Polyester trousers, skin-coloured tights and a hairspray bill to make Tracy Turnblad blanch, flight attendants' uniforms are stuck in a time warp. Vivienne Westwood's designs for Virgin Atlantic – launched yesterday – didn't exactly move things on. We're still talking red skirt suits and matching shoes – pretty standard, even when it's made out of Dame Viv-approved recycled bottle fabric. It got us thinking, though – which designers would we love to make clothes fit for the skies? Here are the top five.
Phoebe Philo for Céline
A bit of minimalism on your flight would be a calming influence – and Philo is the modern master. Staff passing the peanuts wearing the knee-length coats from Céline's AW collection would be lovely. Stan Smiths for footwear, natch.
Katie Hillier and Luella Bartley for Marc by Marc Jacobs
This would be the cult choice. The two British designers now at the helm of Marc Jacobs' younger label produced a debut collection that mixed motocross, Akira and party dresses. Nipped-in jackets with logos, plaits and biker boots would be a strong look for an flight attendant – but one to be respected.
Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel
Why has this never happened? The Chanel suit is arguably the very chic version of what most female airline staff wear already. We'd love Lagerfeld's take. With the AW14 collection referencing supermarkets, the attendants could ditch the trolley and use gilt-chain shopping baskets instead.
Miuccia Prada
Prada's menswear show last month was a triumph of making the retro modern – an idea which translates well to the world of airline fashion. We'd like duster jackets with stitched seams, crisp shirts and sensible jumpers when it got chilly. And jeans! How refreshing.
Kim Jones for Louis Vuitton
Jones's tenure at Vuitton is all about travel, so he's a shoo-in to design airline uniforms. His latest collection took design to India and was packed with aviation motifs, from flight jackets to pilots' sunglasses. But we would go classic: crisp chinos and a shirt with a statement print would look very smart indeed.
