Well Suited
Contemporary uniforms match the style and personality of a hotel’s brand.
By Lisa Bertagnoli, Contributing Editor -- Hotels, 5/1/2008
Theresa Fatino has her eye on a new dress. It is light pink and black, fitted, with an hourglass shape, and designed by French couturier Pascal Humbert.
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| Increasingly, uniforms look more like street wear. Hotels even stage fashion shows to introduce uniforms to employees. Here, a model shows off a look for NYLO. |
The dress will probably never make its way into Fatino’s closet—unless she goes to work behind the front desk at SLS Beverly Hills, an upscale hotel scheduled to open in July.
Fatino, chief creative officer for SBE Los Angeles, owner of the 297-room hotel, personally selected Humbert to design uniforms for the hotel. Choosing a known designer only made sense, she says, considering that superstar designer Philippe Starck designed the hotel’s interiors and Spanish celebrity chef José Andrés is in charge of the restaurants.
Fatino’s decision to go with “designer” uniforms points to a trend in hotel attire: Whether off-the-rack or custom made, hoteliers are increasingly choosing designs that match the spirit of the property. In addition to being durable, comfortable and functional, they “must portray the image and brand standards of the property,” says Cindy huskey, market manager for Nashville, Tennessee-based VF Imagewear.
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| One hot trend: Famous names lending their talent to uniform design. “Project Runway” contestant Daniel Vosovic designed the uniforms for NYLO, whose first hotel is up and running in Plano, Texas. |
This translates to a number of sub-trends: Celebrity-designed uniforms, sharper attention to retail trends in uniform design and a move away from stereotyped looks (for instance, the faux military look for bell staff) and toward a more custom look.
Face Of The Brand
Perhaps the biggest trend is the teaming of fashion brand names with hoteliers and uniform-design firms. Cincinnati, Ohio-based Cintas has partnered with Michael Kors, Lafayette 148, “Project Runway” contestant Daniel Vosovic and Cynthia Rowley. VF Imagewear recently partnered with menswear designer Joseph Abboud to create a line of hospitality uniforms.
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| No more jewel tones: Dark and earth tones lend a sophisticated air to uniforms. |
“Hotel brands are design-driven, and hotel employees are the face of that brand,” Huskey says. Partnering with name-brand designers “creates an infusion of sophistication,” she adds.
Ivanka Trump, vice president of New York-based The Trump Organization, agrees. “There is no question that this is a prominent trend, and I would not be surprised to see it grow,” she says. “Over the last several years, there has been an escalating movement to brand products that used to be anonymous: hotel uniforms, flight-attendant uniforms, even airplane food.
“People like the imprimatur of an established name,” Trump adds.
Trump herself designed the uniforms for Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago, a 300-room luxury hotel that opened this spring. A hands-on executive, Trump says she wanted some control over uniforms, which play a big part in forming guests’ first impressions of a hotel. “The uniforms immediately set the tone,” she says. The sleek, tailored designs, created in conjunction with a major uniform supplier, mirror her personal style, she says.
Sophisticated Ladies—And Gentlemen
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| Even classically tailored women’s uniforms are losing their unisex look. Blouses get feminine details such as turn-up collars and dramatic cuffs. |
Indeed, sophisticated tailoring and fabrics are making their way to the front desk and bell stand. The trend is toward “more retail-inspired fits than traditional uniform fits,” says Jennifer Rowe, senior merchandise manager for VF Imagewear. Examples, she says, include mid-rise instead of high-waisted pants; soft instead of rigid structure to garments; and some shape to the waist in women’s jackets.
Sondra Baggio, Cintas’ director of design and merchandising, sees women’s uniforms becoming more feminine and less unisex. Cintas is adding feminine details such as ties and scarves to blouses, and designing them in hues such as pink and lilac. Knits, too, add a more feminine feel to uniforms, she says.
Along similar lines, women’s uniforms for the new dana hotel & spa, a 216-room hotel opening this month in Chicago, also boast feminine details. Suit jackets have a peplum, while pants have a wide waistband, a lower-sitting waist and a slight flare leg, says Bonnie Roberts-Kornota, principal at Neighborhood Development Group, the Chicago-based firm
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| Ivanka Trump, vice president at The Trump Organization, designed the uniforms for the firm’s Chicago hotel. The uniforms Trump says, reflect her personal sense of style. |
Even the man-tailored shirt accompanying the women’s suits has a twist: an inverted pleat in the back “that gives it shape,” Roberts-Kornota says. Bell staff uniforms are tailored as well, and built for motion, she says. Plackets are covered (to spare guests the sight of gaping buttons), and jacket backs have two inverted pleats joined by an expanse of concealed mesh fabric. The pleats and the mesh allow movement, and they “breathe,” as well.
Made To Move
Comfort and movement are two more trends in hotel uniforms: Rigid cuts and fabrics are giving way to natural fibers and blends, sometimes shot with stretch fabric for a bit of give.
Trump, for instance, chose a heavy Italian wool herringbone for the doorman’s coat and a lightweight wool for the female concierge’s and front-desk assistant’s suits. Men wear European-cut suits with peak lapels in a charcoal pinstripe wool. Housekeeping staffers wear pantsuits in a synthetic blend that, Trump says, moves and breathes easily.
Likewise, Pascal Humbert’s uniforms for SLS Beverly Hills are made from stretch twill fabrics, according to Fatino. The garments, she adds, were custom-tailored to each individual staff member to ensure the right fit.
The uniforms are so stylish and in harmon with the property that Fatino is sure she’s not the only one who will hanker after that front-desk dress. “Guests are going to want them, too,” she says.
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| Parisian designer Pascal Humbert created the uniforms for SLS Beverly Hills opening in July. His use of high-end stretch twill fabrics makes the uniforms stylish, yet durable and comfortable. |
VF Imagewear’s versatile brocade vest adds color and pattern to ordinary banquet attire. | The Summit shirt from VF Imagewear has a roomy fit for that all important all-day comfort. |
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