chapman Weekender (which we’d hasten to assume you do), then the Navy Blue iteration should be just the thing to complete your luggage collection.
And complete it, it will. You could opt for the (aptly-named) Complete Range, which includes two Kit Bags (one with a width of 82cms and a height of 38cms, and another with a width measuring 72cms and a height clocking in at 37cms), a Utility Holdall and a Boot Bag. In true Chapman form, you can expect zips with lifetime guarantees; together with British parachute webbing and a 600 denier hard wearing waterproof nylon: so, no matter what variation of water, ice or hail the sky decides to tip on your luxury luggage, you can rest assured it’ll be able to handle it.
Were you to buy the Complete Range in one fell swoop, you’d pay £1050 rather than £1135 if you were to buy each bag separately. In other words, the Complete Range is a bargain of a sort you’re unlikely to stumble across anywhere else; and when you add the potential for luggage personalisation into the Complete Range mix, a considerable bargain becomes an irresistible temptation.
If you’re not looking for the complete set just now, there are enough individual bags within the Cargo Range to cater to every possible gentlemanly need. Take the Kit Bag 32”, for instance; no matter what country pursuit you’re dashing off to partake in, the Kit Bag will carry whatever you need — be it shooting, cricket, fishing or any other countryside activity befitting the modern man. The Utility Holdall does exactly what it says on its stylish, waterproof nylon tin — it’ll hold everything you need, and more besides — and the Boot Bag is ‘muck proof’ both inside and out, so there’s no such thing as boots that are too muddy to be stowed away in your luggage.
It’s not all about gear, either. Are you and your better half dashing out to the countryside for a white tie ball; or possibly a wedding? Chapman’s Garment Cover will keep her flowing gown effortlessly dry and utterly pristine, protecting it from the hazards of abrupt lift doors or the ever-ominous grey clouds that threaten to ruin a dress — and with it, an evening — and the Suit Carrier features a full-length opening zip, to ensure your suit hangs naturally, and blissfully crease free. Plus, its contrast lining — in its striking, suitably debonair red — suggests your personal style extends to more than your suit.
Each of the individual bags in the Cargo Range brings something uniquely practical and sharply suave to your luggage collection; and, by definition, to your travels. Any of these bags alone would do wonders for both your style credentials and your packing needs: but with an autumn and winter of staycations, city breaks, holidays and any number of parties, weddings and festivities ahead of you: we’d strongly urge you to take our advice and purchase the Complete Range while you still can. We have a feeling you won’t regret it.
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