How Away Shook Up the Sleepy Luggage Market With a Simple, Colorful Carry-On
Co-founder Jen Rubio shares the story behind the startup's rapid growth


Jen Rubio remembers the first time she saw a piece of Away luggage out in the world. It was February 2016, and Rubio—who founded the company with fellow Warby Parker alum Steph Korey the year before—was on a moving sidewalk in JFK’s Terminal 4. The brand had just begun shipping its first batch of 2,000 colorful, hard-shell suitcases. And suddenly, there was one of them in the hands of an ordinary traveler.