Biaxially oriented thermoplastic polymer laminate films for luggage articles and methods of making the same

A shell (120) comprising:

• a laminate (110) consisting of a plurality of films (100) forming a continuous sheet, wherein
• the films are coextruded films (100) and wherein each of said plurality of films (100) has a thickness of 10 μm±5% to 100 μm±5% and wherein each of said plurality of films (100) comprises:
• a core (102) of biaxially oriented polypropylene, and
• an outer layer (104) of polypropylene and having a thickness of 0.5% to 25% of the thickness of said film (100);
• wherein the laminate comprises between 10 and 50 films of said plurality of films;
• wherein the melting temperature of the core is at least 10° C. higher than the outer layer;
• wherein at least one of the plurality of films (100) has a tensile strength of 60 MPa to 190 MPa in the longitudinal direction and a tensile strength of 150 MPa to 300 MPa in the transverse direction;
• and
• wherein at least one of the plurality of the films (100) has a stiffness of 3.5 GPa to 5 GPa in the transverse direction and a stiffness of 1.5 GPa to 3 GPa in the longitudinal direction;
• and
• wherein the shell is formed by said laminate consisting of a continuous sheet and has a top side and a plurality of sides extending from said top side to form a three dimensional article;
• wherein said shell is formed by said continuous sheet that extends a length and width of said shell, and
• wherein the shell is a luggage shell.