Completely customisable, French luxury trunk makers bring Indian travellers the option of a portable wardrobe, mini-bar, pop-up poker room and just about anything else you can think of, all in the shape of a trunk
Completely customisable, French luxury trunk makers bring Indian travellers the option of a portable wardrobe, mini-bar, pop-up poker room and just about anything else you can think of, all in the shape of a trunk
The butler is creeping back. In hundreds of homes there is buttling going on just as of yore...who can say that ere long all the old bung-ho-ing will not be flourishing again? When that happens I shall look my critics in the eye and say Edwardian? Where do you get that 'Edwardian' stuff? I write of life as it is lived today.
TT Trunks makes luxe travel trunks for musicians who cart their gear and
quirky businessmen who like to carry their poker table with them
Sir PG Wodehouse wrote that over three decades ago, bemoaning the demise of the Algys, Claudes and Berties of the world.
But a recently-held luxury conference at a Mumbai five-star would have cheered him up. Aruna Singh Sharma was there showcasing the wares of French luxury trunk makers, TT Trunks.
Bagpipes from the Titanic soundtrack played in our head, as Sharma cranked open a wooden crate to reveal a tan trunk topped with cherry red leather, embellished with dark wood and metal accents, fitted with plush suede interiors.
A mention that we were reminded of the age of luxury when Englishmen travelled with personal valets, Sharma, who represents TT Trunks in India, remembered a Middle Eastern client for whom TT designed a car-valet trunk.
"His home boasted parking space for 150 cars, and he entertained often, so a car-valet trunk made sense. It came furnished with everything a valet-service would require including a microphone, boxes for keys. It was even fitted with lights."
Another novel creation by designers and founders of TT Trunks Damien Finot and Julien Trossat was a custom-made egg-shaped trunk to store a Swiss lady customer's cherished hat collection.
Sharma opened a drawer of The New Dandy Trunk to reveal playing cards and poker chips, which, she said, may be personalised (other goodies inside include a crystal whiskey set, a cigar-drawer equipped with a humidifier and a hygrometer and a poker table-top). "A Russian gentleman had us engrave his initials on it in real diamonds," she said with a straight face.
Coming up is a Music Trunk, an idea that Sharma's musician-son Shaan, a sound engineering student, thought up. "It will have provisions to store an amplifier, two guitars and the assorted requisites of a rock 'n' roll band."
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It's the Trousseau trunks that are the most favoured in India though, especially by her affluent Delhi-based bachelor clients. Which is perhaps why most designs come fitted with sockets and accessories that can accommodate a laptop, cell phone and iPod.
For each customisation-request, TT Trunks' designers prepare blueprints to match client specifications, and put up a presentation, complete with samples and swatches of fabrics they intend to use.
The trunks cost between Rs 4.5 to Rs 25 lakh and although Sharma moans, "Sixty five per cent of our cost goes towards taxes and government charges," the steep price is largely attributed to the superior materials used and the 200 hours of labour that go into making each of these hand-crafted babies.
For more details send an email to villedeluxurie@gmail.com or Interdec@vsnl.com
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