PIA may require a lot more than an improved image to make a comeback but for now a new uniform may be paramount to a new beginning. It’s a small step in what appears to be the right direction.
Keeping that in mind the national carrier has chosen 16 designers to create two to four coherent styles each for the Pakistan International Airline cabin crew. The outfits will be showcased in an upcoming fashion show in Karachi. Nabila, who has been roped in to style the show, will undoubtedly play a role in devising a fresh look for the crew as well. The outfits will be judged by a select panel of experts and one will be selected as the official new PIA uniform.
The current uniform, designed in several colour variations, is too ethnic for a modern image of Pakistan, which needs to be smart, contemporary and looking to a new future instead of past glory.
“This is not a competition,” Bunto Kazmi, who has been informally overlooking this project, spoke to Instep. “Everybody is working together and they are designing for the love of Pakistan. These people have such busy schedules and they have taken time out for this. It’s a collective exercise.”
“I do think it’s about time the (PIA) look changed,” she added.
The current PIA uniform, just to put things in perspective, is an in-house design
French designer Pierre Cardin came up with this iconic, chic look that was an instant hit with women all over the country and lasted from 1966 to 1975.
(Image courtesy Ahmed S Siddiqui Collection)Sir Hardy Amies – designer to Queen Elizabeth II – designed the next uniform (1975-1986) and in 1986 Pakistani designer Nahid Azfar took over in a very TeeJay’s inspired design that was seen till 2003. (Information courtesy History of PIA)
We have to agree that it is high time the national carrier got a new look.
To achieve this newly devised, contemporary image, 16 designers including Amir Adnan, Nomi Ansari, Shamaeel & Sonya Battla (working together), Nida Azwer, Ismail Farid, Omer Farooq of Republic, Fahad Hussayn, Maheen Karim, Misha Lakhani, Sania Maskatiya, Yasmin Sheikh, Shamoon Sultan, Ali Xeeshan and HSY have offered their expertise.
“I see a slightly individualistic look; our flight staff should not look like any other
“It’s Pakistan representing itself all over the world so it’s where we are and where we want to go,” Misha Lakhani offered. “I am incorporating details from our heritage but the look will be chic and contemporary. It should not look like costume. The air hostesses should be able to take pride in what they’re wearing.”
PIA’s very first uniform (1954-56) was very western – incorporating a skirt and cap – which many air hostesses complained they were not comfortable in.
(Image courtesy Ayaz Khan Collection)“We want a look which is strong and slick,” said HSY, the only designer proposing designs for the women as well as men onboard. “The cabin crew is the first image people get of Pakistan around the world and that image has to be perfect. I don’t think it should necessarily be patriotic because patriotic too often translates to folksy. We don’t want that. We want a uniform that is smart and contemporary. People should stop at international airports and say, ‘wow, where is that crew from!’ I travel a lot and have been observing cabin crew uniforms; we have also done a lot of research asking the current crew on what they will and won’t wear.”
No matter which design is selected, it’s needless to say that the PIA cabin crew does deserve a break for their years of tolerance and resilience. Passengers will vouch for the lack of resources that PIA struggles with and the kind of (generally illiterate and uncouth) travellers that PIA staff has to deal with. The current, rather frumpy uniform does the crew no justice and the one thing they should be given is the confidence that may come with a smart uniform that cuts them an internationally acceptable figure.