Charles Simon creates boxy wooden luggage influenced by aeronautical design

Two aeronautical engineers have designed this series of luggage featuring rigid Canadian wood and leather shells.

Charles G Tremblay and Simon Maltais, who were previously aeronautical engineers, founded the baggage company Charles Simon in Montreal in 2014.

The two met as engineering students at Montreal's École de Technologie Supérieure and, after years of experience in the field, teamed up with local industrial designer Pascal Godin to create the collection.

The aim was to make a minimal series incorporating durable and lightweight materials typical found in aeronautical design.

Among these are carbon fibre that forms the sturdy, rectangular shell and the anodised aluminium hinges and handles. The designs are complete with a retractable handles and wheels.

The Charles Simon luggage is wrapped in leather with two sides clad in Canadian cherrywood. These panels are made rescued timber from logs submerged in Canada's waterways over hundreds of years ago.

The collection includes the Bonaventure 30-litre cabin luggage piece, Rupert carry-on and a briefcase called Mackenzie. Each of which is are named after rivers in Canada.

The Bonaventure River is known for its crystal clear water and world-class salmon fly fishing, while the Rupert River is one of Quebec's largest rivers and the Mackenzie River is one of the longest in Canada and named after 18th-century Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie.

The young bull leather, meanwhile, is sourced from Carriat, a French family-owned tannery founded in 1927 thay works with fashion houses like Dior and Hermès.

The leather comes in a range of hues including bright blue, navy, grey and black that also take cues to Canada's water.

Each piece by Charles Simon is made to order and fully customisable with additional sleeves and pouches possible. Hundreds of leather and interior fabric colours are also available, with interior fabric linings by Italian brand Alcantara.