Zambesi style
Development
Zambesi worked with specialist knitwear manufacturer Optimum Clothing to develop the wrap/shawl worn by female staff. Elisabeth wanted the Derek Lardelli motifs on the front of the men's shirts to appear on the edge of the shawl; Optimum Clothing helped find a way to do this.
Zambesi's commission was to design the uniform range and produce "master patterns" for all the pieces, which could be sent for grading and marking and production. Grading produces a range of patterns of different sizes; marking determines the most efficient way to cut the pattern pieces from a roll of fabric. Wellington manufacturer Booker Spalder was contracted by Air New Zealand to perform the grading and marking and produce some prototypes, which Zambesi reviewed.
COP Outcome development and evaluation
As the designs evolved they were tested on staff. Usability testing has long been established in other areas of industrial design: no car manufacturer would think about sending a new model to the production line without extensive consumer testing of prototypes. Parts of movies are similarly tested on sample audiences before their general release. Zambesi had some Air New Zealand staff wear prototypes (made up in colours other than those used in the range proper) to assess the functionality of the designs.
One of the biggest challenges of the project was designing for the unexpectedly wide range of body sizes and shapes at the airline, Elisabeth says. "I guess I hadn't realized how broad the size range was of the staff. I just thought in terms of an average woman. If you were doing corporate clothing all the time you would be much more aware of it. You have to start thinking about, well OK, this is going to look great on a size 10 but what's it going to look like on a broader woman? It's very very difficult to design one shape that will suit everyone; it's just impossible, so you try and think within a broader spectrum."
