British Airways has turned to London designer Ozwald Boateng to design new uniforms for its 32,000-person staff.
The OBE-honored designer, who launched a women’s collection earlier this year, will have his work cut out for him shadowing British Airways employees to get a better understanding of the demands of their various jobs. Boateng will be figuring out just how the uniforms need to hold up and will have booking agents, pilots, in-flight crew and other employees wear test the uniforms before final designs are approved. The airline’s new look is being ironed out in advance of the airline’s centennial next year.
In addition to its employees, the company is looking to make passengers more comfortable by investing nearly $5.3 billion in improved Wi-Fi, new interiors in long-haul aircraft and 72 new aircraft, among other things. Boateng has plenty of archival material to draw from, including 400 British Airways uniforms from the Thirties to the present day, and a library of thousands of historical images. British Airways’ chairman and chief executive officer Álex Cruz said, “Our uniforms have been an iconic symbol of our brand throughout our 100-year history and our partnership with Ozwald will take us forward to the next chapter in
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