Friday saw Alaska Airlines and fashion designer Luly Yang debut a modern, West Coast-inspired, custom-designed uniform collection. The collection features over 90 garments and accessories for the airline’s thousands of employees. The design, which has been more than two years in the making, will clad no less than 19,000 Alaska, Virgin America and Horizon Air employees, starting in late 2019.
“Luly’s designs perfectly capture our fresh, West Coast vibe and we’re absolutely thrilled with the collection,” said Sangita Woerner, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of marketing. “Like our refreshed brand, launched in early 2016, our new uniform collection includes bright pops of color, clean lines and stunning finishes, creating a stylish yet approachable look.”
The uniform will be rolled out as the Virgin America brand starts to disappear, however passengers will start to see the uniform on flights and on the ground, as a small team of 130 employees – flight attendants, pilots, customer service agents and lounge employees – put the uniforms through their paces for the next 60 days.
Overwhelmingly, the top requests from employees were more pockets and designs that look great on all body shapes and sizes, as well as performance over a range of climates. The collection is designed to be layered so that employees can self-regulate comfort while working in the freezing temperatures of Barrow, Alaska, to the balmier weather of Mexico.
“Working on the Alaska Airlines custom uniform program has been one of the most complex and rewarding challenges of my career,” said Yang. “With 45 sizes per style and 13 very distinct work groups, this was the ultimate puzzle to solve. My hope is that employees feel that they were heard throughout this process, love the collection and wear their uniforms with pride.”
TheDesignAir 
Can’t say I’m a fan. And the virgin stewards aren’t gonna be happy.
What is it with airline uniforms in the United States? Why do they ALL have to be so ugly?
In Europe, even LCC’s such as easyJet and Ryanair manage to provide their employees with stylish-looking clothing. I just don’t get it. These Alaska uniforms are dowdy and when wearing them, the employees look like fast-food workers.
i think they look great. Better than the boring navy suits that most US airlines wear. But, i wish they could do the things they used to with US airline fashion like they did in the 60’s. Take chances and lead the industry again.