Last week, I told you about Air Tahiti's new designer crew uniforms. While I was more concerned about mid-air wardrobe change logistics, and noted only in passing that the new togs didn't look so-very-Balenciaga to me, Jeffries Blackerby of The Moment was right on it. He reports that the outfits were designed by Balenciaga Uniforms, which is a division of a company that apparently has absolutely nothing to do with the design sensibility of Nicolas Ghesquière, Balenciaga's creative director. Blackerby advises Air Tahiti: "let's not get all excited", presumably about being associated with Balenciaga.

Now, let's take a step back. Blackberby is right to point out that Balenciaga Uniforms, which handled the design of Air Tahiti's new uniforms, is owned by a French company called Creation & Image. (Wheras the fashion house Balenciaga is owned by PPR, which also owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and many others.)

But licensing of a designer's name is what makes the fashion world go 'round -- should you need a little brush-up on how this works, here's a nice article from the New York Times (and of course The Moment is a New York Times' blog) concerning Vera Wang. I'll grant that some designers retain more control than seems to be the case at Balenciaga Uniform -- which is apparently absolutely none. (And that's despite the smoking gun that some commenters at The Moment think they've discovered when they point out that Nicolas Ghesquière apparently once worked in the uniform division -- an amusing, if meaningless, sidenote, absent any evidence that Ghesquière is keeping a loving and attentive eye on all the rungs of the ladder he's climbed.)

Still, I submit that Air Tahiti should get every bit as excited as it wants over its Balenciaga uniforms. If we're only going to allow purchasers to take credit for the designer items that they buy that are not made by license, the licensing business ceases to have all value, and really -- do we think our economy can take that? Leaving aside world economic well-being, for the more important fashion issue, I agree with a point that Danica Lo made over at The Haute List: Designers need to keep more control over their name.

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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?

Never heard of Moorea? That just might be a good thing. After all, by the time an idyllic island paradise becomes a household name it is often overrun with resorts and tourists. Moorea is a sister island to the French Polynesian island of Bora Bora. The island was the setting for the Mel Gibson movie The Bounty and boasts calm turquoise seas, white sand beaches and lush mountain scenery. The Sofitel Moorea Beach Resort opened last November and just finished their spa. The hotel is composed of 114 bungalows including 19 over water bungalows with indoor/outdoor rainfall showers, dive off decks, and in-floor viewing windows to the sea below. The resort is also home to a sandy floor, open air restaurant called "K" which has Tahitian dancers performing nightly. The spa has seven treatment rooms with two VIP suites that have hydrotherapy rooms and separate showers. The spa uses local ingredients such as monoi oil, tamanu oil, coconut, papaya and Moorea sand in the treatments. Prices for paradise start at 271 euros. After the jump, an interior shot of one of the bungalows that shows the infloor viewing platform (it's like sleeping in your own glass bottom boat).

One of our favorite yachts, the recently restored Gipsy Moth IV has run into trouble in the South Pacific. The yacht, which went through a £300,000 restoration last year, is owned by the United Kingdom Sailing Academy. The yacht was going from Marquesas to Tahiti as part of a round-the-world trek when she hit a reef. The yacht is lying starboard in deep water and the crew was rescued. Marine salvage is currently attempting to salvage the vessel. Hopefully this historic vessel can be saved and repaired but it isn't known yet if the yacht will continue on the global voyage.

Where else would a ship named Paul Gauguin go but to French Polynesia. The ship, which is run by Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, has its home port in Tahiti and offers cruises around the idyllic islands. The ship sails from Papeete, Tahiti, every Saturday and meanders around the South Seas islands, visiting Raiatea, Tahaa, the "vanilla island," and spending a day at a barbecue feast on Motu Mahana. Two days are spent in Bora Bora and two full days in Moorea let guests explore Cook's Bay and Opunohu Bay. The ship has ocean-view suites, many which have private balconies and there are three restaurants. A retractable water sports platform offers a place for kayaking, water skiing and windsurfing and there is also a shipboard scuba program. If  booked by March 31, per person fares on the April 29, May 6, 20, 27 and June 3 seven-night Society Island sojourns start at $1,995 per person.

[via Travel Video News]