Emilia Wickstead hopes Air New Zealand staff feel “the empowerment and the prestige” when they start wearing their new uniform. Emma Gleeson talks to the Kiwi designer.
Wickstead is emotional. It’s a big deal, outfitting your home country’s flag-carrying airline - and it’s been a long time coming.
“It's been like quite a long journey,” she says standing by the new uniforms at Air New Zealand’s Fanshawe St headquarters.
“I’m even crying now.”
Seventeen months after the company announced its collaboration with the London-based Kiwi designer to much fanfare, it’s finally unveiled the new staff wardrobe.
Wickstead is home for the occasion. She left when she was 14, and her business - best known for outfitting the likes of everyone from Queen Rania of Jordan and the Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex, to celebrities like Emma Watson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Lady Gaga - is based in London.
"It’s very full circle and I keep saying, you know, all roads lead to home.”
She found Air New Zealand to be incredibly generous throughout the process. There was a lot of freedom for her to do what she does best; graceful, fuss-free clothes.
“I wanted the tailoring to be impeccable, which I'm really proud of,” she says.
“There was a lot of trust, which I wasn't really expecting.”
"Premium" was one of her key words for the project.
“I also think about heritage in terms of like a great tailored suit and a great tailored dress and clean lines.”
New additions for men include a double-breasted jacket and ie faitaga (formal lavalava).
Working with tā moko artist Te Rangitu Netana, who hand drew every single print design, was “incredible”. Wickstead says she knew when she started the project that she wanted him involved.
“We didn't say, oh, we're going to do a kōwhai print.
“It was more ‘what do we want represented through the print?’ and so that was going back to empowerment, talking about our ancestors.”
That print, Kōwhai o te rangi, is inspired by the story of Ngatoro-i-Rangi, and represents protection, responsibility and belonging. Others include the geometric Purapura Whetu (flounders and stars), the Tāniko motif of the Pepeha pattern, and prints after kākā and kiwi feathers.
Wickstead describes herself as an “old world kind of person”, and it shows in many of the flourishes and details. There’s a scarf-like ‘tūī knot’ on a dress and blouse, calling back to the very first Air New Zealand uniforms, and further still to the bird “being a messenger for our ancestors”.
Pointing to the feather-print lining inside a jacket, Wickstead explains its reference to korowai. She hopes people feel “the empowerment and the prestige” when they put it on.
“I am a people pleaser, my job is to make people feel empowered and confident and special in what they're wearing."
Wickstead hopes people feel strong and powerful in what’s she’s designed.
“I want them to feel all of the emotion that's gone into it.”
Six thousand Air New Zealand staffers will get to wear her uniforms - in the air, on the ground and for that 18+ hour direct flight to New York (the airline’s longest).
Clothes have to be hardwearing, comfortable and easy to clean.
The uniform range spans 125 pieces, the biggest range to date.
“Being able to give people options within that collection is really important,” explains Grace Blewitt, who leads brand and marketing for Air New Zealand.
“It also has to cater to a really broad range of body types and individual preferences.”
Versatility, comfort and functionality were top of mind throughout the design process.
“The uniform itself is incredibly hardwearing,” Blewitt says.
Many fabrics are more sustainable options than in the past; men’s shirts are organic cotton, while blouses and dresses are made from recycled polyester.
They've learned from previous uniforms to include things like adjustable trousers, looser dresses and deeper pockets.
While there has been a “huge amount of testing” throughout the process, the new collection will be wear-tested by 400 employees during trials starting in May. This testing will give Kiwis the chance to see the new uniforms in the wild before the official rollout of the final range next year.
Fashion curator, designer and New Zealand Fashion Museum founder Doris de Pont thinks Wickstead was a smart, interesting choice.
“She’s quite classic,” de Pont says. She expected it to be quite formal, though confesses surprise at the uniform’s vibrant purple that Wickstead says was part of Air New Zealand's brief.
“That’s pretty out there. Trelise [Cooper] had the purple too.”
Wickstead’s balance of tailoring with more relaxed elements and fluidity “very much captures the New Zealand sensibility”, de Pont says.
“She has that grounding in the moana culture of Aotearoa.”
Looking smart is part of the job, and the bar for Air New Zealand uniforms has always been high.
“It was originally Dior,” de Pont explains. “At that time we were trying to look as good as Europe.”
They were turquoise, designed by Yves Saint Laurent for Christian Dior, and worn during the 1960s.
While Air New Zealand went off-shore in 1975 for the talents of French designer Nina Ricci, from the 1980s onwards things were firmly patriotic, with uniforms designed by Thornton Hall’s Isabel Harris, Barbara Lee, Zambesi and Dame Trelise Cooper.
“Zambesi’s were very strongly associated with their brand,” de Pont says.
She particularly loved Cooper’s dresses: “I thought they were so good, just the shape of them, and everyone able to wear them. They were really inclusive.”
Air New Zealand staff are more diverse than ever, de Pont points out, and span all ages.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the versatility [Emilia Wickstead] can provide, and I really appreciate that they have taken great care with the print.”
