Watching instructional packing videos on YouTube isn’t so much going down a rabbit hole as stalking a forever-looping luggage carousel: utterly mesmerizing, but you’re forever waiting to take something away. It’s entirely possible to learn how to pack for a transcontinental trip with only a carry-on, but there’s always one thing missing: the emotional impulse that drives us to get dressed every day.
That’s why we decided to ask three women—makeup artist Raisa Flowers, stylist Yohana Lebasi, and interior designer CeCe Barfield Thompson—to tell us how they’d go about packing only a Rimowa Original Cabin carry-on in a way that truly reflected their sense of style.
Raisa Flowers
Dealing with limited space does and doesn’t faze this makeup artist. “I always overpack, and my suitcase ends up being insane, but I am really good at packing my kit,” she says. “I can condense everything—it’s like playing Tetris.”
Indeed. Flowers reels off the kind of numbers that she’s toting, cosmetics-wise, from the likes of Pat McGrath, MAC, or Make Up For Ever: Sixty concealers, 20 cream eye shadows, and numerous palettes—plus three or four sets of brushes, some of which belonged to her mom (the sentimental value means they never go near checked bags). And that’s just a fraction.
When Flowers is on the road for a while—as when she’s working runway season—she takes two large Rimowa trunks packed with about 20 outfits—“Everything in my closet,” she says, laughing. As for their fun-size carry-on relative? That’s a little more of a challenge. Ideally it would be filled with three looks built around Eloquii dresses, jean shorts, mini bags from Luar or Givenchy, and “some cute shoes—Marni slides, Gucci kitten heels—because those work with the dresses and the shorts.”
And if in doubt, phone a friend. She did that quite recently, despite a substantial time difference. (It was 4 a.m. for Flowers in New York.) When it comes to jackets, push the sleeves inside, then fold. Roll everything else. And try every single outfit on before it goes into the carry-on. Words to pack by.
Yohana Lebasi
Counterintuitive might be the best way to describe Lebasi’s approach to making the most of a small—make that minute—case. “It’s about maximum impact,” the New York–based stylist says from London, where she just shuttled in from Paris on the Eurostar with only Rimowa hand luggage. “If I have a work dinner and am going to an art opening afterward, it’s about: One—what is convertible? And two—what feels special? I like to be remembered for wearing really unique pieces,” she adds, “and I don’t ever put those in my check-in.”
For this trip: a vintage Junya Watanabe dress, Comme des Garçons leggings, and Alaïa studded ballet flats. She takes what she can’t replicate easily, and adds more readily sourced pieces—like a white tee or a casual sweater—while on the road. “Since I don’t have as much space as I would with a larger bag, it’s easier to find the basics to mix with the crazy skirt. This way I don’t ever think, Oh—I wish I’d brought the really amazing thing that I’ll never find here.” (And, yes: She does factor in having more to pack by the end of her trips: “That’s my best advice: Always leave space for a few new acquisitions.”)
Perhaps controversially in this day and age, when everyone is learning to roll like a master sushi chef via those YouTube videos: “I’m a folder,” Lebasi says. “The more flat, the better: If you stack, you minimize the volume. Rolling feels like it takes up too much surface area.”
CeCe Barfield Thompson
Should you ever see a woman boarding a plane wearing a sweater, a coat, and rain boots even if the weather is in the 90s, chances are it’s the interior designer CeCe Barfield Thompson, who’s heading to one of her many new projects around the world. (Likewise with a big blanket-y scarf—hers is from Hermès.)
This is just one of the ways that she can travel with only a carry-on, having become a convert to the no-checking rule, at least for work. It was a lesson learned early on in her career, when she assisted interiors doyenne Bunny Williams—who believed in a rigorously edited carry-on—and once arrived at the airport with enough luggage to give pause to a Henry James heiress. “Shame is a powerful motivator,” she recalls, with a laugh. “I was mortified.”
Putting theory into practice, her Rimowa carry-on went on two trips—London for work, then back home to her family in Texas over Memorial Day weekend—with almost identical packing: four Vita Kin dresses, Chanel flats, and Manolo Blahnik heels. Those pretty, bohemian-esque dresses have been a particular godsend: In London, one went from a site meeting to the Chelsea Flower Show and then on to dinner at Belvedere in Holland Park.
“When you’re traveling for work, a lot can go wrong,” says Barfield Thompson. “Your packing doesn’t need to take that stress, too. That said,” she added, “I’m not sure I could have taken on this challenge if it was the winter!”