Business travel can be exciting and fun … the first trip. Subsequent trips rapidly lose their luster, particularly with air travel’s increasingly draconian carry-on luggage rules enforcement. In an effort to save money on baggage charges and avoid the delays and too-frequent suspense of checked luggage, we stuff our business clothing into the teeniest bags possible. When we finally reach our destination, however, our business suits and dresses are often rumpled and wrinkled — not a great look for meeting with clients.
British business writer Patrick Tatham founded Pliqo in 2015. Because of his own frustrations with business travel and its affect on his comfort and clothing, Tatham started the company specifically to develop travel goods for frequent flyers and commuters.
The company’s first product is the Pliqo Bag, which Tatham calls “the smartest garment bag in the world.” Pliqo launched a Kickstarter campaign promising bag deliveries to backers in October 2017.
According to Tatham, the fully open 49-inch by 42-inch garment bag folds to a 16 x 12 x 3-inch laptop bag-sized “personal item.” Tatham says the bag can be carried into cabins of most major airlines in addition to a conventional carry-on.
Even if you’re not traveling by plane, the company claims the folded Pliqo bag will fit into many motorcycle and bicycle panniers, backpacks, messenger bags, and even briefcases to protect business apparel or formal wear while you travel in more comfortable clothing.
The Pliqo Bag has an organizer pocket, lateral compression straps, and a detachable shoulder strap. The bag includes a folding garment hanger and a trouser hanger and weighs a little more than two pounds (37 ounces) without any clothing packed. The outer material is coated polyester trimmed with leather and nylon webbing. The zippers and fast-release buckles are made by YKK.
Touting his bag as having a footprint smaller than a weekend newspaper, Tatham sums up his reasons for starting Pliqo and designing the bag, “I want to be relaxed when I’m on the move, not worrying that I will appear in a crumpled suit at the start of my meetings. The Pliqo bag is the solution.”
