Looks like DL will be unveiling their new uniforms on Oct. 18th. They posted a teaser video on their website showcasing how they've selected Lands' End to be the supplier -- Lands' End is certainly known for quality, although it's definitely a bit of an unorthodox choice in the airline industry.

http://news.delta.com/delta-s-new-unifo ... nd-quality

I'll be curious to see what a combination of Zac Posen and Lands' End ends up looking like -- it's not exactly a combination that one would naturally think of...

Wasn't there feedback the intial batches of Zac Posen uniforms were inappropriate (too tight, revealing) and they were ditched?

As an airline employee who wore a uniform for many years, a high quality stylish uniform makes the world of difference, from comfort to confidence. Nothing worse than feeling heap because of a poor uniform, and nothing worse than feeling like a clown because of something too funky. As always good grooming will be key!

Don't forget, there are more than just the Flight Attendants that are getting new uniforms. Above and below the wing, air cargo and I believe, probably a/c maintenance, also.

smi0006 wrote:

Wasn't there feedback the intial batches of Zac Posen uniforms were inappropriate (too tight, revealing) and they were ditched?

As an airline employee who wore a uniform for many years, a high quality stylish uniform makes the world of difference, from comfort to confidence. Nothing worse than feeling heap because of a poor uniform, and nothing worse than feeling like a clown because of something too funky. As always good grooming will be key!

The rumor about the inappropriateness of the initial Zac design was just that...a rumor. The sites that posted that information are known for a lot of trash talk and gossip.

Here they are!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/deltanews ... 290939622/

Kudos to Delta for showcasing the uniforms on a wide array of indivudials and body types!
...and it's an interesting choice with the purple and definately a standout among US airlines.

PWMRamper wrote:

Here they are!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/deltanews ... 290939622/

........Delta's color palette doesn't include purple or grey.... why would you pick colors that don't match the rest of the brand that Delta has worked so hard to standardize and make consistent?

I like it! It's refreshing and it takes the look forward, which is important. Color choices are a bit risky, but I think they pulled it off. Reminds me of Virgin Atlantic.

DL's new livery:


Silliness aside I do like the purple. Guessing they chose it to link with VS and distinguish themselves from AA/UA. Blue + red does = purple.

I don't buy the argument that they're ditching brand continuity. Red is still prevalent on new uniforms, in more than subtle ways. Adding purple/maroon and grey as an option for its employees is refreshing. There's enough blue inside DL's aircraft. Adding these color options brings in a little more life to the cabin, IMO.

Just watched reveal on Facebook. Color is "Passport Plum." I like some items more than others but overall it is stylish, modern and definitely looks good on a variety of body types.

I think the signature inflight dress, the female blouse with "collar wing detail," and female pant/blazer combo are standouts.

-Aloha!

I'm going to go ahead and make the jump that these will likely be the best uniforms flying in U.S. airspace and airports across the country. Very slick.

They don't look bad by any means, but swapping out the plum for a maroon color certainly would have looked better in my opinion. Purple just looks odd in some scenarios.

I think there ugly.

I think the colors are fine.
But the overall look- excepting the one very glamorous female f/a outfit- is QUITE FRUMPY.
All of the above-wing men's stuff looks downright goofy. That red sweater on that guy... he just looks awful.
And the ladies of size look frumpy.
But the ground workers look pretty good!

The color palette is goofy. Gold buttons on grey with a purple shirt/tie. Gold buttons, eek!

They look great. And the little details really stand out, like the Widgets on the buttons, ties and pocket squares. A really good job by Zac Posen and the team at Delta.

Plum? No lapels? Gold buttons on gray? Some very strange choices that don't fit the brand or go together well on the color wheel. Kind of sad that the rampers have the best outfit far and away. Those are nice and fit the brand.

I will say though that employees take their uniforms way too seriously. Almost none of their passengers care or can tell a difference among airlines. And those are the people making your paycheck, not the other employees groups or competitor airlines.

A lot of purple, but they look high quality.

Personally I don't know why they are doing away with uniforms that are less than 10 years old and still look good.

Retro glam- but plum was an unusual choice. It does look okay, but I wouldn't rave. I can't imagine working in all those pieces would be comfortable. I do like the lapels, and mock scarves. 8/10 but it may grow on me.

However hug kudos that it looks great on all sizes and this was reflected in the runway team! Stark contrast to UAs uniform presentation where everyone was slim but poorly groomed and looked tired and wornout.

MSPNWA wrote:

Plum? No lapels? Gold buttons on gray? Some very strange choices that don't fit the brand or go together well on the color wheel. Kind of sad that the rampers have the best outfit far and away. Those are nice and fit the brand.

I will say though that employees take their uniforms way too seriously. Almost none of their passengers care or can tell a difference among airlines. And those are the people making your paycheck, not the other employees groups or competitor airlines.

I don't think taking your uniform seriously means you don't take your customer seriously. Humans can hold more than one interest - I'd infact suggest the opposite, if you care about your professional presentation you care about your profession. Do you not care what you wear to work? DL is an international business casual approaches to dress are not universal, competing on the global stage this is a consideration.

I don't understand the purple... nor do I like it at all. I wonder if it was intentional to look so similar to VS too. I agree that its a real departure from their brand consistency... perhaps more "passport plum" will ne showing up elsewhere throughout the airline...

Pretty bummed... what they have now is exceptional and this is borderline wacky. No lapels, rabbit ear collar? Gold accents and drab gray that look dated and the turtleneck that still survives!

MSPNWA wrote:

I will say though that employees take their uniforms way too seriously. Almost none of their passengers care or can tell a difference among airlines. And those are the people making your paycheck, not the other employees groups or competitor airlines.

Actually, you'd be surprised by the small details passengers notice. One of the questions on Delta's customer surveys refers to the "professional appearance" of the agent. A fresh, well-kept uniform goes a long way toward establishing a professional appearance in the customer's mind. Delta is a very brand-conscious company (probably the most brand-conscious out of US airlines) and understands that a stylish uniform will help Delta realize its goal of being considered a premium brand by its customers.

piedmont762 wrote:

Personally I don't know why they are doing away with uniforms that are less than 10 years old and still look good.

Styles change quickly. These uniforms won't be implemented until 2018 (although wear testing will be going on this Winter), so the current Richard Tyler uniforms will be over 10 years old by then.

Love it. I think the purple is fantastic - a welcome, refreshing add to the dull blue in all the majors' cabins. And great work using models of all different body sizes and shapes to demonstrate the versatility of the idea. The turtlenecks are still here, which I think is a total mistake because they look too informal. Overall what is strong about most of the pieces is that they are both edgy but professional. Keep the strong colors coming!

It just kinda dawned on me -

Blue + red = purple

They have enough blue in their cabins and their current vibrant red uniforms are nice, bust starting to date. Purple seems a logical accent now.

Gahhhh why purple? Their current branding doesn't include purple at all. A DL gate agent dressed in purple standing in front of a navy blue desk with the bright red widget is going to look out of place, like they work for a totally different airline.

I'd say they got lucky several years ago with the now-iconic red Richard Tyler dresses. But this trend of teaming up with a runway fashion designer to create working stiffs' uniforms has got to go. The below-wing stuff looks fine (there's not much you can do to screw up a polo shirt and pants) but the above-wing stuff is just...weird. Especially the male FA uniforms and the purple.

To each his own. I think the women look like Barney the Dinosaur and the men look like bellhops at a hotel. Morale was low at AA with the new uniforms on the legacy AA side, but after seeing this, we don't feel so bad anymore.

I Don't like it at all. I hope they change their mind and stick with the old DL uniforms( which I think look more proffesional).

Hmmmm ok,the ladies dress I like. As for the men, epaulettes on the jacket? nope. Looks like a bad hotel uniform. Should be sleeker and simpler...would look far more elegant. That turtleneck sweater looks cheap as hell. What's with those anyways? I know they wear them with the current uniform and they look ridiculous with a vest.

I think they are fresh and distinctive.
DELTA wanted their crews to stand out from the sea of navy and charcoal gray out there.
The execution, details, and provider (Lands End, not Cintas or Affinity Apparel) are high quality.
Another objective was to limit the number of pieces to present a more 'uniform' look. This is taken one step further with inflight and customer agents sharing the same design with some slight detail differences to differentiate in flight from ground service.
We expect to be issued uniform luggage as well.
The style of shoes, hair styles,nail polish, etc, permitted will be tightened up.
A rich plum is not a 'Barney' purple. It is a sophisticated accent color. Cabin accents like blankets, will be coordinated (yes, the reb blankets are going away)
Of course some will not like it, but it is a high end, sophisticated concept, in my opinion.

I really like them. I was taken aback at first by the purple/plum. But I really don't mind it after seeing the total presentation. Regardless of whether you like the plum, I do think it works very well with the grey color they selected.

Not a good move IMO. The purple doesn't say delta at all. Grey and gold? I understand that this is supposed to be "hip' and novel but the uniforms will age really fast.

I want to say at the outset that I state this as a non-American, therefore my perception may be off.

But... isn't Land's End a former Sears label? Therefore, it is a bit (read: a lot) downmarket? In contrast, Delta London uses Vivienne Westwood, but Delta uses... Sears.

Ew.

global1 wrote:

A rich plum is not a 'Barney' purple. It is a sophisticated accent color. Cabin accents like blankets, will be coordinated (yes, the reb blankets are going away)
Of course some will not like it, but it is a high end, sophisticated concept, in my opinion.

A few years ago HA changed their uniform color from Bright Purple to a Bright Blue that is not part of their livery and at the time was nowhere in their branding. At the same time they changed their entire branding scheme to incorporate the blue of the uniforms .... even though the HA livery is still very purple, the rest of their branding has become blue (blankets, interiors, etc).

Delta won't roll this look out until 2018 so I would expect to start seeing Plum included as an accent color in their branding. And as some one pointed out up thread, Purple = Blue + Red .... its more logical as an accent color than anything else would be IMHO.

HA: Purple to Blue
DL: Blue to Purple

It can work!

-Aloha!

I think this looks great. Who cares if it does not match 100% to livery?

The current uniforms look run down and don't look any different from the other carriers.

As a passanger, I do notice, especially when sitting up front and you enter the plane, you do notice how the flight attendants are dressed.

Compare Aeroflot flight crews to domestic.... you actually get a sense of pride.

With the domestic carriers, with the exception of Virgin America... tough to get a sense of that.

Kudos Delta.

This explains why Richard Anderson decided to leave all together haha.

Deleted, see reply below.

I think the in-flight service signature dress looked really great, the gray and purple combos for customer service and in-flight personell also look pretty good. The rest I didn't care for that much.

vhtje wrote:

I want to say at the outset that I state this as a non-American, therefore my perception may be off.

But... isn't Land's End a former Sears label? Therefore, it is a bit (read: a lot) downmarket? In contrast, Delta London uses Vivienne Westwood, but Delta uses... Sears.

Ew.

Lands' End was founded in 1963. It was owned by Sears between 2002 and 2014 as a standalone brand. Lands' End will manufacture the uniforms, but they were designed by famed designer Zac Posen. Vivienne Westwood may design Virgin Atlantic's uniforms, but a manufacturer will still be required. Lands' End is a respected and quality brand

Call it Passport Plum, aubergine, eggplant, it's the same. Reminds me of Continental's uniform colors with the gold buttons in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Hardly ground-breaking. TWA had a Valentino uniform in that color in the early 1970s. I was expecting to be blown away by the new uniforms. Instead I was amused almost to the point of laughter.

vhtje wrote:

I want to say at the outset that I state this as a non-American, therefore my perception may be off.

But... isn't Land's End a former Sears label? Therefore, it is a bit (read: a lot) downmarket? In contrast, Delta London uses Vivienne Westwood, but Delta uses... Sears.

Ew.

Yeah...no existing relation. Land's End was started ~40 years before Sears starting playing ball with them. Sears spun off Land's End 2+ years ago...so they're free to do what they want. I wouldn't pigeon hole LE into just being associated with Sears if you're looking at the big picture.

I like those uniforms. Well done Delta and Zac. I too suspect Virgin influenced this Euro purple, but although we see way too much of it in Europe, it will work great in America!

I really don't mind them in a vacuum but it really doesn't say Delta at all. If you put them in front of any number of regular passengers they would have zero clue they worked for Delta. A very puzzling move in my opinion.

NYCAAer wrote:

TWA had a Valentino uniform in that color in the early 1970s.

I thought of that! That Valentino uniform came in with the update of the Ambassador Service product in about 1971 or so, and had uniforms in purple and white. I think it was one of the best TWA looks ever - not exploitative like the 60s paper dresses, but still high fashion. I think the purple is fantastic, because it provides an opportunity to add a new accent color across the whole brand. Nothing says airlines have to do blue and grey with red accents only. The purple is a much warmer color, and could appear everywhere from Skyclubs to jetway advertising to amenity kits onboard. I hear the concerns about trendiness - especially in the no lapels men's look. But it isn't Air Canada Rouge, and the women's items seem very timeless.

Why no new uniforms for the pilots?

And again, these are so similar to Virgin Atlantic... maybe Delta should re-brand as Virgin Atlanta!!

No new uniforms for pilots? Or will those be released at a later date? I know when AA recently announced their new uniforms, there was an update for the pilots too.

Its also ironic that the new Northwest Airlines uniforms that debuted right before the merger were red, gray, and purple!... okay, maybe periwinkle...but

jnev3289 wrote:

I really don't mind them in a vacuum but it really doesn't say Delta at all. If you put them in front of any number of regular passengers they would have zero clue they worked for Delta. A very puzzling move in my opinion.

Unless there are more brand changes to come...

Remember when the A350 business class seat introduction there are a lot warmer tones than just blue. The new uniforms will coordinate well with the new interiors in the front of the cabin.