Delta’s New, Purple High-Fashion Zac Posen Uniforms Heading High Up Into The Sky Image courtesy of Delta
Delta Air Lines announced in 2015 that it would be starting a partnership with designer Zac Posen for its new ground and flight crew uniforms. This week, those uniforms hit the runway — the one models walk, not the one planes fly — and we can say one thing with confidence: They’re purple. Really, really purple.
The new Posen uniforms will be worn by 60,000 customer-facing employees in the end, Delta says, and apparently the designer wanted to make sure he got it right by making clothes that the flight attendants, gate agents, and everyone else could actually, you know, work in.
“We wanted Delta employees to look glamorous on the job without sacrificing functionality and style,” Posen said in a statement. “I worked alongside employees to understand how they interact with the clothes they wear.”
As a result, Posen said, he “developed a look that empowers and excites,” to make sure employees “exude the confidence and thoughtfulness that reflects the airline’s brand.”
The airline’s brand has not heretofore been quite so visibly purple, though. Oh, excuse us — that’s “passport plum” and “Traveling thistle.” The accent colors, red (“cruising cardinal”), dark grey (“groundspeed graphite”) and light grey (“skyline slate”) may be a little more familiar.
A pair of Delta’s new looks.
Aside from all the fanciful color names and corporate-approved brand-speak, the uniforms are designed to be functional. Like many other airlines, crew can mix and match their preferred style and type from a wide array of skirts, suits, jackets, sweaters, tops, and accessories. They’re made of stain-resistant fabrics, sometimes incorporating anti-bacterial materials. Skirts have rubber grips to help shirts stay tucked in. Fabrics are stretchy and wrinkle-resistant. The uniforms allow for layering so that when you board a plane in a blizzard and step off it in tropical sunshine, you can be dressed for both climates.
A thousand Delta employees will begin piloting (sorry-not-sorry) the new looks this December and into 2017, and the full line will take off (nope, still not sorry) across the board in 2018.
The airline has a full “look book” Flickr album available here.
Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.
