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British Airways unveils new crew uniforms from Ozwald Boateng

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Ozwald Boateng’s new uniform for British Airways staff has finally been revealed. It is the end of an era for BA’s famous Stephen Jones hat worn by female cabin crew.

(In reality, the hats have been out of service for almost two years now, thanks to the restructuring of BA’s crew fleets.)

Boateng’s ‘modern contemporary twist’ will transform uniforms for all 30,000+ British Airways employees, not just cabin crew, who wear a uniform as part of their role. It is the first new uniform since 2003, when Julien Macdonald designed the current uniform.

BA uniform Ozwald Boateng

The culmination of a four year design and testing phase has seen it trialled by 1,500 staff on the ground and in the air, on secret test flights. The fact that images only leaked late last night is a credit to how well British Airways staff have managed to keep this project under wraps.

The new uniform range was originally meant to be ready in time for BA’s Centenary celebrations in 2019. That didn’t happen, of course – and a global pandemic means the rollout was further delayed, until this week.

Boateng joins a long list of famous names to design British Airways staff uniforms. These include Paul Costelloe, Roland Klein, Baccart Weatherall, Hardy Amies.

Boateng launched his first womenswear collection in 2018 and also turned Givenchy Homme around back in the mid-noughties.

The British Airways uniform is not his first airline project. He also worked with Virgin Atlantic on their amenity kits which launched back in 2004. Of course, an amenity kit is far less complex than new uniforms for thousands of staff.

As part of the reveal, British Airways CEO and Chairman Sean Doyle said:

“Our uniform is an iconic representation of our brand, something that will carry us into our future, representing the very best of modern Britain and helping us deliver a great British original service for our customers. From the very start this has been about our people. We wanted to create a uniform collection that our people are proud to wear and with the help of over 1,500 colleagues, we are confident that we have delivered this.”

BA uniform Ozwald Boateng three piece suit

Trials and tribulations

Launching new uniforms isn’t without risk. US airlines have faced successive calls from staff to recall various new uniforms which have allegedly been causing health problems amongst crew. American Airlines and Delta have both faced criticism, whilst Alaska Airlines actually recalled its uniform in 2013 in the midst of an employee-led lawsuit, which eventually found there was no reliable evidence that the uniforms were causing health problems.

Still, uniforms are intensely personal when you consider how much they are worn by staff, who will all have their own individual preferences for style, fit and material.

To try and avoid that sort of snafu, British Airways has been trialling the uniforms to ensure that the materials are durable and comfortable. 50 workshops with staff have been held throughout the design process, from design workshops, prototype feedback and garment trials.

More than 1,500 colleagues across the airline took part in 50 workshops to help ensure the garments suitability, from design workshops to prototype feedback and garment trials, helping create an iconic collection that will stand the test of time.

Over the past six months, British Airways has been putting the uniforms to the test in secret trials on cargo flights throughout Europe as well as on engineering ferry flights. They’ve been tested in all sorts of conditions, including in deluge showers and even – I’ve been told – for a session in BA’s walk-in freezers at caterer DO&CO to trial them in sub-zero temperatures.

BA uniform Ozwald Boateng three piece suit

What options does BA’s new uniform include?

As previously mentioned, the new design re-imagines uniforms across the business, not just cabin crew. That includes pilots, engineering staff, gate agents and more:

“The collection features a tailored three-piece suit for men with regular and slim fit style trousers and dress, skirt and trouser options for women, as well as a modern jumpsuit – which is an airline first. A tunic and hijab option has also been created for the global carrier.”

According to British Airways, the new uniform features design features inspired by BA’s history as an airline:

“The airwave pattern that features across the entire uniform collection including jackets, t-shirts, buttons and ties was inspired by the movement of air over an aircraft wing. The jacquard fabric across all of the tailored garments features a variation of the airline’s iconic speedmarque.”

British Airways hasn’t yet revealed all the variants of the new uniform, which you can see throughout this article. For example, a dress is also available for female cabin crew. You can see a closer look in this video:

For now, the uniforms will remain gender-specific, although I see no reason why BA can’t adjust its policy to allow staff to wear their uniform of choice in the future, as Virgin Atlantic now does.

BA uniform Ozwald Boateng pilot

What do the crew think?

With impeccable timing, I had the unique experience of flying back from Toronto on the evening that the new uniforms leaked on Twitter, and I overheard a couple of initial reactions from crew who had seen the leaked photos as I was making my way through Heathrow Airport.

Remember that the uniform was only officially revealed this morning. All crew except the 1,500 involved in trials have only seen the uniform from the leaked images from a slideshow.

One recurring comment, particularly from female crew, is that Ozwald Boateng is a “man’s designer, so it was never going to work.” There seems to particular aversion to the idea that the uniform has been designed by Boateng, whose focus has historically been on menswear and tailoring.

I hope the crew warm to the new uniforms, because I genuinely think they are stylish and upgrade BA’s looks.

It will take time for staff to see and try on new uniforms, let alone get used to how they work in practice. For now, only 5% of BA staff have tried on the new uniforms, so it is probably too early to come to a conclusion.

Conclusion

BA’s new uniforms have been a long time coming and – frankly – a long time overdue. The baggy Julien Macdonald uniform, first introduced almost 20 years ago, has long looked dated and been need of an overhaul, so this is a welcome step in modernising and updating BA’s brand image, particularly given how important crew are to the overall impression of the airline.

My personal view is that they look smart and modern. Whilst the initially leaked photos didn’t look great, I have to say it looks a great deal better in the images supplied by British Airways which I have included throughout this article, and I am looking forward to seeing it in person.

BA’s new uniforms will gradually roll out over the coming months, with all staff due to be re-kitted by the Summer. Engineers and ground operations agents will be the first to wear them, starting in the coming weeks, whilst cabin crew, pilots and check-in agents will follow.

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Comments (153)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Andrew J says:
    6 Jan6 January 07:45

    I’m not sure that’s right about the crew hats – I thought the opposite that with the merging of the two fleets they all wore hats whereas previously it was only Mixed-Fleet that did.

    • Rhys says:
      6 Jan6 January 07:55

      Don’t believe so!

    • greggrant says:
      6 Jan6 January 08:48

      Mixed Fleet crew always wore ‘the hat’. Then Worldwide crew (longhaul) wore the hat when operating the 380 as this was deemed the flagship aircraft. Staff on any ‘promotional’ outing also always wore the hat.

      • Andrew J says:
        6 Jan6 January 08:52

        Yes that was my understanding too (although I wasn’t aware of the A380 rule).

        • Nick says:
          6 Jan6 January 10:25

          It was all ‘new’ aircraft, so included 787 as well. At the time of introduction WW had to voluntarily opt in to fly on those, and accepting a hat was a condition of doing so.

  • Paul says:
    6 Jan6 January 07:48

    So Mr Doyle exists! Great he can comment on the uniform but I’d prefer some commentary on BA appalling operational performance. Not one flight I took with them in 2022 was on time. The hand-baggage carnage and rewarding of those with too much of it, with priority boarding and avoidance of fees, is a particular irritant.
    While delighted they have a new uniform I feel that staff will not be as welcoming of it as perhaps they should be. Morale doesn’t seem very high from the few overheard conversations I have witnessed both on the ground and in the air.

    • sigma421 says:
      6 Jan6 January 09:13

      Was my first thought too – he has been very quiet. Would be interested to hear what became of the bag tracking features that was promised during the operational meltdown a year ago. Don’t recall hearing anything since.

  • AJA says:
    6 Jan6 January 08:22

    The FlyerTalk thread on the uniforms isn’t terribly complimentary, but I have to say from those initial pictures it looks OK to me. I am surprised by the emphasis on ties in the design, though. I hate wearing a tie so I feel sorry for the crew if they have to.

    • NFH says:
      6 Jan6 January 08:52

      Yes, I share your dislike of wearing ties, and feel sorry for male crew who are required to do so in constrast to the requirement for female crew to wear a gender-specific garment (e.g. skirt or dress) having been dropped by many airlines. But I see that BA’s female uniform now includes a form of tie as well. At least it’s now more balanced between genders with respect to ties.

      • Yarki says:
        6 Jan6 January 09:28

        Air NZ dropped the tie for male cabin crew but reinstated it when it launched the current uniform because there were too many instances of the tieless crew being mistaken for passengers!

        • Alex Sm says:
          7 Jan7 January 07:43

          It’s a better scenario than when a passenger in a tie is mistaken for crew!

          However, people could be strange anyway. I have been mistaken for a shop assistant in Westfield several times and when you ask people why they give you the most peculiar reasons like “because you are in a black shirt” or “because you didn’t wear a coat”

          • Rob says:
            7 Jan7 January 09:08

            In my banking days, whenever I popped into John Lewis at lunchtime in my suit, I would be mistaken for staff.

      • Andy says:
        6 Jan6 January 10:55

        Yes I hate ties too

        Also what’s the obsession with women cabin crew having to wear scarfs? Couldn’t these be ‘enhanced’ away?

        • Londonsteve says:
          6 Jan6 January 15:16

          I really don’t get this aversion to ties. Yes, they’re not the most comfortable thing in the world to wear, mainly because of the need to do up the top button on a collared shirt, but equally as a passenger, I don’t want to see open necks if I can help it. Ties scream ‘smart’, which surely any business that wants to project a professional image seeks to aim for. This recent trend for going to the office twice a week in a Hawaiian shirt will eventually come to an end when people start to miss the diversity and ‘feel good factor’ of dressing up once or twice a week.

          • bafan says:
            6 Jan6 January 17:30

            ok boomer

          • Londonsteve says:
            6 Jan6 January 17:38

            Err no, I’m a Millennial! Not everyone of a certain generation has to think in a certain way. Fortunately for me, the front desk in a 5 star hotel and cabin crew will continue to be largely prevented from wearing open neck shirts. If companies want to cheapen their image by adopting the ‘anything goes’ approach that’s up to them. Pleased BA haven’t fallen into this trap.

          • NFH says:
            6 Jan6 January 18:53

            If male crew have to suffer the discomfort of wearing a tie, then the same should apply to female crew in order to avoid discrimination. Otherwise female crew should be expected to wear another gender-specific garment such as a skirt or dress.

            An alternative way to avoid discrimination against one gender is to go down the Virgin Atlantic route with a complete free-for-all, whereby crew can opt to wear the uniform of either gender.

          • TimM says:
            6 Jan6 January 19:37

            If a shirt is uncomfortable to do-up the top button it is simply the wrong neck size. Clothes should always be well-fitting and comfortable no matter how formal.

            Jackets are tailored to wear with ties. They don’t look right without them. Even an unstructured jacket needs a tie or bowtie to look balanced.

            Forsake a tie and you might as well be wearing a hoodie and T-shirt which there is nothing wrong with but there is a customer expectation of BA crew and public-facing staff being smart.

            I will lament the loss of the hats – a distinctive part of the uniform when the doors are open. Are pilot caps going too?

          • NFH says:
            6 Jan6 January 19:59

            TimM, do your comments apply to women in addition to men? Specifically about the wrong neck size and jackets being tailored to wear with ties? If not why not?

            Why is it akin to a hoodie and T-shirt for a man to omit a tie, but not so for a woman?

            I have yet to hear a justification for men, but not women, to wear a tie.

  • Lady London says:
    6 Jan6 January 08:27

    I want the jumpsuit.

    • Swifty says:
      6 Jan6 January 16:05

      Ditto!! I like the outfits. I think the colour will be wearable with all different skin tones, navy drains me but that’s got some great colours through it which will make it work for most

  • Froggee says:
    6 Jan6 January 08:41

    Will this speed up Customer Service response time?

  • Andrew J says:
    6 Jan6 January 08:51

    The female uniform tie pattern reminds me of the Paul Costelloe female blouse and dress fabric.

  • Panda Mick says:
    6 Jan6 January 08:52

    I’ve always thought that the old BA uniform was just bought “off the shelf”. It was terribly dated, boring and represented the airline well.

    This is a step in the right direction: Boateng is an amazing designer, represents the UK well, and, from just the video alone, the uniforms look fresh and modern. Those raincoats especially so!

    (I’ve still got my Ozwald Boateng Virgin Upper Class Amenity, erm, folder from my first ever free upgrade back in the early 2000’s)

    • vlcnc says:
      6 Jan6 January 12:16

      Julien MacDonald was a terrible choice to ‘design’ that last uniform and quite shocking it lasted 20yrs. Inexperienced, relatively new and more accustomed to designing sparkly dresses than structured clothing for which tailoring skills is required to pull off well. Absolutely agree Boateng was a great choice and represents the country well.

    • WW says:
      8 Jan8 January 20:22

      He is a men’s tailor . He is NOT a designer. I think his designs (especially that jump-suit) are ill-conceived and totally impractical.

      • vlcnc says:
        9 Jan9 January 10:14

        A tailor can be a designer. A fashion designer cannot do tailoring however. Airline uniforms are structured clothing so require tailoring, so this couldn’t be more appropriate person to create these. Trust me as someone who went to art school, and lived with a costume tailor for 6 years after that I know!

  • Amanda Battman says:
    6 Jan6 January 09:03

    One of the things I like about the existing uniform is the ability to instantly spot the CSD (cabin Manager) when I am boarding, distinguished currently by their silver neck scarf. I hope this trend will continue with the new uniform. Any change will be often be met by resistance from people, I am sure by the time the new uniform is fully released everyone will be happy, crew and passengers.

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