245

An Emilio Pucci for Braniff International hostess ensemble

Circa 1966-1968
Dress labeled size 8; apron labeled Small/Short and with Cohama "Galaxy" label: 100% Nylon / Hand Washable; hat labeled for Adolpho II / New York / Paris
Comprising a 1968 "Classic Collection pale pink Trevira wool blend drop waist hostess dress together with a silver metallic lamé hostess tabard apron with self-sash belt, as well as a 1966 "Supersonic Derby" nylon Pucci harlequin print bowler hat with flaps, featuring various Central American instruments and pre-Columbian motifs and a matching beaded tassel cord belt, 4 pieces
Dress: 17" W x 33" L; apron: 16" W x 29.5" L ; hat: 21.5" inner C x 6" H; belt: 50" L

  • Provenance: The Estate of John McKaughan Jr., Art Director of Braniff International Airways from 1955-1982
  • Notes: A similar design illustrated: SFO Museum, "Flight Patterns: Airline Uniforms from the 1960s-70s" (San Francisco: SFO Museum: 2021-2022), figure 5.

    This lot accompanied by an original Braniff hostess certificate.

    In 1965, when Braniff International Airways decided to enliven their image and redesign their entire fleet and the uniforms of their crew, they turned to two giants of quality and reputation in the design world, namely Alexander Girard and Emilio Pucci. Hired by advertising executive Mary Wells Lawrence (1928-2024), Girard became project designer and would take on the airplane livery, the airport lounges and furniture and airplane interiors. Haute couturier, Emilio Pucci, would re-dress the flight crew in an entirely radical new concept, known as the "Anti-Uniform," all part of the Braniff campaign called "The End of the Plain Plane."

    At that time, many 1960s airplane exteriors were considered unremarkable, with plain grey interiors, few company logos, and uniforms that were often rather bland with military styling. The design team focused on a "splashy theme involving a multitude of colors," with Pucci proposing to do away with the traditional military uniforms, especially since "a host of new synthetic fabrics in bright colors were available for travel wardrobes."

    According to then Braniff President, Harding L. Lawrence, "commissioning Pucci to design apparel for us was an aspect of Braniff International's determination to be really distinctive and different, but at the same time functional and customer oriented." He wanted the outfits to be fun, comfortable, and memorable. The ultimate aim was to wow the American public and "be sufficiently newsworthy to make the cover of Life magazine." With such success, the campaign was lauded as critical to the airline's turnaround. Upon their debut, the newly painted aircraft and bold designs and colors were expressively described as "the emergence of a new and startling butterfly of an airline bursting forth where a rather familiar old moth of a carrier had been."

    Emilio Pucci, the "Prince of Prints", was well known at the time for his vibrant geometric prints and innovative, breezy fabrics, in rather luxurious combinations of natural and synthetic fibers that were comfortable and easy-care, as well as glamorous. Pucci stated he was guided by the simple principle: "Fashion must be contemporary. The Italian look is elegance, applied to even formal occasions. When I design, I think of a woman in motion."

    Together with his Summer and Fall Haute Couture collections, Pucci debuted the first Braniff collection, "Galaxy IV," at his family home, the Pucci Palace in Florence, on July 19, 1965. Inspired by the "Space Race," the collection featured colorful air hostess outfits with multiple pieces, in fluid cuts "translating the weightlessness of a walk in space," designed to be interchangeable, often reversible, and worn in layers, with each successive layer removed or replaced at various times in the flight: the infamous "Air Strip."

    Ultimately, Pucci designed six collections for Braniff from 1965 to 1974, each in a mix of solid colors and geometric prints, with a full range of coordinating accessories including scarves, shoes, belts, bags, and even umbrellas and metallic hostess aprons; all very modern, very chic uniforms "suited to the jet age."

    Emilio Pucci (1914-1992), the Marchese di Barsento, was born in Naples, Italy to one of Florence's oldest aristocratic families, and lived and worked most of his life in the family "Pucci Palace." After spending two years at the University of Milan in Italy, he attended the University of Georgia in Athens, GA., and received a master's degree in social science at Reed College, Portland, Oregon, in 1939. Pucci held a doctorate in political science from the University of Florence. He served in the Italian Air Force in WWII, and continued after the war, as a promoted captain.

    As an avid skier and athlete who was part of the 1932 Olympic Italian ski team, one of his first forays into fashion was designing the ski outfits for the Reed College, Oregon ski team, a team he had been tasked with developing. In the early part of his career, Pucci was known for sportswear, swimwear, ski outfits, and innovative stretch fabrics, and is credited with designing the first one-piece ski suit. His sportswear designs gained wider attention when a Harper's Bazaar photographer spotted one of Pucci's friends in Zermatt, Switzerland wearing an intriguingly fitted ski outfit. The look was photographed, and the Harper's editor later asked Pucci to create outfits for an editorial on European Winter Fashion, for the winter 1948 issue.

    By 1950, Mr. Pucci was at the forefront of the fledgling Italian fashion industry. As he travelled between his palatial home in Florence, the mountain pistes of Switzerland and the glamourous resort of Capri, Pucci "naturally embodied the post-war, jet-set glamour which captivated a new generation of modern, active women."

    For his first boutique in Capri and later, in Rome, Pucci initially designed simple, beautiful resort clothing inspired by the island's natural beauty and vivid colors, but shifted his focus to vibrant kaleidoscope print fabrics in silks, creating dramatic silk scarves, and later blouses and wrinkle-free silk free-flowing dresses.

    These graphic, abstract prints were to become synonymous with the Pucci name. The patterns and optical motifs were inspired by cultural and historical artifacts such as mosaics, batiks, and African and later Latin American motifs. "It was the first time that such optical illusions had been used in clothing and the effect was highly original and extensively copied over the years." Another of his innovations at the time was to incorporate his signature "Emilio" into the print of his fabrics, one of the first couturiers to use his name as part of the external design.

    By the 1960s, a dress in the distinctively patterned Pucci print, which used up to sixteen colors in a single design, was the uniform of fashionable women everywhere in the world. Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Bacall, Gina Lollobrigida and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis were some of the women photographed in Pucci designs.

    Pucci aspired to create practical pleasing garments that would liberate women, granting them unprecedented freedom and ease of movement. His simply-designed dresses, pants, and tops featured flowing lines that followed the natural curves of the body, in contrast to the prevailing post-war styles of fitted, confining, and often very heavy and voluminous fashions. He was inspired to develop stretch fabrics and worked with Italian fabric manufacturers to create (and patent) several new fabrics such as silk stretch jersey and cotton jersey. These new fabrics helped him design effortless and elegant clothes that were weightless, unlined, and wrinkle-proof: the beginning of a modern, travel-friendly wardrobe.

    As a true innovator in color and fabrics, Pucci is well placed in fashion history, especially during the 1950s-1960s, as "a perfect example of the transition between luxurious couture and ready-to-wear, in Europe and North America." His popularity continued to rise throughout the 1960s and 1970s, undergoing a revival in the early 1990s.

    After Emilio Pucci's death in 1992, his daughter, Laudomia Pucci, continued to design under the Pucci name. The French LVMH luxury goods empire acquired 67% of Pucci in 2000, rising to 100% in June 2021. Laudomia Pucci remained in charge of the house's archives and heritage.
  • Condition: Each overall good condition with minor folds/creasing, and light wear commensurate with age and storage. Hat slightly distorted and with very light soiling to exterior and to interior grosgrain ribbon band.
    Please note: Vintage numbered sizes often do not equate to current clothing sizes.


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