Gap Inc. might be riding a high after its collaboration with the multi-national girl group KATSEYE, featuring a remix of Milkshake by American singer-songwriter Kelis, went viral, but its workwear division is still living down the embarrassment of having its designs for Delta Air Lines widely panned and eventually dropped.
Delta tapped Gap in 2022 to create new uniforms for tens of thousands of employees around the world through the San Francisco-based retailer’s GPS Apparel division, which creates uniforms for a growing number of companies.
It took two years for Delta to reveal the initial design of its prototype uniforms, and to say that they didn’t quite hit the mark would be a major understatement.
Some of the bright red dresses were likened to outfits worn in the Emmy award-winning show The Handmaid’s Tale, with employees and passengers not holding back with their critical take on the new look.
If that wasn’t bad enough, it then emerged that Delta was drastically rethinking the design of three signature dress options after fears were raised that the layers of flowing fabric involved in the designs could impede an emergency evacuation.
While Delta was always open about the fact that the prototype designs could change significantly, no one thought the airline would drop the new look altogether.
Delta’s Ill-Fated Uniform Design By Gap
Delta showed off the prototypes of its Gap-designed uniforms in March 2024, embracing a traditional color palette of dark red and deep burgundy, and incorporating the airline’s iconic widget logo throughout the collection.
The collection had six new dress options, including a flare dress, a drape dress, and an asymmetrical dress with layers of pleats. These three designs were dropped within months over fears that the excess fabric involved in these dresses could pose a safety issue.
Delta had initially planned to carry out large-scale wear tests by the end of 2024, but the airline ended up scrapping the designs altogether.
But that’s exactly what happened in January 2025 when Delta told employees that it had heard their feedback loud and clear and that the entire Gap collection was being scrapped.
Rather than going back to the drawing board, however, Delta looked to its existing and past uniforms for inspiration. In effect, the new uniform will be a development of the current uniform and herald the return of Delta’s iconic wrap dress.
The biggest changes will be the colour palette that Delta uses, moving away from the ‘Passport Plum’ hues of the Zac Posen uniform era, and the slate gray uniforms that followed.
Instead, the current gray v-neck dress will become a dark shade of blue, the signature ‘shoulder wing’ dress will become a deep shade of burgundy, and the wrap dress will also return – most likely in a shade of red.
Delta moved away from its Passport Plum era in 2023 after the carrier suffered a ‘toxic uniform’ scandal involving thousands of uniformed employees who alleged that they had suffered severe reactions to the garments.
At the height of the scandal, Delta was forced to let flight attendants buy off-the-peg garments. Around half of all of the airline’s flight attendants were wearing their own clothing to work until Delta introduced the gray garments as a stop gap measure.
Although Delta no longer issues uniforms in Passport Plum, employees are still allowed to wear these garments if they were given them before the ban was introduced.
Delta plans to officially unveil the new look uniform on November 3, although it remains unclear how long it will be before employees will actually start wearing the new threads.
A lengthy wear test phase involving hundreds of employees should be expected before a wider rollout is even considered. This process could easily stretch into 2027.
