McDonald’s is looking to create a unique, hipper “McFashion” line for its nearly 300,000 employees.
Sean “P. Diddy” Combs and Tommy Hilfiger are two of the high-profile fashion designers the fast-food giant is considering to create new uniforms that fit its ongoing campaign to project a hip, active image, according to advertising trade publication AdAge.com.
The fashion makeover comes after similar moves by the airline industry.
Struggling Delta Air Lines turned to fashion designer Richard Tyler in February 2004 to create new, stylish uniforms that were part of an overall branding effort to change and improve the airline’s image.
The updated uniforms are expected next March for all of the Atlanta carrier’s worldwide employees, said spokeswoman Benet Wilson.
“We think it’s important to have a specific brand image of Delta as professional, simple, inviting, stylish and affordable,” Ms. Wilson said.
Susan Bixler, chief executive of Atlanta firm Professional Image, said a company taking extra care with its image when designing uniforms is making a smart move — on land or in the sky.
“Make it fresh, make it relevant, make it visually appealing … then people are more pleasant because they know they look good and people are more pleasant back and it creates a good ant because they know they look good and people are more pleasant back and it creates a good emotional environment,” she said.
Song, Delta’s discount carrier, and Canada Air also hired high-profile designers to create new uniforms for the friendly — and more fashionable — skies.
Renowned designers Kate and Andy Spade designed the “classic and stylish, comfortable yet sophisticated” look at Song, which was introduced in May 2004.
“Our designs for Song were inspired by the glamour days of air travel, a time when both the flight staff and passengers were consciously well-dressed when they traveled,” Kate Spade said.
Air Canada will debut new uniforms for the airline’s 6,700 flight attendants and 2,900 airport customer service agents late this year, the company said.
The uniforms, created by Canadian fashion designer Debbie Suchat, are inspired by a retro couture look and are intended to embody classic sophistication with contemporary flair, according to the company.
McDonald’s spokesman Bill Whitman said the advantages of hiring premier designers are twofold: to boost employee morale and to convey a more contemporary and relevant image to the chain’s 23 million daily customers.
In addition to Mr. Hilfiger and “P. Diddy,” designers and labels being considered by McDonald’s include Russell Simmons’ Phat Farm; American Apparel; American Eagle Outfitters; Abercrombie & Fitch; Fubu; Rocawea and others, according to AdAge.
“We’re not limiting ourselves on who we’ll work with,” Mr. Whitman said. “But I think it’s certainly encouraging that we could be working with some of the designers that have been referenced in some of the media coverage.”
Talk of hipper uniforms comes as McDonald’s has begun offering healthier menu items and renovating nearly 1,000 older U.S. restaurants — both of which have helped same-store sales in the U.S. consecutively increase over the past 25 months.
McDonald’s is the largest employer of high school and college students — with more than 30,000 young adults on its payroll.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
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