Until the famous Pakistani designer Naheed Azfar rendered a more localised and traditional look to the PIA flight attendant in the 80s, her uniform was taken to be the Pakistani fashion statement on the international scene. The PIA pyjamas designed by Pierre Cardin in 1966 are still remembered as a symbol of the style and sophistication exuded by the national carrier in the early years. Naheed Azfar’s design marked the beginning of a new era; a coming of age, as it were, for the institution and a need to promote a more indigenous look.
“I remember when my design came out in 1986, it received such bad reviews, especially from the fashion gurus who thought the design was extremely boring,” says Azfar.
She did not care about the bad reviews though, for Azfar saw her relationship with PIA as strictly professional: that of a client and vendor where she had to cater to the needs of the client, serving it best to its satisfaction while keeping her creative license in perspective. “I was not making a fashion statement here. I imagined the PIA air hostess to be a working woman, just like any other working woman who wants to wear comfortable yet localised attire while on duty,” she says.
For a thankless job however that eventually came her way, Azfar reportedly did not receive a single penny, nor was there any documentation of the entire project. “There is nothing on paper to date. No signing of any documents, or any official letters. As far as the monetary side was concerned “it was all Kamal’s (her husband) fault who told the PIA head then that it was a matter of prestige and honour to be designing for the national flag carrier, and that his wife could not accept any money for it,” says Azfar, smiling at the memory.
“This was probably the year 1984, when some designers, both local and foreign, were summoned by PIA to present designs for change in the airhostesses’ uniforms. All the designers were separately briefed on what the requirements were,” she recalls.
“All the briefings given to respective designers were apparently different for some odd reason,” she laughs. “I was told that there should be no greens or reds. Besides, it should not be a kurta, but it definitely could not be a body hugging design.”
After all, this was the early 80s — the era of General Ziaul Haq.
More than the fact that her creative freedom was somewhat restricted, Azfar confesses that the big challenge was to adhere to the requirements and yet present an attractive look. “The PIA staff made it clear that no front open designs were allowed and that there should not be any pockets whatsoever. Some thought the flight attendants might be tempted to sneak crockery by hiding it in their pockets,” Azfar says, shrugging her shoulders. There were times when she really wanted to walk away from the project. “I was disappointed with PIA’s doublespeak,” she says, but she had invested too much in the project to leave it high and dry.
So began the uphill task of designing. “The PIA air hostess came to my mind as a working woman who needed to wear a comfortable uniform at work. Yet it should be styled on classical lines.”
Unlike the Pierre Cardin and Sir Hardy Amies’ (Queen Elizabeth’s personal designer) designs in the 60’s with the shirt having a shorter hemline, Naheed added almost four inches to it, and the shalwar’s paaincha was wider. “I believed that the design should be relevant for a longer period of time. It should not be a fashion statement, neither should it be ethnicity specific,” says Azfar.
While she was in the process of finalising her concepts, someone realised that the colour green needed to be an integral part of the design, so it was back to the drawing board. Finally some three to four designs were ready for presentation. “I gave the shirt a princess cut with a length just a little under the knees. Also, the shirt had the logo of PIA as a recurring motif all over. The dupatta was striped.”
The uniforms were in four colours, separate for summer and winter. A lighter green and dull pink were worn during the summer while a darker green and a little close to burgundy were the winter colours. They were finished off with a run-around pattern in pink and green on the sleeves and shirt slits. “The client had asked for the braid. If I were consulted, I would have removed it.”
The shoes and bags were in burgundy. “The bag I believed,” says Azfar, “should be an organiser bag that could accommodate belongings in various compartments.”
At the cut-off date, the designers were flown from Karachi and other parts of the world, to the CNC’s house in Islamabad where they were to present their designs. “I remember the presentation took place in the drawing room of the President’s house. There were five to six people on the judges’ panel that included General Ziaul Haq, Begum Ziaul Haq, Mrs Atiya Inayatullah, Mrs Tooba Yaqub Khan etc.; Mrs Atiya Inayatullah was the most vocal and critical.”
The judges studied the designs very meticulously. “When the models walked in wearing my design, the judges were taken aback by the PIA logo used as a motif on the shirts. The panel thought that the design truly looked like a uniform.” But there were some critical comments too.
“I remember General Ziaul Haq thought the design was too fitted. I can’t forget the comment that he made, ‘you wear loose clothes yourself but your design seems too fitted,” Afar laughs.
Though she incorporated the changes, Azfar was disheartened to find that PIA claimed the designs to have been made by an in-house designer.
Soon however, it was all over the place that Naheed Azfar had designed the PIA uniforms. “My design was not outside the culture that we live in. We normally don’t wear western clothes. Besides, we carry a sense of modesty in the hardware of our minds that shows in the way we dress. I had this factor in mind when I designed the uniform”.
Naheed Azfar’s design remained the official uniform of the PIA flight attendant from the years 1986 till 2003. She was never bothered by the critical reviews, and she revels in the fact that the current design is an extension of her design with some minor variations. “I suppose part of it was jealousy also, that a very trendy and an international design was changed. Yet it was a practical design steeped in classical tradition,” Azfar says proudly.
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