High Fashion

Hotels take uniformity out of uniforms and treat them as an important aspect of image.

By Anne Spiselman, Contributing Editor -- HOTELS Magazine, 4/1/1999

When New York-based Goldman Properties teamed with Todd Oldham to convert

the 52-room, 1939 Tiffany Hotel into The Hotel in Miami's historic South

Beach, it made perfect sense to have the well-known fashion designer

redo staff uniforms, as well as the interior. Drawing on the same palette

of sea, sand and sun, Oldham paired his ready-to-wear khakis with shirts

crush-dyed or dip-dyed to match other fabrics in the hotel, among them

the cabana curtains, seat cushions, even the guest bathrobes (see sketches

on the outer edges of this spread).

"They tie in beautifully and are the perfect touch to immerse

you in the environment the moment you walk through the door," says

Jessica Goldman, director of hotels for Goldman Properties. "Also,

the staff loves them and feels great in them, which is

what we wanted."

The Hotel is part of a trend to take the uniformity out of uniforms--and

to treat them as an important part of the bigger picture. New uniform

styles range from high-fashion designer suits to denims, authentic ethnic

garb and themed costumes. They can blend in with a hotel's decor or

make a distinct statement, enhance the mood of city sophistication or

resort relaxation, or simply mimic street clothes while being a bit

more functional.

For the five boutique hotels it recently acquired

in New York, California-based Unique Hotels & Resorts let employees choose the uniforms. "It

was the first time most of them had been involved in such a decision,

and they were delighted to have a say in what they wear eight hours

a day," says Managing Director Carlos C. Lopes. They opted for

the same custom uniforms for all five properties: predominantly

black in a very fine, light wool with a high-fashion look they'd be

proud to wear outside the hotel. Front desk jackets, for instance, are

Hugo Boss-style.

While Unique plans to tailor the uniforms to each

market as it expands, W Hotels, the brand launched last year by Starwood

Hotels & Resorts

Worldwide, had Starwood Design Group develop one concept to fit all

properties. "We wanted classics that weren't costumes but instead

were reconceived in a contemporary way," says Theresa Fatino, vice

president of brand design and development for W Hotels.

At W Hotels front desk, for example, men wear

charcoal-gray pleated pants and three-button jackets over a black-knit

polo, and the women's uniform pairs a skirt or pants in the charcoal

wool blend with a black twin sweater set. "In warmer climates we'll substitute a lighter

gray," Fatino notes. "The only color at all is the red European-cut

vests for roomservice men so guests won't mistake them

for intruders."

The uniforms for the Chicago House of Blues Hotel,

a Loews Hotel, may be the ultimate in practicality, durability and

affordability, as well as reflecting the casual atmosphere of the

chain prototype. Averaging less than US$60 and easily obtained, most

consist of black slacks and sweater vests from The Gap coupled with

a blue denim shirt embroidered with the House of Blues logo. "They're the ideal mix of attitude

and presentation," says Managing Director Stuart Schwartz. "They

make staffers comfortable, and guests feel like they're

dealing with real people.

Maintaining tradition without becoming stodgy is a delicate balancing

act for many European hotels, and more are turning to fashion designers

for help. The Merrion Hotel in Dublin, a conversion of four Georgian

townhouses that opened in 1997, commissioned leading Irish fashion designer

Deborah Veale to create women's outfits that complement the 18th-century

decor. Her contemporary gray wool flannel skirts and jackets feature

gray embroidery inspired by the hotel's plasterwork. The uniforms are

accented by muted gray-and-blue silk scarves with the hotel crest hand-painted

on them.

Peter MacCann, general manager of the Merrion,

says the goal was an understated, elegant look that was Irish and

suitable for a 5-star hotel, but a bit different. Louis Copeland,

considered the country's top gentlemen's outfitter, dressed the men

in double-breasted, three-button Georgian-style black and silver. "However," MacCann points out, "management

is in classic gray business suits rather than the morning

suits with striped trousers expected here."

The Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris is going a step

further in conjunction with a US$50 million renovation. Waiters in

the courtyard restaurant now sport psychedelic ties and beige vests

instead of the old black-and-white uniforms. Brownish-orange vests

with gray trousers or skirts have been introduced in the Art Deco

Relais Plaza. Receptionists wear Louis Feraud caramel-toned suits

with ivory blouses in winter and Guy Laroche beige suits in summer. "The philosophy is to make the staff fresh and

less formal," says Managing Director Herve Houdre, noting the uniforms

hadn't been changed in 25 years.

While the old-line Paris hotel is bucking convention, the 3,000-room

Paris Las Vegas, set to open in June, will be a Disneyesque mini-city

of conventional cliches: the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, opera house,

bistros and thousands of staffers in costumes dreamed up by New York

designer Stan Herman and his French collaborator, Edwin Piekny.

"We wanted to take uniform design to another level," says

Paul V. Pusateri, president of the Paris and Bally's Las Vegas. He ticks

off examples: doormen dressed like gendarmes, valet parkers in apache

dancer get-ups, desk clerks in Chanel-worthy skirts and blazers (with

little hats and pearls, of course), servers at the Rotisserie des Artistes

wearing paint-splattered smocks with brushes in the pockets. Herman

says he researched Paris in the 1920s and '30s for the uniforms, which

he calls "a class act" for a themed hotel.

The Resort at Summerlin near Las Vegas, which

also makes its debut in June, is made up of the 287-room Regent Grand

Spa, the 254-room Regent Grand Palms, a casino, restaurants and gardens. "Brian McMullan,

the president, wanted real clothing that barely suggested a uniform," Herman

recalls. "So I used colors from the mountains, safari jackets,

mock turtle necks, layering. Stone or khaki pants are a common element,

but designs for the Grand Palms are slightly more formal, because the

hotel is." McMullan emphasizes, "This is a resort, and employees

should be relaxed and cool, not sweltering in suits in

100-degree temperatures."

Some resorts, particularly in Asia, transform the notion of real clothes

into a kind of theme by using native fabrics and designs to evoke a

sense of place. At Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia,

doormen wear Malay costumes in authentic prints but slightly different

colors, which reflect the feel of the resort and are repeated, more

simply, in the other uniforms. After designing clothing for the two

Four Seasons Bali resorts in traditional styles (eg. the udeng head

piece) and materials, local fashion designer Monica Laguna de Flanter

recently turned her attention to the Four Seasons Resort Maldives at

Kuda Huraa, whose management the company assumed in 1998. Inspired by

the Berber tribes, she researched colors, cuts and patterns in North

Africa and India, then lived on the island to learn about local customs

before coming up with long, billowy tops and baggy pants incorporating

Arabian motifs in the sand tones, terracottas and deep blues of Islamic

culture.

"We gave her a detailed brief and worked with her on practical

problems," says Neil Jacobs, regional vice president and general

manager of the Four Seasons Hotel Singapore. "Her specialty is

retail not hotels, but we preferred someone who didn't have preconceived

ideas because we didn't want anything that looked like uniforms." Jacobs

concludes that the highest compliment is that guests

want to buy the flowing outfits--and can.