When a suitcase is built to last, how does the brand behind it keep growing?

For Jessica Schinazi, CEO of Away, that question is central to leading the travel brand into its second decade. The truth is, there are still new customers to reach, new ways to sell and new products to develop.

“It’s not about replacing anything,” Schinazi tells me over Zoom. “It’s about understanding how travel continues to evolve.”

This is what evolution means to Away : protect what works, innovate where it matters and continue to raise the bar the brand has set for itself.

Away’s launch of its Series 3 luggage and Signature Bag collection, accompanied by a campaign starring Colman Domingo, offers a look at how the brand is approaching that balance. The bags are designed for journeys that might begin with a commute and end with a weekend away.

But behind those products lies a broader business shift. A brand that emerged from the direct-to-consumer era is now building its next chapter through wholesale, new customer segments and refurbished products – an approach that Schinazi refers to as “DTC smart.”

For Schinazi and the team, the challenge is expanding Away’s reach without losing what made it distinctive in the first place: it helped change what travelers expected from a carry-on. And the brand’s next decade will depend on how well she can build on the founders’ original proposition while changing the business around it.

Created by Jen Rubio and Steph Korey, Away launched its luggage in 2016 with a proposition that combined design, function and direct-to-consumer pricing. The two female cofounders helped make luggage part of personal style, building a brand around a purchase that otherwise felt purely practical, and a concept that at the time, disrupted the travel industry.

That history gives Schinazi a foundation, but it also sets expectations. How much should an established brand change?

Schinazi arrived to the brand with a true customer’s perspective: She bought her first Away carry-on in 2017. She joined the company as president in 2024 and was subsequently appointed CEO. Her experience spans Richemont, Amazon, LVMH and Dyson; it’s a background that brings luxury, e-commerce and product-led businesses into the same conversation.

Away says its product revenue continues to grow at a double-digit rate year over year, with EBITDA growing faster. Another remarkable stat: it sold nearly two pieces of luggage per minute across fiscal 2025.

Wholesale is one of the clearest expressions of Schinazi’s approach. Away says its wholesale business was up 99% year over year on a year-to-date basis as of July, reflecting its expansion into new partners over the preceding year.

The distinction matters: The figure includes an expanding distribution network.

According to Schinazi, Away launched its wholesale strategy with Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2024, followed by Amazon and Nordstrom in 2025. This year’s additions include Revolve, Selfridges, Amazon UK and Bloomingdale’s.

For Away, the test is whether a channel expands the business’s reach while allowing the product story to come through. The company’s original direct relationship with its customer remains valuable; its distribution strategy now has more ways to start that relationship.

Schinazi sees the lines between business and leisure travel blurring. A work trip can become a long weekend, and the same bag may need to work for both.

There is research supporting that observation. Expedia Group’s 2025 Traveler Value Index , based on a survey of 11,000 respondents across 11 markets, found that 42% planned to combine business travel with a vacation over the following 12 months, up from 29% in its 2023 study. Some 45% planned a “flexcation,” working remotely during part of a leisure trip.

Away is updating its core suitcase with the Series 3 collection, which changes how the bag handles, moves, and packs.

The most notable addition is the brakes. Schinazi frames them as a response to how people actually travel: the trip to the airport often means buses, trains, and crowded platforms, not just a smooth terminal floor.

The brand also considers different life stages. Its In-Between collection, launched over the summer, is aimed at children ages eight to 12, with products for school, sports, and weekend trips. Schinazi describes the larger opportunity as understanding what else a customer or household needs over time, which moves Away from selling a single suitcase toward serving a family’s changing travel habits.

Durability stays central to that mission. According to Schinazi, every product goes through more than 80 tests before it reaches the market.

Away is pursuing that expansion in a large travel economy. The U.S. Travel Association projected U.S. travel spending will reach a record $1.37 trillion in 2026, mostly driven by domestic demand, according to a May report in Hotel Management . But travel spending is not a measure of suitcase demand, and Away still has to earn a purchase within that broader spending.

Its Away Reclaimed offering provides another point of entry. The program sells inspected, refurbished products at lower prices, giving the brand a way to extend their product life cycle and reach shoppers at a different budget. Whether those shoppers become repeat customers is one of the questions that will help establish the program’s longer-term role.

Away’s latest launch is also a statement about where the brand is headed. Its “1 of 1” campaign stars Colman Domingo, whose experience and distinctive style reflect the confidence Schinazi wants Away to convey.

Away is also expanding how it connects with travelers, through partnerships with Fora and Amtrak and the recent launch of @actuallyaway, a dedicated social channel with an ongoing series of videos.

For Schinazi, leading Away into its next decade means deciding where that expansion makes sense — and what customers should always be able to count on from the brand. She approaches those decisions with a sense of gratitude for the work and the opportunity ahead.

Her mantra is simple: “I get to do this.”