New Air New Zealand uniforms by designer Emilia Wickstead laden with meaning

The ie faitaga, a skirt or kilt traditionally worn by men, will be trialled by Pasifika crew members. Kiwi-ana tropes such as “always blow on a pie”, “gidday” and “sweet as”, scrawled across the vest of the current Air NZ uniforms designed by Trelise Cooper in 2011, will be permanently retired.

Cooper’s uniforms tapped into the country’s sense of humour, which was also evident in Air NZ safety videos that landed like short comedy films (website Airline Ratings has ranked the airline the world’s safest for the second year running), but Wickstead prefers to let her designs speak for themselves.

“I wanted our national airline to feel really sophisticated,” says Wickstead, who moved to Milan from Auckland when she was 14 with her fabric designer mother, Angela Wickstead. After studying at the prestigious Central Saint Martins school in London, she showed her first collection at London Fashion Week in 2011.

“This uniform has to be worn for, hopefully, more than 12 years. Everything we do as a brand is about making women feel empowered, strong and elevated. I felt that was my job with this uniform.”

The only playful touch Wickstead allowed was the tui collar on shirts, inspired by a native bird. It’s a shorter, more refined take on the pussycat bow and a nod to the cravats on the Air NZ uniforms designed by Yves Saint Laurent for Christian Dior in the 1960s.

“I also love that in stories the tui is a messenger bird,” says Wickstead.

She has loaded the uniform designs with meaning, from a feather-print jacket lining resembling traditional Maori cloaks to the embroidered kiwi feather on cabin managers’ cuffs. The only serious suggestion from executives was to use the colour purple.

Realising that the wrong shade of purple could lead to comparisons with Barney the Dinosaur or Disney villain Ursula from The Little Mermaid, Wickstead insisted on a regal shade.

“I said if I’m doing purple, I’m doing this shade of purple,” says Wickstead. “I feel that the shade of purple for a uniform needs to feel responsible. It needs to feel timeless.”

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“In New Zealand we talk about feeling very premium, being strong and feeling noticed. For me, the shade of purple does that.”

The uniform will be trialled by staff from next month, before being rolled out next year.

Wickstead has already won over some reluctant staff members.

“One pilot took a look at our double-breasted jackets and immediately said that there was no way that he could wear one. After trying it on he realised there was no going back.”

For Wickstead it’s back to the drawing board in London for the next fashion week. When asked whether designing the Air NZ uniform was her greatest challenge, her ever-present smile dims.

“You just try putting together a pre-collection. This was a joy.”

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