Iberia unveils new uniforms, announces first woman designer

Iberia Airlines employees will soon give runways a whole new meaning.

The Spanish airline unveiled a new line of uniforms over Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid, custom-created for Iberia by one of Spain's top contemporary designers, Teresa Helbig — the airline's first woman designer. The uniforms will be distributed to Iberia's 6,500 cabin crew and ground employees on May 1.

Helbig's designs include more than 20 items of apparel and accessories: Dresses, suits, skirts, trousers, shirts, blouses, overcoats, handbags, cardigans, blazers, scarves, sweaters, neckties and even special uniforms for pregnant employees.

Helbig said she chose colors that best represented Iberia's brand and spirit. The predominantly navy-hued collection is accented with bright pops of red and yellow — Iberia's brand colors — as well as a hint of beige. Navy symbolizes balance, while "red embodies passion, drive, and vitality, and yellow is stimulating, youthful, and energetic," Helbig said in Iberia's statement. Meanwhile, beige is “genuine. natural, calm, and very elegant.”

While Iberia's new jackets are "a touch retro" and the coats have a "unisex flair," Helbig said she made sure her designs allowed every employee a full range of motion. "There's a reinterpretation of the iconic straight skirt... [and] the women's trousers are anything but rigid — they facilitate women's movements," she said. "All are garments that we would be happy to wear for every day."

Iberia commissioned its new uniforms from a Spanish designer in keeping with the airline's #Talentoabordo project, which seeks to promote established and emerging Spanish creative artists in all the countries served by the Oneworld alliance carrier.

The new uniforms will be manufactured by the El Corte Inglés retail chain and individually delivered to each employee’s home, while alterations can be made at El Corte Inglés outlets near the Madrid and Barcelona airports.