Crash Baggage Introduces Quiet, Cushioned “Lunar Wheels”

The Italian luggage brand has patented a new wheel that reduces noise and annoyance

Luggage is a challenging object to design: aesthetics and function must converse and every detail, including the wheels, can make a substantial difference. Crash Baggage knows this all too well. Francesco Pavia, the brand’s founder and CEO, had the foresight to design a rigid suitcase that was pre-dented—so that travelers wouldn’t worry if it got damaged on the road. Recently, Pavia also introduced Lunar, an extremely easy-to-use, cushioned wheel. A small pneumatic tire, Lunar limits the noise produced by wheels and even absorbs vibrations. It aims to remove the annoying noise from roller suitcases that disturbs quiet in historic cities like Venice, where the brand was born.

We tested a cabin-size Crash Baggage piece, equipped with Lunar wheels, for a few months. The overall experience was beyond satisfactory in every city: Rome, Como, Bologna, Milan, Istanbul, Stockholm. At the airport, the luggage is maneuverable; at train stations, they overcomes obstacles well. As for city centers, they are hushed on cobblestones, not quite like on the moon (as their name implies), but almost. Compared to the high-pitched racket of a classic hard suitcase, we felt light-years ahead—and there was no feeling of that guilt that often accompanies arriving at night with noisy luggage.

After experiencing Lunar, we met Pavia at the brand’s headquarters, a recently renovated ancient palace a few kilometers away from Venice, to learn more.

How did Crash Baggage come about?

It all started in high school when I was beginning to feel the need to do something important. My father sensed this and decided to take me with him on a trip to China. I began to get in touch with the manufacturing world to see what luggage was and how the product was created. It was a shock initially because I’m highly creative, and that world was very static.

Around 2010, you had an epiphany: remove the thought of ruining your suitcase by traveling with an already ruined, dented suitcase.

You often leave your suitcase in the hands of the airlines. They go through many hands, and pass through many machines. And what usually happens? When you arrive and retrieve your luggage, something bad has happened. So often, people get angry because their luggage was ruined, or it was poorly treated.

I had the intuition that if it’s already dented, we’ve solved all the problems. People are already prepared for the damage, and at the same time, the beating gives a certain aesthetic and emotionality to a product that didn’t have it already.

I found myself trying to make an initial prototype. I started heating the plastic with a heat blower to recreate the bumps as naturally as possible. I started from the corners, giving them different sizes, trying to harmonize the bumps. Once it was finished, it was as if this suitcase had begun to speak for itself. It had started to express itself; it had come to life. That moment made me realize that that idea and that product would have a lot of potential for the future.

Speaking of the future, what’s the story behind your new silent pneumatic wheel?

I had the chance to learn about a patent trying to come to life but without a space. I decided to believe in this idea. I liked the idea of having a technological evolution as well as an aesthetic and philosophical one; it gave me a sense of completeness about what I was doing, even on a practical level. We decided to take this idea, to continue to develop it, to bring it to industrialization and commercialization. The idea was to create a tire with a natural inner tube, which allows cushioning and creates softness. This comes from the choice of materials and the roundness of the design that creates a pleasant, I would say, extremely Italian effect.

Lunar was launched during the Venice Architecture Biennale with a striking installation of Parasite 2.0 and a limited edition of Crash Baggage in a new space-like gradient. What are these choices derived from?

Lunar is a “Made in Italy” project and is developed in the Veneto region. We are also based in Veneto and decided to launch it in Venice because what city can represent this more than Venice?

Lunar wheels also have aesthetic value. We worked hard to give them an aesthetic consistent with Italian design. The balance between design and technical function allowed us to achieve the first goal, although the project is still in the development and industrialization phase. We decided to come out with only one size (the carry-on size) and are working on the other sizes. I don’t know if it will be the innovation that will turn all the wheels of all the suitcases in the world upside down, but I am convinced that it can find its place.

Lunar may have many other applications besides luggage because there are so many things in the world that travel on small wheels. Have you started experimenting with different applications yet?

There have been some exciting discussions, from hospital beds and walkers to electric scooters in cities, and also strollers. Even if the wheel gets punctured, it keeps its structure, cushioning, and it keeps doing its job. It keeps going. This is a quality of its own. Also, it does not damage the floors indoors or in public places.

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