In the early 1970s, Ghurka founder Marley Hodgson bid on military gear made by a Ghurka soldier stationed in India decades earlier. Inspired by the fine leather and premier craftsmanship, he created a similar leather knapsack for his son, marking the founding of his American leather-goods company. To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Ghurka is releasing eight different types of hard-sided, custom-made trunks that evoke the brand’s original designs.

Handmade by artisan craftsmen in Florence, Italy, the trunks …