Delta employees were heavily involved in the process, offering their input about fit, quality and the physicality of their work.
By Rosemary Feitelberg, WWD
Zac Posen’s Memorial Day plans are all about travel, as he officially launches new uniforms for Delta.
The
designer will be at LaGuardia Airport Monday afternoon with Delta
staffers showing off their new attire, around the same time that a
Singapore departure will be taking flight wearing his designs. In total,
Posen and his team are suiting up 64,000 staffers. Lands’ End partnered
on the project to handle the production, which included a wide range of
sizing including petites and tall.
After
the Memorial Day debut, Posen will board a plane to fly to Delta’s home
city of Atlanta for the start of a whirlwind 48-hour cross-country tour
that will feature fashion shows in-flight and in airports. He will also
make stops in Minneapolis and Los Angeles.
Having
done a considerable amount of “job shadowing,” Posen said the
physicality of Delta employees’ work called for micro bacterial and
stretch fabrics. Since January, he has taken 40 flights learning about
employees’ lives and careers. “A lot of the cabin crews are lifers who
have had incredible experiences traveling the world.” he said. “It was
truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience to go from baggage check-in to
ticketing at the counter to learning how to use the cabin on the plane
to serving.”
A
slimming dress with short sleeves for flight attendants, a red
pantsuit, 15 new accessories including a monogrammed handbag and five
pink uniform options for Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October were
among the multitude of styles Posen created. The project is “different
than putting a runway collection together. You’re reaching and really
affecting a really large group that is almost the size of a city on a
daily basis. It took great collaboration within my team. We built a
whole dedicated team within my corporation. Delta did as well and Lands’
End,” Posen added. “As challenging as it is, there is a romance in
terms of travel. Sometimes we take it for granted that we are able to go
anywhere in the world.”
After
collaborating with numerous Delta employees and creating “thousands and
thousands of designs, Posen and the team decided on multiple colors —
red, charcoal gray, navy and Passport Purple among them. Referring to
the latter, Posen said Delta wanted to add a new coloration and “really
take a bold stance in terms of putting their image forward into the
international arena.” The shade’s similarity to Pantone’s 2018 Color of the Year Ultra Violet was “corporate kismet,” he said. “I guess that’s what designers are for.”
With the help of the Savannah College of Art & Design,
fit clinics were set up in all of Delta’s worldwide hubs so that
employees could consult with stylists to ensure they felt comfortable,
empowered,” Posen said. “I’m a designer who has always celebrated all
bodies and body types.” Spanx provided seven shade options for hosiery.
Posen’s
in-flight rituals are: drink lots of water, take a cashmere blanket,
homeopathic Calms Forte (if sleep is needed), face mask, warm socks,
sweatpants and a T-shirt for overnight flights, a good book and
earphones — “and then I’m usually ready to go.”
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