Air France celebrates 90 years of elegance

Created from the merger of Air Orient, Air Union, Société Générale de Transports Aériens, Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne and Aéropostale, Air France was officially launched on October 7, 1933. Since then, the company has continued to create its legend by promote the French art of traveling around the world. Today, Air France offers its customers nearly 1,000 daily flights to 200 destinations with a fleet of more than 240 aircraft.

In 2023, Air France celebrates 90 years of elegance. 90 years of technology, innovation and comfort on board its aircraft. 90 years of travel, haute cuisine, design, haute couture, art and architecture. Since its inception, the company has been celebrating French excellence, that "je-ne-sais-quoi" that the world recognizes in France, thanks to an exceptional travel experience that takes elegance to new heights.

Air France celebrates this pursuit of excellence and the ambition to stay ahead of the latest trends by showcasing its unique expertise to the world. Featuring a collection of original designer gowns that traces the company's storied history, the company will take center stage in a Galeries Lafayette window display in Paris from September 28 to October 10, 2023. This unique setting will offer the company unprecedented exposure, ensuring that everyone can benefit from an ever-moving French heritage.

Illustrating 90 years of elegance

To embody and bring to life 90 years of elegance, Air France is unveiling a collection of five dresses that interpret the different hallmarks of the airline: aircraft and technology; uniforms and fashion; his iconic posters promoting his vast network; haute cuisine and crockery; Design and architecture. Each dress is an invitation to explore these themes that have allowed Air France to continually offer the best of the different eras it has witnessed, and even to be ahead of its time.

To imagine and design these original dresses, Air France has teamed up with Xavier Ronze, head of the costume design workshops of the Paris Opera Ballet. The costume designer has created these designs from iconic elements that have marked the company's history and contemporary pieces. He has succeeded in connecting history and modernity, a strong interpretation that symbolizes the best of Air France and the best that France has to offer in its areas of expertise.

Air France on display at Galeries Lafayette

Air France has naturally chosen Galeries Lafayette, a temple of fashion in the heart of Paris, to display this collection of original gowns as part of its anniversary celebrations. From September 28 to October 10, 2023, it will look back on its legendary history and elegance in flight with the aim of moving forward and embracing the future in the 12 windows of the famous store. The dresses are displayed alongside a selection of the best vintage Air France memorabilia and the best of the airline's current offering, to highlight 90 years of in-flight comfort, legendary aircraft, designer uniforms, inflight cuisine and design.

In the heart of Paris, Air France has made an innovative choice to display its heritage in a free and easily accessible way for all French and international visitors. Visitors will be able to relive their best memories of traveling with Air France or become part of the legend for the first time.

Be part of the legend

Inside the store, the company is opening pop-up stores that offer a variety of items specially created or reissued for this anniversary. Air France offers a range of vintage and new aircraft models, mass-produced or in more limited editions, as well as a collection of 90s signature comfort kits, postcards and luggage tags, and notebooks. The company is also reissuing iconic items like its famous vintage travel bag and iconic posters. A variety of items is also available on our website www.air france shopping.com.

Air France is also partnering with a selection of French luxury brands, including Vanessa Bruno, Delsey, Bernardaud, Brun de Vian-Tiran and La parapluie de Cherbourg, as part of its ambition to further promote French know-how. This collection is exclusively available at Galeries Lafayette.

And for the first time in its history, Air France is offering visitors the opportunity to purchase original tableware signed by the painter Jean Picart Le Doux and used on board its La Première and Business cabins between 1966 and the 2000s. the sale of these items will be donated to the Air France Foundation, which has been committed to supporting children around the world for 30 years.

Air France Fashion Shows at Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann

Throughout this anniversary period, Air France offers visitors the opportunity to attend authentic fashion shows portraying 90 years of French elegance, together with Galeries Lafayette. Models dressed in the uniforms of pilots, cabin crew, airport staff and mechanics will be on display in a dedicated area of ​​the store to revisit the company's legendary uniform heritage, past and present. From early "bartender" outfits to haute couture pieces signed by the greatest designers such as Christian Dior, Cristóbal Balenciaga and Christian Lacroix, the fashion show is a unique journey through the styles of the different founding eras of Air France.