PIN–UP THROWS TUMI A 50TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

Our luggage is more than a vessel; it’s a mnemonic device. Every trip inscribes it with traces of the built world — the airports, streets, and rooms we pass through. Marking TUMI’s 50th anniversary, and the now-iconic 19 Degree pattern, the brand’s cases become a kind of architecture in motion.

To celebrate the 50-year milestone, PIN–UP teamed up with TUMI for an intimate, 50-guest dinner at 102 Franklin in Tribeca. Guests stepped into an infinity-mirror installation that refracted TUMI’s 19 Degree aluminum collection into a shimmering totem — a playful nod to the infinite permutations of travel. Designed by Victor Sanz, TUMI’s creative director, the 19 Degree line has become one of the brand’s signature expressions, an object that feels as architectural as it is practical.

Sanz welcomed guests with a toast to creativity, saluting the evening’s collaborators: PIN–UP creative director Ben Ganz and artist Luke Libera Moore. All around the room, familiar faces from New York’s design, culture, and media spheres settled into the candlelit tables, including Brittany Byrd, Thistle Brown, Raquel Cayre, Mark Grattan, Stefanie Hessler, Deon Hinton, Armand Limnander, Kouros Maghsoudi, Tyler Mazaheri, Beverly Nguyen, Rafael Prieto, Silvia Prada, Taylore Scarabelli, and many more. Meanwhile, dinner unfolded courtesy of chef Arley Marks, whose menu — scallop crudo, heirloom tomato salad, roasted chicken with wild mountain caper butter — turned out to be “actually delicious,” as one delighted (and mildly astonished) guest whispered. Dessert arrived as custom Casa Bosques chocolate bars molded into perfect miniature 19 Degree forms.

By 11 PM, the crowd began trickling out into the New York night, clutching their TUMI gift bags with visible delight. “These little name-card holders are so cute,” one guest squealed, tucking her 19 Degree cardholder (in the shape of a miniature suitcase), a sculptural eyeglass case in the same pattern, and a special PIN–UP publication created for the occasion. If luggage is a record of our movements, this evening was one worth imprinting.