Hospitality haute couture: The hotels using fashion houses to design staff uniforms
At the sleek glass and black marble entrance of Vakko Hotel in Istanbul, two doormen in black tailcoats, peaked caps and cream gloves await guests. It gives the recently opened hotel an air of timelessness, as though it were one of the grand dames that have been at the top of Europe’s hospitality offerings for centuries. While travellers are unlikely to pick a hotel based on staff uniforms, they are nevertheless a key part of the guest experience. As such, hotels are increasingly enlisting fashion designers to transform bland ubiquitous uniforms into memorable outfits that represent their bran...