Virgin America has only been operating for the last five years and the company is already changing things up. The Virgin America wardrobe which affects 2,000 flight attendants, pilots and “guest-facing staff” will be changed to offer a new sleek look.
Jesse McMillin, Virgin America’s design director tells MSNBC:
“The new uniforms embody “utility chic. We wanted to find the place where performance and functionality collide with fashion … and the energy of our engaging brand.”
The new uniforms took 18-months to develop with the help of the design team at Banana Republic. To design the perfect employee outfits the group used a “Design Challenge” which included designers and focus groups along with fitting sessions for various Virgin America staff members.
The outfits were not only meant to give a face lift to the “modern chic” airline but also to provide employees with more functional uniforms. For example the new shirt dress means an employee reaching into an overhead bin won’t have their shirt pulling out from their clothing.
As you will notice the uniforms still rely on simple colors and clean lines but those simple colors are now warm grays with accents of Virgin America’s signature red color.
According to McMillin the dress code was addressed by Banana Republic is functional ways, for example:
“Shirts are a little longer and there’s a grippy lining on the interior of the pants to address that ‘reach’ issue. They’ve also added some spandex to pants, skirts and shirts and they’ve used performance fabrics that can be easily cleaned and worn for long periods of time.”
Here is a second look at the company’s new dress code:
