With Air NZ unveiling its new staff uniform by royal favourite Emilia Wickstead, featuring prints from artist Te Rangitu Netana, and Qantas preparing to update its cabin attire, your nearest airport runway is the one fashion fans are watching.
Designers of uniforms have a growing responsibility to get it right, with airline cabin crew now the best-dressed people in the air as passengers become more relaxed in their attire, with pyjamas disguised as travel wear an increasingly common sight.
Here are the uniforms from the past and present that should inspire the future of sky-high fashion.
1. Singapore Airlines, Pierre Balmain, 1974
Pierre Balmain revealing his designs for Singapore Airlines in 1974, and the uniform today.Credit: Getty, supplied
Few things from the 1970s passed through the ’80s, ’90s and dawn of the new millennium as unscathed as the sarong kebaya worn by female cabin crew on Singapore Airlines.
French couturier Pierre Balmain spent a year perfecting the uniform released in 1974, focusing on a fitted silhouette for the “Singapore Girls” and utilising batik patterns. In 1980, four colour codes were introduced to the sarong kebaya, signifying the wearer’s rank, with men having to make do with less expressive ties.
Forget bell-bottoms, safari jackets and velour sweaters – the Singapore Airlines uniform is one of the few ’70s trends to maintain its timeless status.
2. Hainan Airlines, Lawrence Xu, 2017
The Hainan Airlines uniform designed by Lawrence Xu in 2017 at Paris Fashion Week.
East meets West in Lawrence Xu’s designs for Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines, which made its debut during Paris Fashion Week in 2017.
“When waiting at the boarding gate, stewardesses will be wearing cheongsam, coats, hairpins, beret-style hats, and high heels to show their full respect to passengers,” Xu said at the launch.
The cheongsam-inspired dresses feature a print of the mythical roc bird, referencing planes in flight, and are teamed with muted grey jackets with contemporary lines.
Male crew are given grey double-breasted coats that would look equally at home in any finance district.
3. Braniff Airlines, Emilio Pucci, 1965
Cabin crew model 1960s Pucci uniforms in front of Lockheed’s supersonic transport mock-up.Credit: Getty Images
The psychedelic uniforms of the Braniff Airlines flight crew by Emilio Pucci in 1965 were stylish and fashion forward but did little to dispel the “coffee, tea or me” stereotype of cabin crew.
Under the guidance of marketing guru Mary Wells Lawrence, the inspiration for Mad Men’s Peggy Olson, the colourful uniforms for the Texas-based airline turned the economy aisle into a runway.
Lawrence devised a layering concept known as the Air Strip, allowing staff to remove pieces as the flight progressed to its destination.
Rain domes – to protect hairdos from rain and wind on the tarmac – lasted only one month as part of the uniform as there was nowhere to store them on board.
The uniforms were more successful than the airline, which was grounded in 1982, with vintage Pucci pieces frequently selling for more than $1000 on eBay.
4. Qantas, Emilio Pucci, 1974
Emilio Pucci reveals his Qantas uniforms on the cover of the airline’s magazine in 1974. They remained in use until 1985.
Following his success with Braniff, Qantas commissioned Pucci to design its cabin crew uniforms in 1974.
The striptease layering of the Braniff uniforms was abandoned in favour of a vivid floral print, jersey shirt dress, light enough to be washed in a hotel basin for staff on a short layover.
Men were given boxy block colour jackets, denoting their rank, which were voluminous enough to store cartons of duty-free cigarettes, with lapels competing with the plane’s wingspan.
Unfortunately, the women’s uniform was the only one to make the cut for the Jenny the Jetsetting Qantas Air Hostess Doll released in 1974.
5. Air France, Cristobal Balenciaga, 1968
The Air France summer and winter uniforms for flight attendants designed by Cristobal Balenciaga in 1968.
The Air France uniforms by Cristobal Balenciaga marked the only time the revered couturier stooped to design ready-to-wear pieces.
In 1968, Balenciaga closed his couture house after creating a sleek uniform for the female cabin crew that would probably win the Fashions on the Field competition at the Melbourne Cup if worn today.
The uniform came in a winter style with a high-waisted jacket with four patch pockets, and a navy-blue-and-white scarf that could be knotted to hold hats in place. The skirt featured kangaroo pockets and was worn above knee-high boots, but the summer collection was the real standout.
In sky-blue or pale pink, the summer uniform featured a short-sleeved, double-breasted cropped jacket with an asymmetric fastening, and prim navy-blue hatter’s bow beneath a Peter Pan collar.
This is what the schoolgirl Madeleine would have worn once she graduated from the convent.
6. Virgin Atlantic, Vivienne Westwood, 2014
Television personality Michelle Visage (second from left) at the launch of Virgin Atlantic’s gender-neutral uniform policy in 2022, wearing the Vivienne Westwood designs.
The late Dame Vivienne Westwood’s fondness for flounces, bare bottoms and a ribald sexuality in her designs seemed to make her an unlikely choice to upgrade Virgin Atlantic’s uniforms in 2014.
“She was the natural choice to redesign the uniform across all areas of our business,” said a statement from the airline. “Firstly because original design and sustainability are vital to both Virgin Atlantic and Vivienne Westwood.”
Westwood’s signature details are present with the frill blouse taken from her Red Label spring/summer 2005 collection, pencil skirts with a back pleat, and red jackets with nipped waists.
Three-piece suits in deep burgundy and grey, worn over a white shirt with wide collar, were originally the choice for men. In 2022, the airline launched a gender-free approach to dressing, with staff able to choose any pieces from the range to reflect their identity. Following the announcement, staff on a flight to Qatar were instructed to dress according to traditional gender norms.
7. Alaska Airlines, Luly Yang, 2018
The Alaska Airlines uniform by Luly Yang, unveiled in 2018.
The first time I flew Alaska Airlines, I was captivated by a flight attendant’s dreamcatcher earrings and devastated to find out that they weren’t part of the uniforms. A quick trip to the cockpit alleviated my disappointment.
Seattle-based designer Luly Yang’s uniforms for the airline, unveiled in 2018, are mostly unremarkable but the pilot’s leather jackets inject some Top Gun cool into the skies.
Let’s hope the jackets remain as Yang designs the airline’s new uniforms following its merging with Hawaiian Airlines.
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