SPECIAL | AER LINGUS UNIFORM
Flight club – the evolving Aer Lingus uniform has often taken centre stage in the airline’s advertising campaigns. Below right, taking care of guests aboard a Lockheed L749 Constellation.
Lingus staff’s affection for the colour green. “Employees across the entire company wanted to keep the traditional green hue,” explains Kennedy. “Our task is to modernise it.” The first incarnation of an Aer Lingus cabin crew rigout was actually a toffee-coloured, singlebreasted skirt suit and boat-shaped hat. It was a uniform very much of its time; airline outfits postWorld War II were conservative, came in no-nonsense neutrals and were modelled on the military uniforms of the day, and as such were intended to project authority, competency and proficiency. 48 |
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In the late 1950s and 1960s, however, airline stewards became “air hostesses” and with a change in title came a change in perception. These women were no longer just caretakers, but glamorous chaperones, and the uniforms began to reflect this, both in Ireland and abroad. In 1965, Italian designer Emilio Pucci created “jelly bean” prints and transparent helmets for the now defunct Braniff International Airways. These “rain domes” were created to protect the hostesses’ heavily hairsprayed hairdos while walking from the terminal building to the plane; Kennedy,
being the tastemaker that she is, is thinking more along the lines of a hooded coat. The following year Irish couturier Irene Gilbert injected the Aer Lingus uniform with a touch of Jackie O chic, designing a mini skirt and pillbox hat in the style of the former First Lady. Uniforms were then becoming as stylish as they were serviceable. Kennedy’s brief today, as it was 20 years ago, is to create a modern uniform that reflects a contemporary airline by marrying her bespoke signature with the mass-produced requirements of a corporate entity. New fabrics, she explains, will make this a little easier second time round. The designer is working with producers in Spain, Portugal, Paris and Ireland to include more stretch technology. “In my ready-to-wear collection, I use a silk-stretch lining and that’s how you achieve a really lovely level of comfort,” she explains. Kennedy flies with Aer Lingus weekly and so she has a huge personal affection for the airline and its staff. Extraordinary service and a great sense of humour is how she characterises the airline’s offering. Having worked on two Aer Lingus outfits, Kennedy says she can’t look at any uniform now without pondering the whys and wherefores of the fabrics, detailing and cuts. Having learnt so much from Kennedy about what it takes to deliver a uniform that marries style and substance, I suspect neither will you or I.