Revealed: Brand new uniforms for Ireland’s Aer Lingus crew

It is 22 years since the Aer Lingus crew received a new uniform. Designer Louise Kennedy is working for the Irish airline again, to replace the 1998 designs with something fresh for the new century.

Once I wondered if Aer Lingus had the most dated uniform in the world as I couldn’t remember another airline that had waited so long between innings. Either way, all that has been rectified now, with the new uniforms now revealed.

New Aer Lingus Crew Uniforms

The new uniforms for the Aer Lingus crew appear more of an evolution than a revolution to my eyes. Much is being made in the Irish media about the ladies being permitted to wear trousers for the first time.

Colour wise, Kenmare Green is carried over from the current uniform, so people will certainly recognise who everyone belongs to. The look is much more modern, which is in keeping with the airline itself.

The video above runs for about a minute and shows parts of the uniforms in close up. The Shamrock details on the scarves looks very nice, I think.

A Video About The Design

A day before the launch of the new uniforms, Aer Lingus put up a short video about the design process. Louise Kennedy and a representative from the airline talk through the brief.

It is interesting to see the thought process behind the design. Having to consider weather extremes and match fabrics to that makes a lot of sense to me.

Aer Lingus Past Cabin Crew Uniforms

Sybil Connolly designed the very first uniform for the Aer Lingus Air Hostesses back in 1945. Entirely brown, it was in a military style which was of course quite on trend at that time.

Next up came green uniforms by the same designer in 1948, followed ten years later by Irene Gilbert’s styling just in time for the start of the jet age. 1963 and 1966 featured work by Neilí Mulcahy and fashions were changing fast, with the next one by Digby Morton in 1970, featuring some outstanding green stockings! Ib Jorgensen is responsible for the next two, coming in 1975 and 1986. Paul Costelloe introduced new uniforms in 1989 and 1990 in separate summer and winter collections, followed by Louise Kennedy designing the current uniform in 1998. There is a fun video from the archives of Irish television station RTE at this link. It shows the 1975 uniform reveal, which is preceded by crew walking down the stairs off a plane in the various past uniforms.

Overall Thoughts

It’s been a long time since 1998, so it is great seeing the Aer Lingus crew getting a new look. According to the Aer Lingus Press Release, the new garments will be taking flight from 10 February 2020.

I daresay they’re going to look pretty nice, so I’m quite looking forward to seeing them in person. Let’s hope it’s not another 22 years before the next evolution of the Irish airline’s fashion!

What do you think of the new look for Aer Lingus? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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New uniform images via Aer Lingus.
1945 uniform image by Dan Regan via Irish Independent.
Aer Lingus retrojet uniforms image via Aer Lingus.