It’s not every day that I see a tote bag at a farmer’s market and go, holy whaaa?! But that happened when I spotted my first Hulken a few weeks ago. Imagine a tote somewhere between a giant shopping bag and a roller suitcase but elegantly outré enough to take to, say, the Oscars and you start to get a sense of the vibe. Hulken is what your Erewhon carry-out bag might be if it crossed with Rimowa luggage and a Roomba.
My sighting happened at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market. Then I made the mistake of Googling the bag and my algorithm was overtaken by Hulken influencers doing Hulken-y things like lugging entire booth setups with their Hulken to vendor shows or hauling 10 yoga mats or stashing a sorority’s worth of Target purchases back to Tau Alpha Whatever house.
Hulken: Hauling in style for under $100
Aside from the sheer visual glory of it all, what’s great is the price. You can get a Hulken for just under $100. But I also love the Hulken origin story. The brand began, as many great narratives do, with a drummer schlepping his gear through Brooklyn. Yoni Sheleg, a touring musician and UX designer, was constantly moving cymbals, drum kits and stick cases in various cases and duffels until his father-in-law designed a rugged but not-so-pretty roller bag.
Yoni and his wife, Alex Schinasi, asked: why shouldn’t this kind of industrial strength bag exist for everyday life? And what if we made it look super attractive? They launched Hulken in 2018, but when the pandemic hit in 2020, with Alex eight months pregnant and Yoni off the road, they doubled down.
Packing orders from their NYC apartment, they worked through lockdown, bringing Hulkens to the hospital when their third child was born. A glowing Strategist review set buzz in motion, and soon, they moved to Geneva (where they have family) to grow the brand. The bags roll like buttah, clean easily and collapse for easy storage in a car or closet. Today, Hulken bags are designed in Switzerland, handmade in Hungary and visible on social feeds and in shopping aisles everywhere.
Meet the Hulken co-founder
As a journalist I am committed to bringing you interesting founder stories, so I connected with Hulken co-founder Alex Schinasi to ask a few nosy questions and see what the Hulken life is like in 2025.
David Hochman: What was the moment you realized a “normal” bag wasn’t gonna cut it anymore. I know about Yoni’s drum challenges. But what about you? Were you holding 16 tote bags and losing circulation in your hand and said, “This thing needs wheels??”
Alex Schinasi: As a young mom and entrepreneur living in New York City, I couldn’t believe there wasn’t a more stylish, convenient way to schlep. Every trip to Trader Joe’s, the laundromat or vintage shops in the Lower East Side ended with me practically breaking my shoulders and carving red lines into my arms from carrying too many tote bags.
One day, I called my dad [an industrial designer] and asked him to send me one of the rolling totes he’d designed. At the time, I didn’t realize just how genius it was. But the moment it landed in my Flatiron apartment, I knew it would change not just my life but the lives of all New Yorkers and beyond.
Then COVID hit. My drummer husband, who had just finished touring with Cass McCombs and Amen Dunes, suddenly found himself without stages to play on. So he opened a Shopify site, and we started selling our family product organically. The timing was everything. People saw Hulken as the perfect alternative to germy shopping carts. While so many businesses were folding, ours grew wings and had its first viral moments.
Hochman: What’s one Hulken feature you obsessed over that no one notices but you?
Schinasi: I’d say the “memory fabric.” It’s what lets Hulken stand upright without any bulky internal frame. Before we spent a dime on marketing, we were laser-focused on perfecting the product. Small details that most people don’t even realize are special are what make Hulken so distinctive. We own our manufacturing and don’t depend on third parties, which allows us to innovate and move faster than anyone.
Hochman: What’s your favorite Hulken-in-the-wild story? The Hulken person I saw in Hollywood worked as a movie makeup person. There must be a lot of famous Hulkeners, no?
Schinasi: Paparazzi shots always blow my mind. Last year, my DMs exploded when a paparazzi snapped Charlotte York with a Hulken on the set of And Just Like That. She had Chanel on one arm, Hulken on the other. That was a total pinch-me moment. Chrissy Teigen was looking effortlessly chic with her Silver Hulken, hauling supplies so her dad could do arts and crafts with the kids.
But honestly, nothing beats walking through the streets of New York City and spotting Hulkens everywhere. That’s what makes it all worth it—the young hustlers, the thrifters, and as you say, the makeup artists. They’re the community that makes Hulken truly special.
That speaks to our core customer, which is people who schlepp hard but want to do it with style, whether it’s stylists, makeup artists, moms, teachers, packers or iconic New Yorkers.
Hochman: As a founder, what’s a lesson you learned the hard way that you’d love to spare other founders from?
Schinasi: Don’t chase perfection. Move fast. If you wait too long to execute, you lose momentum, and with it, the opportunities. Speed creates magic!
Hochman: If a Hulken bag showed up in a movie scene, what film should it be in—and what kind of character’s using it?
Schinasi: I love it! Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada. She’s hustling, her life is chaos, she’s juggling a million tasks. But she’s trying to do it all in style. That’s the Hulken spirit.
Hochman: What’s the most embarrassing early version of the Hulken? What did it look like, and how did it die?
Schinasi: The first version was a bright blue and yellow and didn’t even stand up properly. It looked super industrial. I was embarrassed…but what founder isn’t embarrassed by their first product? That version was the starting line. I love that it’s now a fashion accessory.
Hochman: What’s something you’ve definitely ruled out for Hulken’s future, even if people keep asking for it?
Schinasi: What I’ve learned from past ventures is to never say never. We try not to rule anything out entirely because the world moves fast, customers evolve, and opportunities change. So while there are things we’re saying ‘not right now’ to–like raising outside capital—we stay open to anything that could truly serve our customers or the business long term
Hochman: Is there a problem you’re secretly scheming to solve next—but haven’t told anyone yet?
Schinasi: Yes! I want to create a Hulken for kids. Our kids are obsessed and there’s so much potential in designing something fun and functional for school, camp, after-school activities, and beyond.
Also, this random but I want to build a tea brand. I drink tea every day but most brands are either boring or filled with microplastics. There’s so much white space and I can’t stop thinking about it.
Hochman: Tiny tea bags on wheels! I love the idea!
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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