On the case

From their hillside base a few miles outside Edinburgh, the couple produce bespoke luggage of the grandest and most finely worked kind. Under the Method Trunk Works label, each piece involves around 300 hours of meticulous handcrafting, scaled to fit neatly into the luggage bay of a private jet or the deck of a superyacht. Clients can commission trunks tailored to their individual needs: from garment hanging spaces with extending racks of hand-shaped hangers, to removable leather and oak accessory cases, or even a wooden watch holder shaped precisely to the wearer’s wrist.

The design process is as much an experience as the finished product. Clients are invited to visit the couple’s rustic studio in the Bathgate Hills, to sit by the fire, take in the scent of leather and timber, and collaborate directly on the creation of a trunk that is entirely unique.

Trunk-making has a rich history, particularly in France where marques such as Louis Vuitton, Goyard and Moynat transformed practical cases into objets d’art. While those houses remain icons of travel style, Method Trunk Works deliberately offers something different. Its creations are rooted in cabinetmaking expertise, with a depth of artisanal detail that draws heavily on Robinson’s background as the son of a cabinetmaker and master woodcarver.

The couple’s venture is a natural evolution of their long-standing practice, Method Studio, which produces furniture, cabinets, drinks cases, interiors, objets and more - often using local, storm-blown Scottish timber. Their work has included bespoke commissions for Hermès, Burberry, Jaguar and Vacheron Constantin, alongside a charming boutique in Linlithgow, M74, which sells furniture and artefacts of the same quality and imagination.

With Method Trunk Works, they have created a studio-within-a-studio, dedicated solely to the production of up to ten fully bespoke trunks per year. The pieces balance flamboyant romance with practical function, appealing to travellers who value rarity and craft over lightweight, throwaway convenience.

Each trunk is built on a lightweight poplar frame, wrapped in Scottish leather and finished with Italian bridle leather edging. The Grand Tourer model alone incorporates over a thousand nails, capped with gold-plated brass studs also crafted in Italy. Every element - oak hangers, canvas straps, leather kit bags - is conceived with the same level of obsessive detail.

Despite the opulence, the work retains a distinctly Scottish austerity: robust, earthy, and full of character. These are not glossy or ostentatious objects, but purposeful creations with a spirit as hearty and enduring as the landscape they come from.