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Delta's attire gets 'pop' in redesign
By A. SCOTT WALTON , RUSSELL GRANTHAM
The Atlanta Journal-Constiution
Published on: 02/05/05
There's a new lookin store for Delta Air Lines ticket agents, flight attendants and other service agents.
They'll just have to wait until next year to flaunt it.
Richard Drew/AP
Bright red wrap dresses, which designer Richard Tyler unveiled Friday, are among the new uniforms to be worn by Delta staff next year.
That's when new uniforms — designed by Richard Tyler and previewed during Friday's kickoff of New York Fashion Week — will arrive.
Delta announced last yearthat it had commissioned Tyler to translate hisrunway and red carpet flair into styles flexible enough to fit its work force of about 20,000.
The airline, which lost $5.2 billion last year and barely skirted bankruptcy, views the uniforms as a way to get employees and customers jazzed up about its turnaround efforts. Company officials would not disclose the price tag for Tyler's revamped uniforms. But research and development for new uniforms typically breaks down to about $1,000 per employee.
On Friday, the designer delivered a neoclassical mix of tailored suits and separates that were rich in subtle details and firmly rootedin Delta'sred, white and blue color scheme.
"The colors will pop. It's midnight navy. A bold red. Platinum and gold," said Patrice Miles, Delta vice president of consumer marketing.
Early next year, Delta plans to issue the new uniforms to employees who deal directly with customers, including flight attendants, gate agents, ticket agents and workers in its Crown Room airport lounges.
Tyler began working on the designs almost a year ago after becoming "intimately involved in the process," Miles said.
The designer gathered input from employees through e-mail surveys and focus groups, and he delved into the company's archives to get a sense of its history and past uniforms.
Compared to Delta's more casual uniforms designed in 2001, Tyler's look will be "more professional, more elegant, more long-lasting, and more timeless," Miles said.
Thecollectionincludes regal red wrap-dresses with cinched waists; jackets with molded shoulders and torso-lengthening silhouettes; subtle stripes arranged in triangular shapes; and gold accessories and insignia to signify Crown Room status.
And then there was Tyler's personal favorite: a cabin service apron tailored to look like a halter dress.
As with most designs shown during Fashion Week, Tyler's looks for Delta are merely samples before mass production takes place.
The pieceswill be refined for factors like fit and durability after a wear test that begins in a few months.
"It's fairly final. What we will be doing at this point is tweaking it from the wear test," Miles said.
Early responses to the uniforms have been favorable.
"During the [pre-show] fittings, the models were asking if they could keep them afterward," said the Los Angeles-based designer in his clipped, Australian accent.
"They couldn't believe I'd made the clothes for Delta! That's a good sign."
Delta's attire gets 'pop' in redesign
By A. SCOTT WALTON , RUSSELL GRANTHAM
The Atlanta Journal-Constiution
Published on: 02/05/05
There's a new lookin store for Delta Air Lines ticket agents, flight attendants and other service agents.
They'll just have to wait until next year to flaunt it.
Richard Drew/AP
Bright red wrap dresses, which designer Richard Tyler unveiled Friday, are among the new uniforms to be worn by Delta staff next year.
That's when new uniforms — designed by Richard Tyler and previewed during Friday's kickoff of New York Fashion Week — will arrive.
Delta announced last yearthat it had commissioned Tyler to translate hisrunway and red carpet flair into styles flexible enough to fit its work force of about 20,000.
The airline, which lost $5.2 billion last year and barely skirted bankruptcy, views the uniforms as a way to get employees and customers jazzed up about its turnaround efforts. Company officials would not disclose the price tag for Tyler's revamped uniforms. But research and development for new uniforms typically breaks down to about $1,000 per employee.
On Friday, the designer delivered a neoclassical mix of tailored suits and separates that were rich in subtle details and firmly rootedin Delta'sred, white and blue color scheme.
"The colors will pop. It's midnight navy. A bold red. Platinum and gold," said Patrice Miles, Delta vice president of consumer marketing.
Early next year, Delta plans to issue the new uniforms to employees who deal directly with customers, including flight attendants, gate agents, ticket agents and workers in its Crown Room airport lounges.
Tyler began working on the designs almost a year ago after becoming "intimately involved in the process," Miles said.
The designer gathered input from employees through e-mail surveys and focus groups, and he delved into the company's archives to get a sense of its history and past uniforms.
Compared to Delta's more casual uniforms designed in 2001, Tyler's look will be "more professional, more elegant, more long-lasting, and more timeless," Miles said.
Thecollectionincludes regal red wrap-dresses with cinched waists; jackets with molded shoulders and torso-lengthening silhouettes; subtle stripes arranged in triangular shapes; and gold accessories and insignia to signify Crown Room status.
And then there was Tyler's personal favorite: a cabin service apron tailored to look like a halter dress.
As with most designs shown during Fashion Week, Tyler's looks for Delta are merely samples before mass production takes place.
The pieceswill be refined for factors like fit and durability after a wear test that begins in a few months.
"It's fairly final. What we will be doing at this point is tweaking it from the wear test," Miles said.
Early responses to the uniforms have been favorable.
"During the [pre-show] fittings, the models were asking if they could keep them afterward," said the Los Angeles-based designer in his clipped, Australian accent.
"They couldn't believe I'd made the clothes for Delta! That's a good sign."
