PIA chooses HSY to design its new cabin crew uniforms, with the new look to debut on the October 31 London to Islamabad Dreamliner flight
LAHORE: Pakistan International Airlines has handed the job of dressing its cabin crew to Hassan Sheheryar Yasin, the designer almost everyone in Pakistan knows simply as HSY. The new cabin crew uniforms were presented in Lahore on Thursday, and passengers will not have to wait long to see them in service: the collection makes its first appearance on October 31, aboard PIA’s inaugural Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flight from London to Islamabad.
Chosen from ten designers
HSY did not simply get a phone call. Last month in Karachi, ten of the country’s leading designers put their concepts in front of a jury of fashion figures and industry representatives, and his was the one that won them over. The designs lean on soft, breathable fabrics cut with proper structure — made, the airline says, for long-haul durability and for crew who have to move easily through a cabin for hours at a time. Woven through the palette and detailing is Pakistan’s own craftsmanship, a deliberate nod to home in an otherwise contemporary look the airline calls “lifestyle first”.
A line of famous names
“Designing for our national flag carrier is about capturing our collective pride and the genuine warmth of Pakistani hospitality,” Yasin said in the airline’s statement. PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan called the collection a stylish leap forward in the airline’s ongoing transformation, one that keeps passenger comfort and crew pride at the front. He is not exaggerating the lineage, either. Pierre Cardin designed PIA’s pioneering A-line tunic in 1966, Sir Hardy Amies — couturier to Queen Elizabeth II — followed in the 1970s, and a uniform inspired by Nomi Ansari has served for the past 12 years. Under its consortium-led new management, PIA is pairing the new look with modern aircraft, refreshed cabins and a new menu. Whether a uniform can lift an airline is an old argument; on October 31, at least, the crew walking down that Dreamliner aisle will look the part.
