Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Among over 700 designs from more than 170 young Saudi-based designers, Sadaf Khan was unanimously chosen by the selected jury of the newest Saudi Airline flyadeal, to design the new uniforms for flyadeal’s crew.

In an attempt to class-up its image, globalize its brand and to shape the look of its cabin crew uniform, flyadeal Airlines unveiled its new uniforms last Thursday night during the official introduction of the first designed aircraft here in Jeddah.

At the ceremony, the CEO of flyadeal, Con Korfiatis announced that Sadaf Khan was selected as the designer for the airline’s new uniforms following a competition among many of young Saudi ’s designers.

After submitting hundreds of design concepts, her ideas were whittled down to a shortlist of three, the 22 years old who just graduated from Dar Al Hekma university, School of Design spoke to Saudi Gazette and admitted that being selected as a finalist was overwhelming and a pleasant surprise.

She said “the head of marketing, Pete Lysak called me to inform me that I won as per votes and judging panel. I was required to visit their office to tweak the designs a bit according to their team's recommendation. A workplace was set up for me and after a few meetings, they were happy with the final results and I was declared their official cabin crew designer.”

She further said “I'm a fashion designer with a great passion for the arts. I've always been driven by creativity and art, I consider fashion an art form and a way for people to express their individual creativity in the form of aesthetics. It fascinated me to see how people have individual expressions of their inner self through their fashion choices and I wanted to be able to combine their visions with my creativity to make wearable pieces of art.”

After the competition being announced on social media, the young designers were tasked with creating a new look for flyadeal employees which reflects a new style and balances a compelling visual aesthetic with comfort, functionality and durability.

Speaking about how she entered the competition, Sadaf said “I came to know about the competition through flyadeal's marketing campaign on social media. The flyadeal team also approached our Department head in the university to invite Fashion Designers in the University to participate in the competition.”

She continued “I had a huge desire to win this competition as this would present a good opportunity to showcase my talent and creativity. From the beginning, the competition was intense with so many talented designers sending their designs. Being selected as a finalist was overwhelming. However, I was confident that I clearly understood the vision of flyadeal. The votes poured in yet the final results were up to the judging panel. So winning was a pleasant surprise.”

The prize included one year free travel with Flyadeal along with promoting her design label through media exposure, mentions on social media and using her label on their uniform.

The stylish new looks, created by the young designer, Sadaf Khan were inspired from the new brand’s brand vision, mission, mood board and color story for the brand as well as from its fresh, contemporary approach.

Describing the uniforms, she said “the jackets are done in the brand colors of flyadeal i.e. lime and purple. The base color is purple with flap pockets that are highlighted in lime. A zipper is added for convenience and a creative twist instead of traditional buttons. The neckline is also accented in lime. I've added the Flyadeal logo on the chest to enforce the brand identity.

The shirt is a basic button down shirt with a Mandarin collar and rolled up sleeves with line patterned cuffs. These go with basic grey trousers. The shoes are kept really basic and comfortable - white sneakers. A purple barista apron has been made part of the ensemble for the crew to wear during meal servings. Each garment in the uniform has been created keeping comfort and practicality as the prime focus.”

After being selected as the official designer of flyadeal, Sadaf is determined to pursue further studies in Fashion Design to enhance her skills and capabilities. “My long term goal is to start my own design label,” she said.

As a fashion design graduate, Sadaf created many designs as part of her various projects and assignments at school. One of her designs was selected to be showcased at the Vogue Italia exhibition at Rubaiyat. The dress was a fusion of Arab and Modern designs. One of her collection was also showcased at the Tresemme Port 16 Fashion Show held in Dar Al Hekma University in Jeddah.She noted that while working on the uniforms for flyadeal, she was also working on her senior capstone project for the Port 17 Fashion Show at Dar Al Hekma University. Currently, she is engaged in a project to design clothes for women working in the corporate environment that is in alignment with the Saudi culture and values.

Sadaf dedicated her achievement to her parents who stood by her, She said “my parents have always been supportive of my dreams. Yet they have always tried to keep me grounded and humble despite my achievements. They have instilled this one important principle in me which is invaluable - that our achievements are for our own selves but our character and personality is for those around us. So, we must foremost excel in that. Everything else is secondary. They were elated and very proud when I won but this lesson is always part of every congratulations they give me.” — SG