Skift Global Forum Preview: Away's Jen Rubio Created Cult Luggage by Creating a Community

It wasn't that long ago that luggage was something you simply needed — not coveted. Enter Jen Rubio, the co-founder and chief brand officer of Away. After discovering there was a striking gap in the market for a piece of luggage that was as aspirational as it was functional — and not to mention photogenic — she set out to create the Warby Parker of suitcases. It helped that both she and her co-founder, Steph Korey, were alums of the successful direct-to-consumer eyewear brand. But Rubio and Korey didn't just create a suitcase with cult status. They created what so many brands, travel and otherwise, want in 2019: a robust online community where your customer base eventually does much of the work of creating content and marketing the product for you. For proof of that, just see the #travelaway hashtag on Instagram. The way Rubio accomplished that feat has a lot to do with her understanding the way travel has changed in the online era. With a new tranche of funding announced in May — $100 million, bringing the less than four-year-old comp