In October 2023, British Airways rolled out what has gone down as perhaps the airline’s most controversial cabin crew uniform ever. Female staff were left aghast at the ‘hideous’ designs that they complained made them look and feel like men, and within months, BA admitted that the uniform wasn’t “quite hitting the mark.”
Despite that admission, however, it’s taken the airline well over a year to respond to the barrage of complaints from frustrated employees.
How did the airline finally respond? By removing the last bit of femininity from the initial designs – that’s, at least, the complaint from female workers who have seen the remodeled designs.
At the center of the latest controversy over the uniform, British Airways has decided to eliminate a frilly neck scarf worn by female cabin crew and replace it with a piece of fabric known as a twilly.
What exactly is a twilly, I hear you ask? Well, the history of the twilly can be traced back to the luxury fashion house Hermès, which first introduced the radical new neck scarf in the 1930s.
A twilly is a narrow scarf, typically measuring just 2 inches wide, which can be worn in a variety of ways around the neck or head.
In recent years, the bold Hermès print twillies have gained a new popularity amongst influencers and the ultra-rich who use the scarves as a wrap around the handles of their Birkin and Kelly handbags.
Given the luxe connection, you would have thought that BA’s cabin crew would be pleased with their new scarves, but it appears that the airline isn’t permitting any of the traditional versatility that they are worn.
Instead, BA’s twilly is only allowed to be worn with the scarf wrapped around the back of the neck and two long strips hanging down. It is then secured with what appears to be a tie pin.
Female staffers say the guidelines make it look like they are simply wearing a man’s necktie.
The twilly isn’t, however, the only new controversial addition to the female cabin crew uniform. In response to complaints that a sheer ivory-colored blouse was too see-through, the airline is also in the process of rolling out a much thicker shirt in a white colorway that closely resembles men’s shirting.
The latest uproar comes just months after British Airways was forced into an embarrassing climbdown over new uniform and appearance rules that banned pilots and cabin crew from drinking coffee in public and required them to only consume water “discreetly.”
In an internal memo announcing the U-turn, British Airways admitted that the guidelines had “given the impression” that eating and drinking had been banned, but the airline claimed that this was never the case.
First announced in 2019, BA’s new uniform project brought in famed Savile Row designer Ozwald Boateng to reimagine the airline’s cabin crew look. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic put the project on hold, and it would be another three years until the designs were eventually revealed.
To say that the eagerly anticipated reveal fell flat would be a massive understatement. Staffers were furious with the final look, and the small changes so far announced by BA to address specific issues have done little to improve the perception of the uniform.
Matt’s Take – Perhaps it’s time for BA to do an Aliatalia?
Designing a new uniform is an expensive and time-consuming process, so you can understand why any company would want to avoid going back to the drawing board if at all, even remotely possible.
That being said, sometimes even struggling businesses know when to cut their losses and start over.
In 2017, the then national flag carrier of Italy, Alitalia, announced it was getting a new uniform after less than two years and despite the fact that the carrier was looking for a buyer because it was so financially distressed.
Designed by Italian Haute couturier Ettore Bilotta and first unveiled in May 2016, the short-lived Alitalia uniform was hated by staffers, from both a design perspective and practicality.
Alitalia justified the costly project, explaining that uniforms are normally reissued every two years, and, as such, the replacement program wouldn’t be much more than reissuing uniforms for normal wear and tear.
