Virgin Airlines Banana Republic Uniforms - H 2012
Get ready to fly the fashionable skies.
Virgin America is sprucing up their airline flight crews, pilots and even gate agents’ images with spiffy new sportsclothes from Banana Republic. And all the clothes have functionality at the core.
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“Function and fashion were the two main driving forces of the project,” said Simon Kneen, EVP of Design & Creative Director for Banana Republic in a press release. “In each part of the design process we had to think back to who would be wearing these uniforms, the long hours of wear, activity of walking, sitting, reaching in overhead bins, etc.”
“We chose fabrics that would be wrinkle-free yet comfortable, even adding a bit of spandex to shirt, pants and skirts to provide a bit more elasticity for moving around, while also thinking to lengthen the shirts to prevent them from coming un-tucked.”
Our first thought is “Genius!” Our second thought is “Why doesn’t Seventh Avenue design clothing with this much attention to function and comfort too?”
This isn’t the first time Virgin America has collaborated with Banana Republic. They actually had the BR Mad Men spring fashion show held in a VA plane flying at 35,000 feet in the air. Talk about high fashion and giving a whole meaning to the idea of sending models down a runway.
Anyway, it seems the new VA uniform got the Banana Republic designers so fired up that they also came up with travel collection pieces exclusively available for Virgin American travelers.
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The items — from aviator sunglasses, a women’s tote, a men’s messanger bag, and trench coats for men and women — will be available for sale to flyers on Virgin America’s Red’s™ in-flight entertainment system Shop platform and in Banana Republic stores.
This new in-flight fashion line won’t hit the skies until Aug. 8, which is also the airline’s 5-year anniversary.
While they’re at it, we’d like to add that anything Virgin American can do to discourage passengers from stepping onto their planes wearing cut-offs and sweat pants will be greatly appreciated.
We’d prefer a classic trench over stained wife-beaters any day. Maybe VA could do a pre-boarding fashion check for offensive or revealing clothing and perhaps offer passengers a small discount for polite, proper (and clean) attire.
