The new Air France uniforms, designed by Lacroix, show that air travel need not lack frills, writes Deirdre McQuillan, Fashion Editor
This week 36,000 staff members of Air France donned new uniforms designed by couturier Christian Lacroix, flying the flag for French fashion, style and savoir faire all over the world. "Air hostesses have not lost their glamour," Lacroix told The Irish Times at its launch in Paris. "They still need to look well groomed and made up properly - that is not obsolete or old fashioned. They still need to be a bit of a mother and a bit of a beauty figure," said the designer, who will be revamping French railway uniforms next September and has recently completed a hotel interior in Paris.
Since its inception in l946 Air France has harnessed the creative talents of celebrated designers such as Dior, Cardin, Balenciaga and Courreges, though this is the first time an entire collection for both men and women, including accessories, has been commissioned from one person.
At a time when airlines are cutting back on all unnecessary frills and flounces, Air France has invested €20 million in the new livery, because, according to its chairman, Jean Cyril Spinnetti, "an airline uniform represents first and foremost the image of the company, its history, value and culture".
The real challenge of the two-year project was to make 25,000 women aged from 20 to 60 working in 17 categories look elegant in every sort of climate. In the event, they were offered plenty of choice. The smart new uniform in traditional shades of inky blue and grey with red accents consists of 100 items from which staff pick their preferences. Once the selections were made, the formidable logistics demanded the measurement of staff worldwide, using 60 tailors, to ensure exact fit. A million metres of fabric were ordered and some 650,000 items manufactured.
The new silhouette is slim and fitted and jackets in varying lengths have slight pagoda shoulders and pin-tucking detail. Dresses are cinched with a red belt with step-by-step instructions on how to tie the knot properly while practical multi-pocket waistcoats and trousers look relaxed and modern. Cute touches include blue and white seahorse-print tops and an innovative chiffon ruff wrapped around the neck twice and buttoned. For men, straight jackets are embellished with silver buttons and braiding. The whole collection is very Parisian and elegant, in many ways surprising coming from a Provence-born designer best known for exuberant colour and flamboyant theatricality.
Fashion and aviation have a shared history. Looking chic at high altitudes has tested the creativity of many over the decades; good-looking clothes must comply with the practical demands of reaching, stretching and bending without unwanted displays of flesh.
Uniforms are an integral part of a corporate image and those that are attractive have a symbolic value projecting more than style.
A new US airline, Song, which is operated by Delta, last year commissioned Kate Spade - better known for handbags - to design its uniforms, the goal being "to have people turn their heads when our flight attendants walk down the concourse". Sexy uniforms in US airlines once led to the quip, "Coffee, tea or me?"
Aer Lingus has a long and proud tradition of using Irish designers and fabrics for its signature green livery, from Irene Gilbert, Neilli Mulcahy and Digby Morton in the 1950s and 1960s to Ib Jorgensen and Paul Costelloe who refreshed the look in the l980s and l990s. The current uniform, by Louise Kennedy, was introduced in l998 and, according to spokeswoman Gillian Culhane, there are no plans to change it.
Ryanair has no intention either of changing its uniform, which was designed in-house five years ago in consultation with cabin crew in its corporate colours of blue and yellow. However, most uniforms tend to date after eight to 10 years.
In the US, when American Airlines began operations, female cabin crew were required to be registered nurses and wore capes. As commercial aviation developed, so did flight uniforms, which were often newsworthy. Emilio Pucci famously produced colourful Op Art uniforms for Braniff Airways, whose hostesses became fashion icons and the first trophy wives.
Over the years other big names have taken to the runways internationally; Ralph Lauren for TWA, Yves St Laurent for Qantas, Calvin Klein for SAS, Giorgio Armani for Alitalia and more recently Gianfranco Ferre for Korean Air.
Last year, airline uniforms hit the headlines once again when a squabble broke out between Julien Macdonald, the Welshman famous for glitzy evening dresses and Paul Costelloe over Macdonald's new uniforms for British Airways previously designed by Costelloe. "I wanted to put glamour back into flying," Macdonald told the Telegraph, saying that the old uniforms were "unflattering". Costelloe retorted by saying that Macdonald should stick to designing "evening slapper stuff."
For Air France, however, the ultimate accolade and endorsement for their new uniforms didn't just come from its staff who appeared genuinely enthusiastic last week in Paris, but from the ultra chic and avant garde boutique Colette in the Rue St Honore, which announced it will display the new uniforms in its shop windows for the next two weeks.
For now, it seems that the French remain the high flyers in fashion, still setting global standards.