United colours of Air-India crew

The Air-India and Indian Airlines combine, wearing the new Air-India brand and livery, is set to give a snazzy new look for its cabin crew.

It has roped in internationally acclaimed designer Ritu Beri and fashion guru Pierre Cardin to do the honours. While Beri will design the uniforms for the female cabin crew, Cardin will give the male cabin crew uniforms a new look.

Air-India Chairman and Managing Director Vasudevan Thulasidas confirmed the development but declined to divulge more details.

Ritu Beri is the first Asian designer to head a French fashion brand, Scherrer, while globally renowned Pierre Cardin is known for its avant-garde style and space-age designs.

A top Air-India executive gave Business Standard some cues on what to expect from the new uniforms, which will be international and compete with those of Jet Airways' and Kingfisher's.

"There will be one set of uniforms for all Air-India cabin crew post the merger. Certainly, we will not drop the traditional sarees. But the new designs would definitely have a modern touch and will reflect contemporary fashion without losing out on Indian culture."

Sources said Beri and Cardin have secured the contract despite tough competition from the country's top fashion designers such as JJ Walia, Tarun Tahiliani, Satya Paul and lifestyle and luxury brand Ravissant.

"The new Air-India entity is likely to announce and showcase these new uniforms in a grand function soon. The designs of these uniforms will reflect the culture of various states," sources said.

The state-owned carrier is following a trend started by its rivals like Kingfisher and Jet Airways. Italian fashion designer Roberto Capucci and his partner Enrico Minio recently helped Jet Airways redesign its cabin crew outfits.

The fact that Capucci had never designed airline uniforms before, coupled with his reputation for elegant style, is what made him the choice to create something never seen before in airline uniforms.

Meanwhile, Air-India has also finalised US-based Webber Group and Contour Group of the UK for supplying seats for its Boeing 787 airplanes, better known as the Dreamliners.

The executive seats, that can be turned into flat beds, in these planes would be supplied by Contour, while Webber will provide the economy class seats.