Air Tahiti's Balenciaga Mid-Air Wardrobe Switch

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed)
Jul 24th 2009 at 3:01PM

Picture of Air Tahiti Nui's New Crew Uniforms

While Delta is still catching heat for offering its newly-designed flight attendant uniforms -- a red sexy Richard Tyler wrap around dress -- in sizes 18 and lower, Air Tahiti Nui is also tinkering with crew uniforms.

The airline commissioned Balenciaga to design new uniforms in honor of its 10th anniversary. There are twenty new uniform styles in total, including those for pilots and ground personnel. One is a more traditional flight attendant outfit, a suit or suit-like affair, rendered in a solid ocean blue and a lighter "lagoon" blue, sort of an aqua. It's pretty, if not envelope-pushing (and I'm not completely sure I see the Balenciaga look to it) but the good news you only see it when you're boarded and de-planing, in-flight, because sometime after take-off the cabin crew does a take-off of their own -- they slip into something more comfortable.

Women can choose between a "porotu" or "pretty girl" dress, which is long and tight fitting, or on days when they're presumably feeling less svelte, a "mamaru'au" or a grandmother dress, which is long and flowy -- that's what's pictured here. Male attendants change into a short-sleeved Tahitian shirt. Sexy, grandmotherly, or male, the collection is all tropical colored and with floral accents.

Now, I'm all for everything being lovely down to the smallest detail, but I've sat through enough in-flight safety demonstrations to be able to do them myself, or at the least to mumble along: Flight attendants are here for your safety first, you are required to comply with crew member instructions... We're used to seeing authority figures in uniform, that's partially why they wear them in the first place. I wonder how seriously people will take a crew member's instructions when they're wearing an outfit more typically worn to a cocktail party (in the case of Delta) or at a beach picnic (in the case of Air Tahiti). And who's minding the cabin during the wardrobe change? Will auto-pilot bring me my champagne?

Tags: airlines, delta, tahiti, uniforms