At the Intermark Mall in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, the Timothy store gleams with newness, its range of luggage bags mounted on pedestals. Here, one would ostensibly discover how an engineer’s obsession with making ideal suitcases would lead to the ideal suitcase.
Wade Tang, the founder and group managing director of Timothy, who was in town for the recent store opening, highlights that the reason Timothy decided on this specific mall was because its target market are people who are frequent, premium and especially business-type travellers. It is also one specific business traveller who inspired the genesis of Timothy and its first-ever creation.
This story of Timothy—which began two decades ago—began when Tang met a client in Hong Kong who complained about his suits getting creased while travelling. Tang decided to put his engineering background (mechanical engineering, King’s College) to use, devising the Contura suit carrier—a suit-folding device that fits into a bag, allowing jackets to stay crisp all the way. “So, we had to start looking for help with manufacturing, developing the machinery, and the request went to a consultancy company in Cambridge, Tang says. “Long story short, because we couldn’t find the channel to distribute, or franchise the product, we decided to make it and sell it online.”
The name Timothy would follow because it was the name given to Tang by a temple monk for good luck. “The Contura became our first product—it comes straight out for your next meeting and you saved time because you didn’t need to steam it, wait around, or pay someone to do it,” Tang says.
During this time, Tang also had a stint sourcing products from China for overseas companies, during which he developed an appreciation for product design and marketing, and eventually became a distributor for luggage bags and travel goods. Through this circuitous path of distributing international brand names, Tang continued to plough investment into his own innovation—durable suitcases that markedly addressed the limitations of the other brands he was representing.
John Lamb, Timothy’s managing director for UK, who was also in Kuala Lumpur for the launch, points out the many engineering solutions that Timothy has introduced to travel suitcases: silicone wheels and handles to avoid cracking for at least a decade; rivets for castors located on the exterior to make swapping damaged wheels a breeze; and double coil zips to ensure the highest possible tolerance. This also leads to a lifetime guarantee for Timothy for any defective workmanship or parts, which was attached to its products from the very start. “It’s one of the features that we always thought we should offer—and to make it better, we also want the repairs to be as seamless as possible,” Lamb says. In most cases, the fix is for the wheel or handle, which can be replaced within 15 minutes at the store. “We’ve also couriered parts to customers who live way off the map who were happy to do it themselves, because the repairing is so easy,” Lamb adds.
“I think one of the key motivations for Timothy is when we talk to manufacturers and they are always saying it’s too expensive and that they won’t sell it,” Tang says, adding that the pushback is frequently due to commercial or risk issues, which inadvertently blocks innovation. “So, all these great ideas are not getting into the market, which is why the only way to get it out is with my own brand.”
On the business front, Timothy intends to grow its global network of stores—to be present in gateway cities in key markets, enabling better customer service. From the Cavendish to Burlington, Timothy has undergone four iterations of its product evolution ever since it first debuted its suitcase in 2008. Tang hints at the next innovation, a clamshell design that opens from the top, making it easier to access the suitcase’s contents, especially in space-constrained zones. “Ultimately, we want to send a message out—that Timothy is about the latest tech,” Tang says. “People come to us because we are re-engineering the suitcase as you know it.”
Photos courtesy of Timothy London
