Away’s Jen Rubio on the Advantages of Developing a Direct-to-Consumer Brand

Jen Rubio came up with the idea for her luggage brand Away — which she developed alongside Steph Korey — when her suitcase broke and the options for a replacement were all “either old, or too expensive.”

Away set out to fill the gap in the market by offering sleek, modern luggage designs at affordable prices, achieved by maintaining a direct-to-consumer model and keeping margins higher, just like Korey and Rubio’s former employer, Warby Parker.