AIR TRANSPORT 36 M uch of an airline’s reputation is entrusted to the care of its cabin crew who, as the public face of the organisation, can leave a lasting impression on passengers in an increasingly competitive and crowded industry. This impression is ever more significant in today’s fast-growing market, at a time when the once-glamorous vision of air travel is clouded by security threats, long queues and delays. Today, airlines are building their brands through memorable crew uniforms and clever marketing campaigns (using cabin crew as the main selling- point) and with so much of an airline’s public image resting on its crew, it is unsurprising that over recent years it has become popular for airlines to commission the world’s best fashion designers to create stylish staff uniforms. Gulf Air’s online recruitment page boasts that “Gulf Air has a legacy of service and style built on more than 55 years of Arabian hospitality.” Eager to maintain its style legacy, the airline chose to celebrate its 40th anniversary back in 1990 by commissioning world-renowned fashion house Balenciaga to design a new light-blue and peach cabin crew uniform – a stark contrast to the brown and cream outfit that had been worn by the airline’s flight crew for the previous 20 years. In 2000, the airline introduced its current dark navy blue uniform, designed by another renowned fashion house – Balmain of Paris. This was intended to reflect the changing face of Gulf Air and the motto: “Smart Airline, Successful Business”. Marcus Bernhardt, Gulf Air’s chief services officer, said of the uniform: “It is a reflection of what Gulf Air is all about – the hallmark Arabian hospitality, warmth, presentation, progression, modernity and, above all, a corporate statement.” Royal Jordanian (RJ) also chose to mark its 40th anniversary with a new uniform for its cabin crew, announcing in 2003: “A very public part of the airline’s image is the RJ cabin crew’s uniform and this year, as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations, RJ decided it was time for a change.” This was not the first time that RJ had revamped its uniform. Between 1976 and 1982 Lebanese Cabin crew uniform is often the first thing that distinguishes one airline from another in the minds of passengers and, therefore, is vital for carriers to get right. Kelly Green looks at how airline fashion is changing. designer Papou Lahoud created the uniform for RJ pilots and stewardesses, for which she won IATA’s ‘best uniform design’ award in 1986. An Italian designer took over the responsibility of RJ’s uniforms for the next 20 years. However, unlike Gulf Air, RJ did not engage a celebrated fashion house to provide its new design in 2003 but, instead, chose to reflect its role as a national carrier by enlisting a Jordanian company, Elzay Ready Wear Manufacturing Company. At the time, a spokesperson for Elzay said: “Royal Jordanian wanted a change; a new uniform for the new millennium that is more elegant and distinguished, and reflects the heritage of Jordan.” Colours were chosen to symbolise Jordan as a country – red, white and charcoal. “Red is a very prominent colour here and it was chosen for the women’s uniform, while the men’s is mainly charcoal.” A spokesperson for RJ told Arabian Aerospace: “The RJ uniform should always be consistent with the colours of the aircraft and, thus, of the RJ colours in its offices.” Teresa Stedman, managing director of Stedman Corporate Clothing Ltd, said the choice of colour plays an important role in uniform design. “The colour of a uniform helps present an appropriate impression as it has a psychological effect on both the wearer and their customer.” Qatar Airways’ plum-coloured uniform must have hit the right note with customers, as it was voted ‘most stylish’ by Skyscanner users in a poll in September 2010. The deep-maroon uniform, a colour often associated with dignity, nobility, and power, reflects the airline’s logo, which Stedman argued is important, so as to be easily recognisable. Oman Air also chose to co-ordinate its uniforms with the company colours when, in September 1999, it unveiled a new eye-catching turquoise-blue outfit, designed by the house of Balenciaga, which matched its livery. “Ultimately, a uniform enables staff to become ambassadors for their company and act accordingly. In being dressed in the company colours, staff immediately represent their airline,” Stedman added. As company representatives, airlines will often stress the importance of appearance to staff from the very beginning of their careers, as illustrated on Virgin Atlantic’s online cabin crew recruitment page: “Finally, you’ll be the face of the airline. As such, your grooming should always be immaculate – even after a long, tiring flight.” For this reason, uniform designers and manufacturers must carefully choose the fabric to be used, as Shane Bray, MD of European professional-wear provider Kwintet International, reportedly said: “Crew need to look as immaculate at the end of a long-haul flight as they did when they boarded the aircraft. Turbulence can wreak havoc when food and drink are being served, so stain-resistant fabrics and finishes are key.” Crew uniforms have always been used to evoke the glamour and romance of flying, an association that Virgin Atlantic played up to in its recent James Bond-style television advertising campaign, which portrays attractive flight attendants wearing the airline’s iconic red uniform, skyscraper red heels, and glossy red lipstick. The sexually-charged global campaign no doubt assisted the airline in winning the accolade of ‘most attractive’ flight attendants in a THE CREW Royal Jordanian: elegant and distinguished. THE CUT OF
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AIR TRANSPORT
36
Much of an airline’s reputation isentrusted to the care of its cabin crewwho, as the public face of the
organisation, can leave a lasting impression onpassengers in an increasingly competitive andcrowded industry.
This impression is ever more significant intoday’s fast-growing market, at a time when theonce-glamorous vision of air travel is clouded bysecurity threats, long queues and delays.
Today, airlines are building their brands throughmemorable crew uniforms and clever marketingcampaigns (using cabin crew as the main selling-point) and with so much of an airline’s publicimage resting on its crew, it is unsurprising thatover recent years it has become popular for airlinesto commission the world’s best fashion designersto create stylish staff uniforms.
Gulf Air’s online recruitment page boasts that“Gulf Air has a legacy of service and style built onmore than 55 years of Arabian hospitality.” Eagerto maintain its style legacy, the airline chose tocelebrate its 40th anniversary back in 1990 bycommissioning world-renowned fashion houseBalenciaga to design a new light-blue and peachcabin crew uniform – a stark contrast to thebrown and cream outfit that had been worn by theairline’s flight crew for the previous 20 years.
In 2000, the airline introduced its current darknavy blue uniform, designed by anotherrenowned fashion house – Balmain of Paris. Thiswas intended to reflect the changing face of GulfAir and the motto: “Smart Airline, SuccessfulBusiness”. Marcus Bernhardt, Gulf Air’s chiefservices officer, said of the uniform: “It is areflection of what Gulf Air is all about – thehallmark Arabian hospitality, warmth,presentation, progression, modernity and, aboveall, a corporate statement.”
Royal Jordanian (RJ) also chose to mark its40th anniversary with a new uniform for its cabincrew, announcing in 2003: “A very public part ofthe airline’s image is the RJ cabin crew’s uniformand this year, as part of its 40th anniversarycelebrations, RJ decided it was time for a change.”
This was not the first time that RJ had revampedits uniform. Between 1976 and 1982 Lebanese
Cabin crew uniform is often the first thing that distinguishes one airline
from another in the minds of passengers and, therefore, is vital for
carriers to get right. Kelly Green looks at how airline fashion is changing.
designer Papou Lahoud created the uniform forRJ pilots and stewardesses, for which she wonIATA’s ‘best uniform design’ award in 1986.
An Italian designer took over the responsibilityof RJ’s uniforms for the next 20 years. However,unlike Gulf Air, RJ did not engage a celebratedfashion house to provide its new design in 2003but, instead, chose to reflect its role as a nationalcarrier by enlisting a Jordanian company, ElzayReady Wear Manufacturing Company. At thetime, a spokesperson for Elzay said: “RoyalJordanian wanted a change; a new uniform for thenew millennium that is more elegant anddistinguished, and reflects the heritage of Jordan.”
Colours were chosen to symbolise Jordan as acountry – red, white and charcoal. “Red is a veryprominent colour here and it was chosen for thewomen’s uniform, while the men’s is mainlycharcoal.”
A spokesperson for RJ told Arabian Aerospace:“The RJ uniform should always be consistent withthe colours of the aircraft and, thus, of the RJcolours in its offices.”
Teresa Stedman, managing director ofStedman Corporate Clothing Ltd, said the choice
of colour plays an important role in uniformdesign. “The colour of a uniform helps present anappropriate impression as it has a psychologicaleffect on both the wearer and their customer.”
Qatar Airways’ plum-coloured uniform musthave hit the right note with customers, as it wasvoted ‘most stylish’ by Skyscanner users in a poll inSeptember 2010. The deep-maroon uniform, acolour often associated with dignity, nobility, andpower, reflects the airline’s logo, which Stedmanargued is important, so as to be easily recognisable.
Oman Air also chose to co-ordinate itsuniforms with the company colours when, inSeptember 1999, it unveiled a new eye-catchingturquoise-blue outfit, designed by the house ofBalenciaga, which matched its livery.
“Ultimately, a uniform enables staff to becomeambassadors for their company and actaccordingly. In being dressed in the companycolours, staff immediately represent their airline,”Stedman added.
As company representatives, airlines will oftenstress the importance of appearance to staff fromthe very beginning of their careers, as illustratedon Virgin Atlantic’s online cabin crew recruitmentpage: “Finally, you’ll be the face of the airline. Assuch, your grooming should always beimmaculate – even after a long, tiring flight.”
For this reason, uniform designers andmanufacturers must carefully choose the fabric tobe used, as Shane Bray, MD of Europeanprofessional-wear provider Kwintet International,reportedly said: “Crew need to look as immaculateat the end of a long-haul flight as they did whenthey boarded the aircraft. Turbulence can wreakhavoc when food and drink are being served, sostain-resistant fabrics and finishes are key.”
Crew uniforms have always been used to evokethe glamour and romance of flying, an associationthat Virgin Atlantic played up to in its recentJames Bond-style television advertisingcampaign, which portrays attractive flightattendants wearing the airline’s iconic reduniform, skyscraper red heels, and glossy redlipstick. The sexually-charged global campaignno doubt assisted the airline in winning theaccolade of ‘most attractive’ flight attendants in a
THE CREW
Royal Jordanian: elegant and distinguished.
THE CUT OF
UNIFORMS
37
survey of 1,000 British business travellers,conducted by Business Travel and MeetingsShow (BTMS) in February 2011, with the airlinereceiving a massive 53% of the votes.
Middle East carriers also achieved highly in thepoll, with Etihad Airways’ uniform, designed byItalian haute couture fashion designer EttoreBilotta, taking third place behind SingaporeAirlines with 12% of the votes, and EmiratesAirlines taking fourth place with 11%.
Etihad Airways has a strong relationship withthe fashion world, as was displayed in September2007 when it celebrated the launch of flightsbetween Abu Dhabi and the fashion capital Milanwith a catwalk show exhibiting Bilotta’s newwinter 2007 collection. James Hogan, EtihadAirways’ chief executive, said at the time: “Therehas been tremendous excitement surrounding thestart of Etihad’s new Milan service, so what better
way to mark this momentous occasion than tostage an Italian fashion show here in our home-base of Abu Dhabi.”
Bilotta’s philosophy in designing the Etihaduniform was “to communicate the welcominghospitable values of the Arabian culture in aninternational, cosmopolitan context, while at thesame time designing for the comfort of the crewin the air and the airline’s ground staff”.
While aesthetic considerations are obviouslyimportant for building and establishing anairline’s brand, many more aspects are taken intoaccount when designing airline uniforms,including the safety and comfort of clothing.
“Long skirts can restrict movement and areparticularly dangerous when combined withhigh heels, which can become caught in hems.Ties, too, can be a safety hazard,” Stedmanexplained.
It is also essential that uniforms can be adapted tosuit different environments. “This is vital when theconditions on the ground for staff can vary from SaoPaulo in Brazil through Newcastle in England toHong Kong in Asia,” said Terry Daly, Emirates’senior vice president, service delivery, when theairline introduced its new staff uniform in2003.Ultimately, perhaps more so for the aviationindustry than any other, staff uniforms must inspireconfidence and communicate a responsiblecorporate image, so that passengers are assured thattheir safety is in good (perfectly-manicured) hands.
“Figures of authority are traditionally identifiedby their uniforms,” Stedman told ArabianAerospace. “This is particularly true of airlines andcertainly in the current environment of heightenedsecurity we take assurance in being able to easilyidentify official figures by their clothing.
“A uniform reinforces the expectation that staffare trained and competent professionals,providing additional assurances to customers thatour trust is in safe hands. In the case of airlinestaff, this effect is multiplied, as our safety isentirely in their control.”
Above: Etihad made the Milan catwalk withits Italian style uniform while (left) the scarlet
Virgin girls are always a hit.
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