Laurence Xu Haute Couture runway presents airline uniforms

Chinese fashion designer Laurence Xu unveiled new cabin uniforms for China's Hainan Airlines at Paris Couture Week Tuesday, revealing his East-meets-West aesthetic. 

For his 2017 haute couture show, Xu sent models sashaying down the catwalk wearing his new design for the fifth-generation uniforms. 

The traditional Chinese cheongsam dress is the template for a design with clouds, sea, sky and mountains to evoke the take-off of a Hainan aircraft and the roc, a mythical bird that denotes strength. 

Ads

The apron is designed like a tulip-shaped dress, for elegance and femininity. 

It's the first redesign in seven years and maintains some of the iconic elements used in previous iterations: Asian, art-inspired images and a muted, grey color scheme. 

Xu and Hainan Airlines went through 1,000 sketches and tried more than 100 samples before deciding on the final design.